Dean Shaffer returned to WKU in the spring of 2025 in a Quality Control – Defensive Backs role on the Hilltopper Football coaching staff. The 2026 season will be his second since returning, after serving as a Student Assistant prior to his graduation from WKU.
In 2025, Shaffer helped the Hilltoppers finish second in the league in scoring defense at just 22.85 points allowed per game. WKU posted the best pass defense efficiency in the league during the 2025 campaign. The Hilltoppers had the second-best third down defense, allowing opponents to convert on just 35.29% of chances, and the top fourth down defense, with opponents converting just 32.26% of the time. Defensive back Jaylen Lewis finished the year as an All-CUSA Honorable Mention selection.
Shaffer makes his way back to The Hill after spending the 2024 season at Hawaii and the 2023 season at Murray State, both in Graduate Assistant positions.
He is a WKU graduate, earning his degree in Sports Management in 2023. While in Bowling Green, Shaffer served as a Student Assistant with the WKU Football program. He helped coach a defense that led the nation in takeaways with 32 and defensive touchdowns with six during the 2022 season. Three members of the WKU secondary earned postseason Conference USA honors that season.
Shaffer is a native of Lilburn, Georgia.
