Upper Iowa University named Brian Dolan as its Head Men's Basketball Coach on March 13, 2006. The Amarillo, Texas, native will lead the Peacock program into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Dolan served as an assistant coach at the University of Texas-Pan American for the two years prior to joining the Peacocks. He joined UTPA in July 2004 and oversaw the operation procedures in the basketball office and handled various on-court coaching duties.

Before joining UTPA, Dolan spent one season at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho. In his one season there, Dolan led a Golden Eagles' team which captured the Region 18 Tournament title and advanced to the National Junior College Men's Basketball Tournament. His team finished 24-11 after losing in the second round of the National Tournament. At Southern Idaho, Dolan was the team's Academic and Recruiting Coordinator and was responsible for developing scouting reports, breaking down game film, scheduling games and organizing summer camps.

From 2001-03, Dolan was an assistant coach at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, and was also the Director of Summer Basketball Camps for the Thunderbirds. In his last season, Dolan was part of a Southern Utah program that reached the semifinals of the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament. The Thunderbirds accumulated a 22-33 record and a 13-15 conference mark during his tenure on the coaching staff.

Prior to joining the coaching staff at Southern Utah, Dolan served two seasons at Southwest Missouri State. In 2000, the Bears finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference. SMSU concluded the season with a 23-11 record and advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. Dolan served as the administrative assistant for Oral Roberts University in 1998 under current University of Kansas head coach Bill Self. The Golden Eagles won the Mid-Continent Conference regular season title and finished second in the conference tournament that year.

After suffering an injury as a freshman basketball player at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., in 1995, Dolan immediately started his coaching career. He became the head coach of the women's junior varsity basketball team as a sophomore, and held the job throughout his senior year. Dolan graduated from William Jewell in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications and Administration for Collegiate Athletics.