Patrick Daniel McCarney (born July 28, 1953) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

from 1995 to 2006 and the University of North Texas from 2011 to 2015, compiling a career head coaching record of 78–117.

Playing career

McCarney played football at Iowa City High School, and was an offensive lineman at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

from 1972 to 1974 and was named team captain in 1974.

Coaching career

Iowa

McCarney returned to Iowa as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

from 1977 to 1978 under Bob Commings. When Hayden Fry arrived at Iowa in 1979, he named McCarney as defensive line coach, a post he held for 10 years—during which Iowa made two appearances in the Rose Bowl.

Wisconsin

McCarney served as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

and defensive line coach at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

under Barry Alvarez from 1990 to 1994.

Iowa State

McCarney served as head coach at

from 1995 to 2006. His contract was reduced when it was found that his estranged wife had disclosed allegations of abuse by McCarney in a restraining order filed against him in 1994; he admitted to several verbal arguments but only one that became physical as the team elected to keep him a yearly basis (no criminal charges were filed). During that span, McCarney led the

Cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

to five bowl games; the program had been to only three bowl games in their entire history before his arrival. It was he who played a key force in shifting the colors of the team to add blue to a previous color scheme that favored gold and cardinal red; the blue was removed in a uniform and logo revamp in 2008. In their first bowl appearance under McCarney, the 2000 Insight.com Bowl, the Cyclones notched their first bowl win in school history. McCarney guided the Cyclones to be co-champions of the Big 12 North Division during the 2004 season, which led to him earning Big 12 Coach of the Year honors from

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

and espn.com. His 56 wins were the most in program history until he was passed by Matt Campbell. He went 6-5 against in-state rival Iowa, including five straight wins from 1998 to 2002 to win their first games against Iowa since 1982. The 2006 team won three of its first ten games, with seven straight losses to Division I teams by an average of 20 points. On November 8, 2006, he announced his resignation. At the time, he was the longest tenured head football coach in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. In 2016, he was inducted into the Iowa State Hall of Fame.

South Florida

In February 2007, McCarney accepted a position as the defensive line coach and assistant head coach at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

Florida

The next year, McCarney accepted the same position at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

. He coached the defensive line at Florida for two years. During his tenure, the Gators produced NFL draft picks Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham.

North Texas

In November 2010, McCarney was offered and accepted the position of head coach at the University of North Texas. At North Texas, McCarney inherited a team that had endured six consecutive losing seasons, and had not won more than three games in any of those seasons. He won five games his first season, and four the next season; then, in 2013, led the Mean Green to their first winning season since 2004. In 2013, McCarney led the Mean Green to its third bowl win, posting a 36–14 win over UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. McCarney was unable to duplicate his 2013 success in 2014, as the North Texas football team posted a 4-8 record. In October 2015, following a loss to

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

, McCarney was fired. The loss had dropped the Mean Green to an 0-5 record to open the 2015 season. Despite having an overall losing record at North Texas, McCarney managed some highlights in addition to the school's third of three all-time bowl wins. In 2011, he led the Mean Green to its first win over a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

opponent with a 24–21 victory against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The win was also the school's first at their new stadium, Apogee Stadium, which had opened that year. The 2011 team set a record for home attendance, drawing 113,186 fans to six games. His 2013 bowl winning team's nine wins were the most since 2004. To that point, it was only the fifth nine-win season in North Texas football history. The other nine win seasons occurred in 2004, 1978, 1977, and 1959. As North Texas State University, the Eagles had their only 10 win season in 1947. In 2014, McCarney led North Texas to the most lopsided win in the school's history versus

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rival SMU, 43–6. To that point, the win was only the fifth by North Texas versus SMU against 28 losses and a tie. On October 10, 2015, McCarney was fired following a 66–7 loss to Portland State of the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate ...

(FCS). The 59-point margin is the biggest win by an FCS over an

NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS) team since

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

football was divided into subdivisions in 1978.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarney, Dan 1953 births Living people American football offensive linemen Florida Gators football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football players Iowa State Cyclones football coaches North Texas Mean Green football coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Players of American football from Iowa City, Iowa Coaches of American football from Iowa