Daniel Da Prato (born October 2, 1981) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is the special teams coordinator at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. He was the interim head football coach at

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, ...

for the final three games of the 2022 season following the firing of

Jeff Scott Jeffrey Bradford Scott (born December 28, 1980) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of South Florida from 2020 to 2022. Playing career Born in Arcadia, Florida, Scott later lived in Seneca ...

Playing career

Da Prato was born in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, and grew up in

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

. His father, Steve Da Prato, is a football coach and athletic administrator. Daniel attended Fred C. Beyer High School, where he played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. At the time, his father was the head football coach at

Modesto Junior College Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system al ...

. Steve moved to

New Mexico Highlands University New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU or Highlands) is a public university in Las Vegas, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1893, it has satellite campuses in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Farmington and Roswell. NMHU has an average a ...

for the 2000 season and then

Chabot College Chabot College (Chabot or CC; ) is a public community college in Hayward, California. It is part of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. History Chabot College was the first college opened by the Chabot- Las Positas Community ...

Hayward, California Hayward is a city located in Alameda County, California, United States, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area, and the third largest in ...

, in 2001. Daniel followed him through these moves, playing quarterback at both schools before transferring to Louisiana–Monroe for the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

Coaching career

Da Prato began his coaching career in 2004 as a graduate assistant at Louisiana–Monroe under head coach

Charlie Weatherbie Charles Alvin Weatherbie (born January 17, 1955) is an American former college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University (1992–1994), the United States Naval Academy (1995–2001), and Louisiana M ...

. He was named director of football operations in 2006. In 2007, he returned to Northern California as wide receivers coach at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

under new head coach Marshall Sperbeck. Da Prato coached at Sacramento State for six seasons, adding the special teams coordinator title in 2010. Da Prato resigned from Sacramento State in March 2013 to become the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

, under head coach

Rob Ash Robert W. Ash (born July 9, 1951) is an American former college football coach. He served as the head football coach at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1988, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa from 1989 to 2006, and Mon ...

. Da Prato replaced

Erik Link The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

, who departed to become an analyst at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. Montana State fired Ash after the 2015 season. Da Prato joined the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

staff under

Mike MacIntyre George Michael MacIntyre (born March 14, 1965) is an American football coach who serves as a defensive analyst for Mississippi State. He previously served as the head football coach at FIU. MacIntyre began his coaching career in 1990 as a grad ...

in 2016 as offensive quality control coach. Colorado fired MacIntyre after the 2018 season, and Da Prato moved to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

as special teams quality control coach. That job ended after one season when Arkansas fired head coach

Chad Morris Chad Allen Morris (born December 4, 1968) is an American football coach who was most recently the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at Texas State University. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University ...

during a disastrous 2019 season. Special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. became interim head coach, and Da Prato took over the special teams coordinator role for the remainder of the season. Following the 2019 season, the

hired Da Prato to be special teams coordinator under new head coach

. South Florida fired Scott on November 6, 2022, with three games remaining in the regular season, and named Da Prato the interim head coach.

Playing career

Coaching career

Head coaching record

References

External links