Daniel Christopher Rocco (born July 16, 1960)''1995

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

Football Media Guide'' p. 94 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. He is the head football coach at the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Rocco served as the head football coach at

Liberty University Liberty University (LU), known simply as Liberty, is a Private university, private Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservativ ...

from 2006 to 2011, the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

from 2012 to 2015, and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

from 2017 to 2021. He was assistant coach for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) in 2000. Rocco played

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 ...

as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

, first at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

before transferring to

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

Playing career and education

Rocco played

for

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

, earning letters in 1979 and 1980. He played in the 1979 Liberty Bowl and the

1980 Fiesta Bowl The 1980 Fiesta Bowl was the tenth edition of the college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona on Friday, December 26. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the tenth-ranked Penn State Nittany Li ...

for the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

. Rocco transferred to

, where he started for two seasons at outside linebacker under head coach

Al Groh Albert Michael Groh II (born July 13, 1944) is an American former football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Wake Forest University from 1981 to 1986 and at the University of Virginia from 2001 to 2009, compiling a career ...

, in 1982 and 1983. He was named captain of the 1983 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team. Rocco earned his bachelor's degree in speech communication from

in 1984. He added an education and counseling master's degree from Wake Forest in 1987.

Coaching career

Throughout his coaching career, Rocco has been a friend and protégé of

, working with him for over six years in both collegiate and professional positions. Rocco began his coaching career 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 ...

then defensive line coach at Wake Forest, from 1984 to 1986. After a season coaching linebackers at the

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

under

Bill McCartney William Paul McCartney (August 22, 1940 – January 10, 2025) was an American college football coach who was the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes for 13 seasons ( 1982–1994). He compiled a record, and won three consecutive Big Eight Co ...

, he spent three seasons at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

. Next stop for Rocco was

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

for three years under

Tom Coughlin Thomas Richard Coughlin ( ; born August 31, 1946) is an American former football coach and executive of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach for the New York Giants from 2004 to 2015. He led the Giants to victory in Super ...

as defensive line coach.

Liberty

Rocco was named the head coach of the Flames on December 2, 2005, succeeding

Ken Karcher Kenneth Paul Karcher (born July 1, 1963) is an American high school football coach and former quarterback. He is the offensive coordinator for Albertville High School, a position he has held since 2023. He was the head football coach for Libert ...

. He began his first stint as a head coach at any level taking over a program that went 1–10 the season before he arrived in 2005. In his first season as head coach at Liberty in 2006, he led the Flames to a 6–5 record and was honored by the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...

as their Coach of the Year. He then followed that up in 2007 by leading the Flames to an 8–3 record and the school's first Big South Conference championship and his second consecutive Coach of the Year honors. In February 2008, the university extended Rocco's contract through the 2012 season. He then followed that up with another Big South championship in 2008 with a 5–0 record in league play. He was named Big South Coach of the Year for the third straight season. In 2009, Rocco stretched the Flames' Big South winning streak to a conference-record 15 games before falling in the season finale at Stony Brook. Liberty shared the conference championship with the Seawolves. In 2010, a loss at Coastal Carolina led to a three-way share of the league title with the Chanticleers and Stony Brook. But CCU went to the playoffs based on a tie-breaker of points allowed in conference games. In January 2010, Rocco signed a two-year contract extension through the 2014 season. On December 6, 2011, Rocco was named head coach at the

. On December 13, 2016, Rocco was named head coach at the

. Rocco coached Delaware to a 31-23 record over five seasons. He was fired after a disappointing 2021 campaign that saw his team finish 5–6. After spending the 2022 season as an analyst for James Franklin and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, Rocco was named the new head coach at VMI, replacing

Scott Wachenheim Scott Allen Wachenheim (born August 13, 1962) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach of the VMI Keydets. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Wachenheim has been an assistant coach at various posit ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

VMI profile

Delaware profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocco, Danny 1960 births Living people American football linebackers Boston College Eagles football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football coaches Liberty Flames football coaches Maryland Terrapins football coaches New York Jets coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Richmond Spiders football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches VMI Keydets football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players People from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania