Introduction
Patrick Daniel "Dan" McCarney (born July 28, 1953) is an American college football coach. McCarney played at the University of Iowa from 1972 to 1974 and was named team captain in 1974. He was an assistant coach at Iowa from 1977 to 1989 under coach Hayden Fry and the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at the University of Wisconsin–Madison under Barry Alvarez from 1990 to 1994.
He served as head coach at Iowa State University from 1995 to 2006. During that span, McCarney led the Cyclones to five bowl games, more than any other Iowa State coach in history. His 56 wins and 85 losses are both school records. At the time of his resignation in November 2006, he was the longest tenured head football coach in the Big 12 Conference.
In February 2007, McCarney accepted a position as the defensive line coach and assistant head coach at the University of South Florida. The next year, he accepted the same position at the University of Florida. He coached the defensive line at Florida for two years. During his tenure, the Gators produced NFL draft picks Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham. In November 2010, McCarney was offered and accepted the position of head coach at the University of North Texas. On October 10, 2015 after a 66–7 loss to Portland State University, McCarney was fired.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State Cyclones (Big Eight Conference) (1995) | |||||||||
| 1995 | Iowa State | 3–8 | 1–6 | T–7th | |||||
| Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12 Conference) (1996–2006) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Iowa State | 2–9 | 1–7 | 6th (North) | |||||
| 1997 | Iowa State | 1–10 | 1–7 | 6th (North) | |||||
| 1998 | Iowa State | 3–8 | 1–7 | T–5th (North) | |||||
| 1999 | Iowa State | 4–7 | 1–7 | T–5th (North) | |||||
| 2000 | Iowa State | 9–3 | 5–3 | 3rd (North) | W Insight.com | 23 | 25 | ||
| 2001 | Iowa State | 7–5 | 4–4 | 3rd (North) | L Independence | ||||
| 2002 | Iowa State | 7–7 | 4–4 | 3rd (North) | L Humanitarian | ||||
| 2003 | Iowa State | 2–10 | 0–8 | 6th (North) | |||||
| 2004 | Iowa State | 7–5 | 4–4 | T–1st (North) | W Independence | ||||
| 2005 | Iowa State | 7–5 | 4–4 | T–2nd (North) | L Houston | ||||
| 2006 | Iowa State | 4–8 | 1–7 | 6th (North) | |||||
| Iowa State: | 56–85 | 27–68 | |||||||
| North Texas Mean Green (Sun Belt Conference) (2011–2012) | |||||||||
| 2011 | North Texas | 5–7 | 4–4 | 5th | |||||
| 2012 | North Texas | 4–8 | 3–5 | T–6th | |||||
| North Texas Mean Green (Conference USA) (2013–2015) | |||||||||
| 2013 | North Texas | 9–4 | 6–2 | T–2nd (West) | W Heart of Dallas | ||||
| 2014 | North Texas | 4–8 | 2–6 | 5th (West) | |||||
| 2015 | North Texas | 0–5 | 0–2 | (Fired) | |||||
| North Texas: | 22–32 | 15–19 | |||||||
| Total: | 78–117 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
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Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Dan McCarney who became NCAA head coaches:
- Chris Ash: Rutgers (2016–present)
- Jay Norvell: Nevada (2017–present)
- Charlie Partridge: Florida Atlantic (2014–2016)
- Paul Rhoads: Iowa State (2009–2015)