Dan MacNeill begins his 23rd season as SUNY Cortland’s head football coach in 2019. His teams are a combined 147-82 and have earned 16 postseason berths, including six NCAA tournament showings. He ranks first at Cortland in both career victories and career winning percentage (.642).
MacNeill’s Cortland squads played as an independent from 1997-99 and were a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) from 2000-14 before joining the Empire 8. In the Red Dragons’ first season as an Empire 8 member in 2015, MacNeill and his assistants were named the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year, while MacNeill also was honored as the HERO Sports Division III National Coach of the Year and the D3football.com East Region Coach of the Year. Cortland finished the season 9-3, including a 6-2 mark to share the Empire 8 crown and an NCAA playoff victory before losing at nationally second-ranked Linfield in the second round.
MacNeill was named NJAC Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2012, and he was a finalist for 2008 Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year honors after Cortland finished 11-2 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals before losing at eventual national champion Mount Union. The Red Dragons were recognized as the top Division III teams in the East by winning both the Lambert Trophy and the ECAC Team of the Year awards, and the 11 victories and national quarterfinal appearance matched school records.
Under MacNeill, Cortland won NJAC titles in 2008 and 2012 and also was first in the conference in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 in addition to its 2015 Empire 8 title. His squads tied for ninth nationally after advancing to the second round of the NCAA playoffs in 2010, 2012 and 2015, as well as a tie for ninth in 1997 in a 16-team field and a tie for 17th in 2005. MacNeill’s teams have won seven or more games 12 times, including 10 victories in 2010 and nine in 2002, 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2015 in addition to the 11-win 2008 campaign.
In addition to the six NCAA appearances, MacNeill’s teams won the inaugural New York Bowl in 2017 and qualified for the game again in 2018 (game was canceled due to lack of Liberty League opponent). The Red Dragons also won ECAC bowls in 2002, 2007 and 2012, and they played in five other ECAC postseason games. Among MacNeill’s other highlights at Cortland are a 32-31 win over nationally second-ranked and eventual national semifinalist Rowan University in the 2001 season on the final game ever played on Carl “Chugger” Davis Field, and a 13-9 record against rival Ithaca College in the annual “Cortaca Jug” game, including seven straight wins from 2010-16.
MacNeill has coached 29 All-Americans, 90 All-East and 77 All-ECAC players at Cortland. Those players included two Gagliardi Trophy national Player of the Year finalists – defensive tackle Adam Haas in 2006 and quarterback Dan Pitcher in 2011 – along with 1997 ECAC Upstate New York Player of the Year Omar Darling, 2007 ECAC Southeast Rookie of the Year Brian Haas, and 2013 ECAC South Defensive Rookie of the Year Tristan Laurore.
In addition, MacNeill’s players have earned 35 All-Empire 8 awards, including the 2015 Rookie of the Year and 2018 Special Teams Player of the Year. His players also garnered 204 All-NJAC honors, highlighted by the selection of Adam Haas as the 2005 Defensive Player of the Year, Bryan Wiley as the 2009 Defensive Player of the Year, Justin Autera as the 2010 Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Dan Pitcher as the 2011 Offensive Player of the Year.
Previously an assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University for 13 years, MacNeill is Cortland’s 11th head coach since the school’s modern era of football began in 1924. He joined the Villanova staff in 1984, and he served as linebackers coach and was the team’s defensive coordinator from 1988-96.
One of the nation’s top defensive coaches, MacNeill’s charges consistently ranked among the best defensive teams in the Yankee Conference. His 1991 squad finished the year first nationally in scoring defense, second in total defense and fifth in rushing defense while leading the Yankee Conference in every defensive category. The Wildcats placed first nationally in rushing defense in 1992. In 1996, Villanova finished 8-4 and earned a berth in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
While at Villanova, MacNeill coached three AFCA/Kodak First Team All-Americans, one Associated Press All-American, six first team All-Yankee Conference performers, six first team All-ECAC selections and one player who went on to the NFL. He received a master’s degree in educational administration from Villanova in 1994.
A 1979 Cortland graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education, MacNeill was a four-year Red Dragon letterwinner and three-year starter at linebacker and defensive tackle. He served as a team tri-captain during his senior campaign in 1978. In his last varsity game against Southern Connecticut State, he was credited with 11 unassisted tackles and three quarterback sacks.
MacNeill began his football coaching career as an assistant at Port Byron (N.Y.) Central High School from 1980 to 1982, prior to being named as a graduate assistant coach at Ithaca College. He coached Ithaca’s junior varsity team in 1982 and was in charge of the Bombers’ receivers in 1983.
A native of Walton, N.Y., MacNeill was an all-league defensive end at Walton Central High School as a senior in 1974. MacNeill and his wife, Sherrie, have two daughters — Mikayla and Maura.
