Dan MacNeill begins his 16th season as SUNY Cortland’s head football coach in 2012. His teams are a combined 99-54 and have made nine postseason appearances, including four NCAA tournament showings. He ranks first at Cortland with a .647 winning percentage and second in career victories.
In 2011, his Red Dragon squad finished 9-2 overall, tied for second in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) with an 7-2 mark and won the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Div. III Southeast Bowl. In 2010, he led Cortland to a 10-2 record and the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. His squad earned an NCAA automatic berth after tying for the NJAC title with an 8-1 mark — the fifth time in six years from 2005-10 that the Red Dragons finished at least tied for first in the conference standings.
In 2008, MacNeill guided the Red Dragons to one of the best seasons in school history. Cortland finished 11-2, including two victories in the NCAA Division III playoffs before falling at eventual national champion Mount Union in the quarterfinals. Both the 11 wins and the quarterfinal appearance matched school records. Cortland was recognized as the top Division III team in the East by winning both the Lambert Trophy and the ECAC Team of the Year awards.
Cortland won the 2008 NJAC title with a 9-0 record. MacNeill was chosen as the NJAC Coach of the Year and was one of five finalists for Liberty Mutual Division III National Coach of the Year honors.
In 2007, MacNeill’s squad finished 8-3 and won the ECAC Division III Northeast Bowl. The previous fall, he guided the Red Dragons to a 9-2 record and an ECAC Division III Northeast Bowl bid. Cortland failed to receive an NCAA berth despite a 9-1 regular-season mark.
In 2005, MacNeill led the Red Dragons to a 7-2 regular-season record. Cortland earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs and finished the season 7-3. Cortland’s other NCAA appearance under MacNeill came during an 8-3 campaign in his first season in 1997.
In 2002, MacNeill led the Red Dragons to a 9-2 mark and the ECAC Division III Northwest title. The team also placed second in the NJAC with a 4-2 record. In 2003, Cortland finished the regular season with a 5-4 mark before losing in the ECAC Northwest championship game.
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 and eight victories against rival Ithaca College in the annual “Cortaca Jug” game.
MacNeill has coached 23 All-Americans, 70 All-East and 60 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 and 2007 ECAC Southeast Rookie of the Year Brian Haas.
In addition, MacNeill’s players have earned 164 All-NJAC honors since the program joined the league in 2000, highlighted by the selection of Adam Haas as the 2005 NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, Bryan Wiley as the 2009 NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, Justin Autera as the 2010 NJAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Dan Pitcher as the 2011 NJAC Offensive Player of the Year.
An assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University from 1984-96, MacNeill is Cortland’s 11th head coach since the school’s modern era of football began in 1924. MacNeill served as linebackers coach at Villanova 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.
