Dan MacNeill begins his 19th season as SUNY Cortland’s head football coach in 2015. His teams are a combined 119-66 and have made 12 postseason appearances, including five NCAA tournament showings. He ranks first at Cortland in both career victories and career winning percentage (.643).
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 2015. 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 outright NJAC titles in 2008 and 2012 and tied for first in the conference in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. His squads tied for ninth nationally after advancing to the second round of the NCAA playoffs in 2010 and 2012, 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 eight or more games eight times, including 10 victories in 2010 and nine in 2002, 2006, 2011 and 2012 in addition to the 11-win 2008 campaign.
In addition to the five NCAA appearances, MacNeill's teams won ECAC bowls in 2002, 2007 and 2012 and played in four 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 and an 11-7 record against rival Ithaca College in the annual “Cortaca Jug” game, including five straight wins from 2010-14.
MacNeill has coached 26 All-Americans, 81 All-East and 70 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 earned 204 All-NJAC honors, 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.
