Omaha World-Herald: Ex-ISU coach lands on his feet at South Florida

[Brad]

Ex-ISU coach lands on his feet at South Florida

BY STEVEN PIVOVAR

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

"I'd like another chance to lead a football program again and make one last great run, but I don't lay awake at night thinking about it," South Florida defensive line coach Dan McCarney said.

Dan McCarney's heart might still be in Iowa, where he grew up, where he spent most of his professional career and where two of his children attend college.

But his football soul now resides at the University of South Florida. And anyone who has ever crossed paths with McCarney knows that there are few football coaches who bring more soul and passion to work with them on a daily basis.

Less than 11 months after resigning as Iowa State's head coach, McCarney is coaching the defensive line for a South Florida team that ranks as one of the top stories in the first half of the 2007 college football season. Unranked before the season, the Bulls now find themselves 5-0 and ranked fifth and sixth.

"Our success has been well-documented, and I'm just happy to be a small part of it," McCarney said. "This has been a lot of fun."

McCarney wound up at South Florida, in part due to his past connection with Bulls head coach Jim Leavitt and in part to the fact that McCarney never considered taking a sabbatical after his 12-season gig in Ames came to an unpleasant ending last November.

"There was no question that I knew I was going to be working somewhere this year," McCarney said. "I'm a guy that has to be working. I know some guys might have considered taking some time off, but I'm not much for sitting around.

"I knew I had to get right back into it. I'm a guy that likes to be with young people and working to do the things that can impact their lives and make them better men and better players. Fortunately, there were some people that believed in me."

Leavitt served as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Iowa in 1989 when McCarney was coaching the Hawkeyes' defensive line. When Leavitt needed a defensive line coach, he lured McCarney to Tampa to be a part of the program that Leavitt started 11 seasons ago.

"My whole staff means a great deal to me because we have a lot of guys that have done an extraordinary job," Leavitt said. "Dan has stepped in and he's done a great job for us. I hired him not because he had been a head coach but because he's a tremendous coach, period.

"Dan brings great insight and great knowledge to our program. He did a great job when he was at Iowa State, and he's done a great job here."

McCarney's linemen share Leavitt's assessment.

"I wish I had him for the past three years because I probably would have been a better player," South Florida nose tackle Richard Clebert told the St. Petersburg Times. "You can ask anyone on the front four — we all give credit to Coach McCarney."

South Florida defensive end George Selvie leads the nation in sacks with 10½ in five games.

"He expects the best for us," Clebert said, "and that's what has George on top of the charts right now. The thing I like about Coach is he has really short-term memory. You can win eight plays, and you can lose one and he'll go off, go crazy."

As a head coach, McCarney sometimes had to repress his fiery style while serving as the face of the program. As a position coach, he's free to be himself.

"I've really enjoyed getting back to coaching a unit," said McCarney, who also serves as the Bulls' assistant head coach. "As a head coach, I was in charge of 135 guys. Now, I'm in charge of about 20. I get to work with them a lot more closely. I've enjoyed getting back to the position meetings and trying to develop the fundamentals to make these guys better.

"The big difference is that as a head coach, you make a lot of decisions. As an assistant, you make a lot of suggestions."

McCarney spent 12 seasons as Iowa State's head coach and enjoyed a degree of success through most of the second half of his tenure in Ames.

McCarney's 2004 team tied for the Big 12 North Division title, and the Cyclones narrowly missed playing in the league championship game that season and in 2003.

The Cyclones went to five bowl games under McCarney and owned a 6-6 record against Iowa. Iowa State went 6-3 against the Hawkeyes in McCarney's last nine seasons.

Things unraveled last season, when the Cyclones lost their first six Big 12 games to drop to 3-7. McCarney resigned with two games remaining, and Iowa State went 1-1 to finish 4-8.

At Iowa State, McCarney took great pride when his team accomplished program "firsts." His new team gives him an opportunity for similar rewards.

"At Iowa State, we worked relentlessly to do something special," McCarney said. "It's the same here. Until this year, this program had never beaten an ACC team, had never beaten an SEC team, had never played before a sellout crowd at home. This team has now done all of those things, and it's great to be a part of a group that is the first to do something.

"These guys had some success last year, and I was impressed with the attitude and the confidence. I could tell this team was really, really hungry. In a lot of ways, it's very similar to the blue-collar program we tried to build at Iowa State."

What's strikingly different, McCarney said, is the level of talent within the program.

"I've never been this close to so much talent," McCarney said. "Obviously, there's talent everywhere in Florida. Everyone recruits here. We've recruited here before, but now that I've had a time to get closer to the situation, it's rare that you go into a (high) school and there's not at least one Division I prospect.

"Sometimes, there's four or six or eight. You don't waste your time because if there's not a player there now, there's probably two or three coming out next year."

A key question is where the 53-year-old McCarney will be next season. His name already is popping up in speculative articles about possible openings at other schools.

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[Mama_Bull]

It doesn't help recruiting top DL talent when McCarney says this.

"I'd like another chance to lead a football program again and make one last great run, but I don't lay awake at night thinking about it," South Florida defensive line coach Dan McCarney said.

I'm surprised he would SAY that to any reporter, even though I'm sure recruits would "wonder" about him possibly leaving. Other schools will use his own words against him this year.

[JrGMan2004]

I hope that he sticks with us... he can definitely have a big impact on our program in the long run...

[Sunil]

"At Iowa State, we worked relentlessly to do something special," McCarney said. "It's the same here. Until this year, this program had never beaten an ACC team, had never beaten an SEC team, had never played before a sellout crowd at home. This team has now done all of those things, and it's great to be a part of a group that is the first to do something.

Hey coach, you're doing an awesome job....but check out the 2006 video and the section marked "Chapel Hill beatdown" 

[Jihme]

it would be huge to keep dan, but realistically he's gone next year

[GetAHobby]

We're lucky to have him this year; there is no chance he will be back next year, but we can all hope...Looks like the writer took some quotes from old articles.

[Who'sYourData?]

Only the dumbest of recruits would expect him to be here for the next five years, but I don't think it's a slam dunk that he's gone.  I think he'd have to get a good opportunity.  He's been through the wars, he won't take just any job.

I wonder how long Burnam has, and McCarney could become at least co-DC if he hangs around.  Sounds like he wants to be in charge again, but sometimes its nice to not have all the responsibility.