Danny Rocco Daniel Christopher Rocco ( born July 16 , 1960 ) is the current head coach of the Richmond Spiders college football team representing the University of Richmond and a former assistant coach of the New York Jets of the NFL . Rocco has over 25 years of professional and collegiate coaching experience . Rocco earned his Bachelor ' s Degree in Speech Communications from Wake Forest in 1984 . He then added an Education and Counseling Master ' s Degree from Wake Forest in 1987 . He is the son of former Penn State assistant coach Frank Rocco Sr . , the brother of former Penn State quarterback Frank Rocco , Jr . ( currently the head football coach and athletic director at Libery Christian Academy in Lynchburg , VA ) , the uncle of Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Michael Rocco whose father is Frank Jr . ; the brother of Dave Rocco ( currently the head football coach and assistant athletic director at The Covenant School in Charlottesville , VA ) , and the brother of Sheri Harrison ( resides in State College , PA ) . Playing career . Rocco played linebacker for Joe Paterno at Penn State earning letters in 1979 and 1980 . He played in the 1979 Liberty Bowl and the 1980 Fiesta Bowl for the Nittany Lions . He then transferred to Wake Forest under then head coach Al Groh where he started for two more seasons at outside linebacker in 1982 and 1983 . He was named team captain of the Demon Deacons in 1983 . Coaching career . Throughout his coaching career , Rocco has been a friend and protégé of Al Groh , working with him for over six years in both collegiate and professional positions . Rocco began his coaching career as a Graduate Assistant then defensive line coach at Wake Forest University from 1984 to 1986 . After a season coaching linebackers at the Colorado under Bill McCartney , he spent three seasons at Tulsa . Next stop for Rocco was Boston College and three years under Tom Coughlin as defensive line coach . Liberty . Rocco was named the head coach of the Flames on December 2 , 2005 , succeeding Ken Karcher . He began his first stint as a head coach at any level taking over a program that went 1 – 10 the season before he arrived in 2005 . In his first season as head coach at Liberty in 2006 , he led the Flames to a 6 – 5 record and was honored by the Big South Conference as their Coach of the Year . He then followed that up in 2007 by leading the Flames to an 8 – 3 record and the school ' s first ever Big South Conference Championship and his second consecutive Coach of the Year distinction . In February 2008 , the university extended Rocco ' s contract through the 2012 season . He then followed that up with another Big South Conference championship in 2008 with a 5 – 0 record in league play . He was named Big South Coach of the Year for the third straight season . In 2009 , he stretched the Flames ' Big South winning streak to a conference record 15 games before falling in the season finale at Stony Brook . Liberty shared the conference championship with the Seawolves . In 2010 , a loss at Coastal Carolina led to a three - way share of the league title with the Chanticleers and Stony Brook . But CCU went to the playoffs based on a tie - breaker of point allowed in conference games . In January 2010 , Rocco signed a 2 - year contract extension through the 2014 season . On December 6 , 2011 , Rocco was named head coach at the University of Richmond .