Danny Rocco is stepping down as the head football coach at VMI, and is reportedly headed to Virginia Tech, to take a job on the staff of new head football coach James Franklin.
“I want to thank our coaches for all of their hard work and sacrifices,” Rocco said, per a statement from VMI Athletics announcing his departure that went out on Tuesday. “They spend the majority of their time and energy focusing on the players and our team. Their hard work and sacrifices are both recognized and greatly appreciated.”
Rocco had just wrapped his second straight 1-11 season at VMI, after going 5-6 in his first season, in 2023.
He’d had solid success in previous stops at Liberty (47-20 in six seasons, from 2006-2011), Richmond (43-22, with three playoff appearances, in five seasons, from 2012-2016) and Delaware (31-23, with two playoff appearances, in five seasons, from 2017-2021).
Before his first head-coaching job at Liberty, Rocco had served on the staff of Al Groh with the New York Jets in 2000, and at Virginia from 2001-2005.
The Wake Forest grad had also worked as an assistant at his alma mater, and at Colorado, Tulsa, Boston College, Texas and Maryland.
FootballScoop.com reported on Monday that Rocco was set to leave VMI for Tech to rejoin Franklin, where he had worked as an analyst in the 2022 season at Penn State – between his stints at Delaware and VMI.
Rocco’s college football career actually started at Penn State, where he a linebacker for two seasons, 1979-1980, before transferring to Wake Forest ahead of the 1981 season.
The FootballScoop.com report has Rocco set to take another off-the-field analyst role on Franklin’s new staff at Virginia Tech.
“I want to thank Coach Rocco for his service to the Institute these past three seasons,” said the VMI superintendent, Lt. Gen. Furness. “The wins and losses do not reflect how Coach Rocco developed his cadet-athletes as not just football players, but also as leaders of character. I wish him and the Rocco family the best in their future endeavors.”
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Chris Graham
