Gerry DiNardo

Gerry DiNardo (born Gerard DiNardo November 10 1952) is a former All-American guard at the University of Notre Dame, and also a former college football and XFL head coach.

Playing career

DiNardo went to college at the University of Notre Dame, where he played guard from 1972 to 1974 for coach Ara Parseghian. DiNardo was a member of the school's 1973 national championship team, and an All-American in 1974. DiNardo's older brother, Larry, was also an All-American at Notre Dame from 1968-70.

Coaching career

In 1982, DiNardo joined the coaching staff at the University of Colorado under head coach Bill McCartney. DiNardo was the offensive coordinator when Colorado won the national championship in 1990.

Vanderbilt

In 1991, DiNardo took the head coach job at Vanderbilt University. During 1988, 1989, and 1990, Vanderbilt finished 3-8, 1-10, and 1-10. Then DiNardo took over and went 5-6, 4-7, 4-7, and 5-6. DiNardo's two biggest wins were when he led the Commodores to victory over #17 Georgia on October 19 1991 and #25 Ole Miss on September 19 1992.

LSU

After 1994, DiNardo left Vanderbilt and took the head coach position at LSU. He took over a program that had six straight losing seasons and that hadn't been ranked in the AP Poll since 1989. DiNardo revived LSU football; bringing back the tradition of wearing white jerseys during home games and restoring LSU's reputation as an Southeast Conference (SEC) powerhouse.

In his first season at LSU in 1995, the Tigers opened with a loss at #3 Texas A&M on September 2 1995. However, during LSU's first home game on September 16 1995, DiNardo led LSU to a 12-6 upset victory over #6 Auburn, a game which went down to the last play. As a result of the victory, LSU spent the next 3 weeks in the AP Poll before losing to #3 Florida October 7 1995. LSU's next losses were to unranked Kentucky on October 14 1995 and #16 Alabama on November 4 1995. LSU finished the season by beating #14 Arkansas on November 18 1995. The Tigers then went to the 1995 Independence Bowl, where they beat unranked Michigan State 45-26, who were coincidentally coached by Nick Saban, the man who would eventually replace DiNardo at LSU.

In 1996, LSU began the season with a preseason ranking of #19. After LSU defeated #13 Auburn (9/21/96), the Tigers lost to #1 Florida (10/12/96) and #10 Alabama (11/9/96), finishing the regular season at 9-2. LSU went to the Peach Bowl where they beat unranked Clemson, by a score of 10-7. LSU finished the season ranked #12.

In 1997, LSU started the season with a preseason ranking of #10. After losing to #12 Auburn (9/20/97) LSU faced off against #1 Florida in Tiger Stadium. LSU upset the Gators 28-21 on October 11 1997, making the cover of Sports Illustrated in the process. The next week LSU lost to unranked Ole Miss on October 18 1997. LSU's only other loss of the season was to unranked Notre Dame on November 15 1997, which the Tigers avenged by beating Notre Dame 27-9 in a rematch in the 1997 Independence Bowl. LSU finished the season ranked #13. When asked how it felt to be facing his alma mater, DiNardo replied that it was just another game.cn|date=March 2008

In 1998, LSU started the season with a preseason ranking of #9. They climbed to #6 before losing to #12 Georgia on October 3 1998. The next week the #11-ranked Tigers lost to the #6 Florida on October 10 1998. After the Gator loss, LSU lost 13 of the next 17 games, including losses to a #4 Notre Dame on November 21 1998, #13 Arkansas on November 27 1998, #10 Georgia on October 2 1999, #8 Florida on October 9 1999, #12 Mississippi State on October 23 1999, #25 Ole Miss on October 31 1999, and #12 Alabama on November 6 1999.

On November 15 1999, two days after the Tigers lost to unranked Houston in Tiger Stadium, LSU chancellor Mark Emmert fired DiNardo with one game remaining in the season. DiNardo was given the option to coach the game against Arkansas (the Battle for the Golden Boot), but DiNardo declined. Instead, offensive line coach Hal Hunter was named interim coach, leading LSU to a 35-10 victory over the Razorbacks.

Nick Saban was named as DiNardo's replacement on November 30 1999, and guided the Tigers to the 2001 SEC Championship with many of DiNardo's recruits in the starting lineup.

XFL

DiNardo's next head coaching job was in the ill-fated XFL in 2001. He was the coach of the Birmingham Thunderbolts. The league folded after one season.

Indiana

After the XFL folded, DiNardo moved on to become head coach at Indiana University in 2002. He was largely unsuccessful in the Big Ten Conference, never winning more than 3 games in a season and was fired after the 2004 season.

Post-coaching career

Starting in 2005, DiNardo worked as a college football analyst for ESPN Radio, ESPN News, and can be heard weekly as part of the College GameDay crew along with Dave Revsine and Todd McShay. DiNardo currently works as an analyst for the new Big Ten Network.

Family

Gerry DiNardo was born in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. He is the youngest son of Pasquale Richard DiNardo and Maria Inez DiNardo, and has three brothers, John, Robert, and Lawrence. He currently lives in Chicago, Illinois with his wife Terri. He has two children, Kate and Michael.