Daniel Da Prato (born October 2, 1981) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player. He is the Special Teams Coordinator at

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

. He was the interim head football coach at

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

from November to December 2022 following the firing of head coach

Jeff Scott Jeffrey Bradford Scott (born December 28, 1980) is an American football coach. He was the head coach at the University of South Florida from 2020 to 2022. Playing career Born in Arcadia, Florida, Scott later lived in Seneca, South Carolina and ...

Playing career

Da Prato was born in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, and grew up in

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

. His father, Steve Da Prato, is a football coach and athletic administrator. Daniel attended Fred C. Beyer High School, where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. At the time, his father was the head football coach at

Modesto Junior College Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system al ...

. Steve moved to

New Mexico Highlands University New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) is a public university in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Founded in 1893, it has satellite campuses in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Farmington and Roswell. NMHU has an average annual enrollment of approximate ...

for the 2000 season and then

Chabot College Chabot College (Chabot or CC) is a public community college in Hayward, California. It is part of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. History Chabot College was the first college opened by the Chabot- Las Positas Community Colle ...

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Coun ...

, in 2001. Daniel followed him through these moves, playing quarterback at both schools before transferring to Louisiana–Monroe for the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

Coaching career

Da Prato began his coaching career in 2004 as a graduate assistant at Louisiana–Monroe under head coach

Charlie Weatherbie Charles Alvin Weatherbie (born January 17, 1955) is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University (1992–1994), the United States Naval Academy (1995–2001), and Louisiana M ...

. He was named director of football operations in 2006. In 2007, he returned to Northern California as wide receivers coach at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

under new head coach

Marshall Sperbeck Thomas Marshall Sperbeck III (born May 19, 1960) is an American college football coach and former player. Sperbeck was the head football coach at California State University, Sacramento from 2007 to April 2014, resigning in the midst of an NCAA i ...

. Da Prato coached at Sacramento State for six seasons, adding the special teams coordinator title in 2010. Da Prato resigned from Sacramento State in March 2013 to become the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

, under head coach

Rob Ash Robert W. Ash (born July 9, 1951) is an American former college football coach. He served as the head football coach at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1988, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa from 1989 to 2006, and Mont ...

. Da Prato replaced Erik Link, who departed to become an analyst at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. Montana State fired Ash after the 2015 season. Da Prato joined the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

staff under

Mike MacIntyre George Michael MacIntyre (born March 14, 1965) is an American football coach. He is the head coach at FIU Panthers football, FIU. MacIntyre served as the head football coach at San Jose State University from 2010 to 2013 and the University of C ...

in 2016 as offensive quality control coach. Colorado fired MacIntyre after the 2018 season, and Da Prato moved to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

as special teams quality control coach. That job ended after one season when Arkansas fired head coach

Chad Morris Chad Allen Morris (born December 4, 1968) is an American football coach. He is currently an offensive analyst at South Florida. Morris served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2015 to 2017 and the University ...

during a disastrous 2019 season. Special teams coordinator/tight ends coach

Barry Lunney Jr. Barry Lunney Jr. (born September 11, 1974) is an American football coach. He is the offensive coordinator at the University of Illinois. Lunney served as the interim head football coach at the University of Arkansas for the final two games of the ...

became interim head coach, and Da Prato took over the special teams coordinator role for the remainder of the season. Following the 2019 season, the

hired Da Prato to be special teams coordinator under new head coach

. South Florida fired Scott on November 6, 2022, with three games remaining in the regular season, and named Da Prato the interim head coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

South Florida profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Da Prato, Daniel 1981 births Living people Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Chabot Gladiators football players Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football coaches Montana State Bobcats football coaches New Mexico Highlands Cowboys football players Sacramento State Hornets football coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches Sportspeople from Modesto, California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from Sacramento, California