Danny Maciocia (born May 26, 1967) is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He was previously

of the Université de Montréal Carabins

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. He is also the former general manager and director of football operations of the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

and former

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

with the André-Grasset Phénix, a

CEGEP A CEGEP ( or ; ), also written cégep, CÉGEP and cegep, is a publicly funded college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, i ...

team in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Early life

Maciocia grew up in the Saint-Leonard neighbourhood of suburban Montreal. He played football in high school. He graduated from

Laurier Macdonald High School , motto_translation = "The end crowns the work" , established = 1968 , schoolboard = English Montreal School Board , principal = Pasquale Buttino (2000 - 2007)Eileen Kelly (2007 - 2011)Luigi Sant ...

in 1984, and then worked in the family insurance business.

Coaching and Managerial career

Early years

Maciocia began his professional coaching career in 1993 when he took a job as an assistant coach with the Canadian junior national football team. In 1995, he moved into the ranks of the

CJFL The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

as offensive coordinator of the

St. Leonard Cougars The St-Leonard Cougars were a CJFL football team located in Saint-Leonard, Quebec Saint-Leonard ( ; french: Saint-Léonard ) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formerly a separate city, it was amalgamated into the ci ...

, who won the championship of the league in Maciocia's first year.

Montreal Alouettes

In 1998, Maciocia entered the CFL as the running backs coach of the

. In 2001, he became offensive coordinator in Montreal, then took the same position in Edmonton the following season. Maciocia was also the head coach of the 2004 edition of the Canadian junior football team for the eighth

NFL Global Junior Championship The NFL Global Junior Championship was played during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, in the same city that is hosting the game. The first game was played in 1997, and only two teams played, Mexico and Europe. Mexico won the first and seco ...

Edmonton Eskimos

Maciocia was announced as the

for the

on February 19, 2002. He served in that role for three years where the Eskimos appeared in two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

games, including his first championship win in the

91st Grey Cup The 91st Grey Cup was the 2003 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes on November 16 at Taylor Field, in Regina, Saskatchewan before 50,909 fans. The two teams had played during t ...

game. He was appointed as head coach of the Eskimos after the firing of former coach Tom Higgins following

2004 CFL season The 2004 CFL season is considered to be the 51st season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 47th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 2004 Neil Payne retired from his position as Director of Officiating in Febr ...

. Maciocia became the first Quebec-born head coach in CFL history and the first Canadian head coach of the Eskimos since

Annis Stukus Annis Paul Stukus (October 25, 1914 – May 20, 2006) was a Canadian football player, coach and general manager, and ice hockey general manager. Stukus was born in Toronto. He played for the Toronto Argonauts from 1935 to 1941, leading the te ...

in 1951. In 2005, Maciocia guided the Eskimos to a

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

victory in the

93rd Grey Cup The 93rd Grey Cup game was held on November 27, 2005, at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes, to decide the winner of the 2005 season of the Canadian Football League. The ...

, the thirteenth in franchise history. He was also the first Canadian-born head coach in Eskimos history to win the Grey Cup with the team. The 2006 season was not successful for Maciocia and the Eskimos. The team missed the play-offs for the first time in 35 years, ending a record streak for consecutive post-season appearances among North American professional sports teams. Rumours abounded of Maciocia being on the hotseat after the 2006 campaign, but during the off-season he was surprisingly given a promotion. In addition to coach, Maciocia became director of football operations. As a result, he had a high degree control over decisions on player personnel. Despite Maciocia taking more control, the Eskimos finished with an even worse record in 2007 and once again missed the play-offs. He resigned as head coach while continuing on as head of football operations following the end of the

2008 CFL season The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 51st season for the Canadian Football League. It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league's regular season and post-season games, including the Grey Cup ...

, where the Eskimos managed to make the playoffs with a 10–8 record, defeated the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

in the East Semi-Final, and lost the East Final against the

. On July 31, 2010, Maciocia was fired by the Eskimos after the first win in a 1-4 start to the 2010 season.

Montreal Carabins

Maciocia served as a volunteer coach for

Collège André-Grasset Collège André-Grasset is a private college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located near the Quebec Autoroute 40 and the Crémazie metro station. The college was founded in 1927 by the priests of Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Montreal) The Sa ...

for the 2010 season helping them to a Quebec junior college (CEGEP) championship. He was later named head coach of the

Montreal Carabins The Montréal Carabins are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Teams play at the CEPSUM Stadium and at l'aréna du CEPSUM, located at the Université de Montréal campus. ...

football team of the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

on November 17, 2010. In the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, as the Carabins won the 50th Vanier Cup. On their way there, they defeated the

Laval Rouge et Or The Laval Rouge et Or (, ''Red and Gold'') are the athletic teams that represent Université Laval, located in Quebec City, Quebec. Home games are all held in the PEPS indoor and outdoor sports facilities. Varsity teams Laval Rouge et Or teams c ...

to win their first

Dunsmore Cup The Dunsmore Cup (french: Coupe Dunsmore) is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the university-level football competition conducted by Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the governing body for all student sport ...

, the

Manitoba Bisons The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays their games at Investors Group Field. The soccer team play their home games at the University of Manitoba ...

in the

Uteck Bowl The Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to f ...

and then the

McMaster Marauders The McMaster Marauders are the athletic teams that represent McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Athletics at McMaster is currently managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics & recreation department. The unive ...

in the Vanier Cup final. In the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, the Carabins once again returned to the national title game with Maciocia at the helm, only to be defeated this time by the UBC T-Birds, 16-13.

Montreal Alouettes

Maciocia was briefly considered a candidate for the

vacant general manager position in December 2016, following the mutual termination of

Jim Popp James Thomas Popp (born December 21, 1964) is an American sports executive and coach currently working for the United States Football League (USFL) as the Director of Player Administration. He was previously a running back coach and assistant he ...

's contract. The job instead went to

Kavis Reed Kavis Reed (born February 24, 1973) is a former Canadian Football League (CFL) defensive back, head coach and general manager. He was most recently the GM of the Montreal Alouettes from December 2016 until July 2019. He also served three years as ...

. In early January 2020 he was once-again rumoured to be a top-candidate to replace Kavis Reed after the team was sold to Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern. After much speculation, Maciocia was named General Manager of the

on January 13, 2020. In his first season as general manager, in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, the team finished in third place in the East Division with a 7–7 record and lost the East Semi-Final. After the first four games of the 2022 season, the team's head coach

Khari Jones Khari Okang Jones ( ; born May 16, 1971) is a former professional Canadian football player and the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was formerly the head coach for ...

was fired and replaced by Maciocia.

CFL GM record

CFL coaching record

Personal life

Maciocia and his wife Sandra Vaz have three daughters. Maciocia is fluent in English, French, and Italian.

References

External links

Eskimos' Press Release on Maciocia's hiring as head coach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maciocia, Danny 1967 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Edmonton Elks coaches Edmonton Elks general managers Canadian people of Italian descent Players of Canadian football from Quebec Sportspeople from Montreal TCU Horned Frogs football players Montreal Carabins football coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Montreal Alouettes general managers