Gerry DiNardo
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Gerry Dinardo (born 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.
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.
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.
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 (10/19/91) and #25 Ole Miss (9/19/92).
After 1994, Dinardo left Vanderbilt University 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 Top 25 since 1989.
Dinardo brought back the magic to LSU, restoring the tradition of wearing white jerseys during home games and restoring LSU's reputation as an SEC powerhouse.
In his first season at LSU (1995), LSU began the season with a loss at #3 Texas A&M (9/2/95). However, during LSU's first home game (9/16/95), Dinardo led LSU to an astonishing 12-6 upset victory over #6 Auburn, a game which went down to the last play and brought the electricity back to Tiger Stadium. As a result of the victory, LSU spent the next 3 weeks in the AP Top 25, before losing to #3 Florida (10/7/95). LSU's next losses were to unranked Kentucky (10/14/95) and #16 Alabama (11/4/95). LSU finished the season by beating #14 Arkansas (11/18/95). LSU then went to the Independence Bowl, where the Tigers mauled unranked Michigan State 45-26.
In 1996, LSU began the season with a preseason ranking of #19. After LSU defeated #13 Auburn (9/21/96), LSU lost to #1 Florida (10/12/96) and #10 Alabama (11/9/96), finishing the regular season at 9-2. LSU went to the 1996 Peach Bowl where they beat unranked Clemson. 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. In one of the greatest games in football history, the Tigers upset #1 Florida 28-21 (10/11/97), making the cover of Sports Illustrated. The next week, LSU had a disappointing let-down against unranked Ole Miss (10/18/97). LSU's only other loss of the season was to unranked Notre Dame (11/15/97), which the Tigers avenged by smashing Notre Dame 27-9 in a rematch in the 1997 Independence Bowl. LSU finished the season ranked #13.
In 1998, LSU started the season with a preseason ranking of #9. LSU climbed to #6 before losing to #12 Georgia (10/3/98). The next week, the #11-ranked Tigers lost to the #6 Florida Gators (10/10/98). After that, LSU went into a tail-spin, losing 13 of the next 17 games, including losses to a #10 Notre Dame (11/21/98), #13 Arkansas (11/27/98), #10 Georgia (10/2/99), #8 Florida (10/9/99), #12 Mississippi State (10/23/99), #25 Ole Miss (10/31/99), and #12 Alabama (11/6/99).
As a result, LSU fired Dinardo at the end of the 1999 season. However, as a result of Dinardo's early success, LSU was able to attract stellar recruits. Dinardo left LSU with a talent-rich team that would enable successor coach Nick Saban to continuing building LSU's national prominence.
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, and DiNardo moved on to become head coach at Indiana University. He was largely unsuccessful in the Big Ten, never winning more than 3 games in a season.
Since 2005, Dinardo has worked as a college football analyst for ESPN Radio and can be heard weekly as part of the College GameDay crew.
| Preceded by: Watson Brown |
Vanderbilt University Head Football Coach 1991-1994 |
Succeeded by: Rod Dowhower |
| Preceded by: Curley Hallman |
Louisiana State University Head Football Coach 1995-1999 (first 10 games) |
Succeeded by: Hal Hunter (interim) |
| Preceded by: Cam Cameron |
Indiana University Head Football Coach 2002-2004 |
Succeeded by: Terry Hoeppner |
| Vanderbilt Commodores Head Football Coaches |
|---|
| Jones • W. J. Keller • Thornton • C. L. Upton • R. G. Acton • J. L. Crane • W. H. Watkins • J. H. Henry • McGugin • Morrison • Sanders • E. H. Alley • Bartling • Edwards • Guepe • Green • Pace • Sloan • Pancoast • MacIntyre • Brown • DiNardo • Dowhower • Widenhofer • Johnson |
| LSU Head Football Coaches |
|---|
| Coates • Simmons • Jeardeau • Chavanne • Gregg • Boreland • Killian • Wingard • Pritchard • Mayhew • Dwyer • McDonald • Bible • Sutton • Pray • Bocock • Donahue • Cohen • Jones • Moore • Tinsley • Dietzel • McClendon • Rein • Stovall • Arnsparger • Archer • Hallman • DiNardo • Saban • Miles |
| Indiana Hoosiers Head Football Coaches |
|---|
| Woodford • Wollen • Herod • Ferbert • Huddleston • Osgood • Wren • Gonterman • Horne • Sheldon • Childs • Stiehm • Herron • Ingram • Page • Hayes • McMillin • Smith • Crimmins • Hicks • Dickens • Pont • Corso • Wyche • Mallory • Cameron • DiNardo • Hoeppner |
