Dante Scarnecchia

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Dante Scarnecchia
Scarnecchia at 2005 Patriots training camp
Date of birth	February 14, 1948 (1948-02-14) (age 60)
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California
Position(s)	Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach
College	California Western University
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1970-1972 1973-1974 1975 1976 1977-1978 1979 1980-1981 1982-1988 1989-1990 1991-1992 1993-1994 1995-1996 1997-1998 1999-present 2000-present	California Western (Offensive Line Coach) Iowa State (Assistant Offensive Line Coach) (Assistant Defensive Backfield Coach) SMU (Graduate Assistant) SMU (Offensive Line Coach) Pacific (Offensive Line Coach) Northern Arizona (Offensive Line Coach) SMU (Offensive Line Coach) New England Patriots (Special Teams Coach) (Tight Ends Coach) Indianapolis Colts (Offensive Line Coach) New England Patriots (Special Teams Coach) (Tight Ends Coach) New England Patriots (Special Assistant) New England Patriots (Defensive Assistant) New England Patriots (Special Teams Coach) New England Patriots (Offensive Line Coach) New England Patriots (Assistant Head Coach)

Dante Scarnecchia (born February 14, 1948 in Los Angeles, California) is the American football offensive line coach and assistant head coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. Scarnecchia has spent the majority of his professional coaching career with the Patriots, joining them in 1982 and only leaving in 1989 to coach with the Indianapolis Colts, before returning to the Patriots two years later.

1 Playing career
2 Coaching career
- 2.1 College
- 2.2 NFL
3 External links

[edit] Playing career

Scarnecchia attended Taft Junior College before transferring to California Western University in 1966, where he played football as an offensive lineman and earned a degree in physical education, while also serving as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] College

Scarnecchia began his coaching career in 1970 with his alma mater California Western University as their offensive line coach, a position he held through 1972. From 1973 to 1974, Scarnecchia was the assistant offensive line and assistant defensive backfield coach for Iowa State University. In 1975, he began a two-year stint with Southern Methodist University, first as a graduate assistant before being promoted to offensive line coach upon the hiring of head coach Ron Meyer in 1976. From 1977 through 1978, Scarnecchia served as offensive line coach for the University of the Pacific before spending a year at Northern Arizona University in the same capacity. He returned to Southern Methodist in 1980 as offensive line coach, spending two seasons there before following head coach Ron Meyer to the Patriots.

[edit] NFL

Scarnecchia joined the Patriots in 1982 as a special teams and tight end scoach. From 1989 to 1990, he served on Meyer's Indianapolis Colts' staff as their offensive line coach. Scarnecchia returned to the Patriots in 1991, where he spent two seasons under Dick McPherson again as a special teams and offensive line coach. In 1992, Scarnecchia held the responsibilities of head coach while MacPherson was ill for the final eight games of the season. Under head coach Bill Parcells in 1993 and 1994, Scarnecchia was re-assigned as a special assistant. In 1995, Scarnecchia was again re-assigned, this time to a defensive assistant. Once Parcells left the team after the 1996 New England Patriots season, and Pete Carroll was hired as head coach, Scarnecchia became the team's special teams coach again. In Carroll's final season with the Patriots, Scarnecchia was re-assigned to his current position of offensive line coach. New head coach Bill Belichick additionally appointed Scarnecchia as the team's assistant head coach in 2000.