VMI head coach Danny Rocco stepped down from the head coaching position to take an analyst role at Virginia Tech under James Franklin. Rocco went 7-28 overall in his three years at VMI.
After two decades as an assistant from 1984 through 2005, Rocco became the head coach at Liberty in 2006. He took a 1-10 Liberty team and led them to a 6-5 record in his first season. Under Rocco, Liberty went 47-20 overall, 26-5 in Big South games, won four conference titles, never finished worse than second, and didn’t post a losing record in six seasons.
Rocco then took the head coaching role at Richmond in 2012. In the first year, he led the Spiders to an 8-3 overall record and a share of the CAA title, but Richmond was left out of the FCS playoffs. Richmond would go 6-6 in 2013, before rebounding with three straight playoff appearances. Rocco took Richmond to the FCS semifinals in 2015 and the quarterfinals in 2016, finishing with 10-4 records both seasons. He went 43-22 overall, 26-14 in the CAA, and won 2 CAA titles in five seasons.
In 2017, Rocco moved from Richmond to Delaware. He reached the FCS playoffs in his second year with the Blue Hens and then made the semifinals in the 2020-21 COVID-impacted season. After the 2021 season, he was fired by Delaware and ended up on the Penn State coaching staff for the 2022 season. Rocco went 31-23 overall and 20-16 in the CAA in his five seasons at Delaware.
In 2023, Rocco returned to head coaching at VMI, replacing Scott Wachenheim, who went 24-62 overall in 8 seasons. The Keydets went 5-6 in the first year under Rocco, which led to him receiving a five-year extension. VMI posted back-to-back 1-11 seasons in 2024 and 2025, finishing 9th in the Southern Conference both years. For his career, Rocco is 128-93 overall and 77-54 in conference games.
Rocco is the 17th FCS coaching change to occur in the current cycle. Albany (CAA), Bucknell (Patriot League), Cal Poly (Big Sky), Florida A&M (SWAC), Gardner-Webb (OVC-Big South) Hampton (CAA), Mercer (SoCon), Monmouth (CAA), New Hampshire (CAA), Penn (Ivy League), Portland State (Big Sky), Sacramento State (Big Sky), Samford (SoCon), Southern (SWAC), Weber State (Big Sky), and West Georgia (UAC) have also announced changes. The full list of changes can be found here.
Photo Credit to Virginia Military Institute Athletics
