Penn State football adds former head coach, letterman, with nearly 40 years of experience to staff

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State football has added another letterman as an analyst.

This one comes with nearly 40 years of coaching experience.

Danny Rocco has joined James Franklin’s staff, he announced on Monday before spring practice begins.

Rocco was most recently the head coach at Delaware. He was 31-23 overall with the Blue Hens but let go after a 5-6 season in 2021. The Huntingdon, Pa., native played at both Penn State and Wake Forest. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the latter school.

Rocco then earned his first on-field role with the Demon Deacons as a defensive line coach in 1986. He late become a position coach at Colorado, Tulsa, Texas (where he was also special teams coordinator), Maryland, and with the New York Jets before taking the Liberty head job in 2006. He left for Richmond in 2012 and then started with Delaware in 2017. All-time, Rocco has a coaching record of 121-65.

“When you get guys like Danny Rocco to be able to join our program, not only his experience in the NFL, his experience as a head coach, his experience as a coordinator; he’s also a letterman,” Franklin said.

“I think that’s also been an emphasis that you’ve seen in our staff as well. Obviously, Dan Connor, and so on and so forth. I think that’s really valuable, and it’s been exciting to have these guys back.”

Rocco and Dan Connor are the two lettermen who are analysts. Deion Barnes and Wendy Laurent, then, fit that model in the graduate assistant department. Alan Zemaitis is the lone recruiting department staffer who played for Penn State. Finally, two on-field coaches were lettermen as well: Tight ends coach Ty Howle and corners coach Terry Smith.

Franklin pleased with Penn State strides in terms of hiring more staff

When Franklin and Penn State agreed to a new 10-year deal late last year, it wasn’t just about more money for himself and longevity. The leader of the Nittany Lions also wanted more funding for facilities and things such as staffing.

Progress has been made in both areas during the early stages of 2022. A weight room expansion at the Lasch Building is currently underway. And, staffers have been added in bulk.

Franklin was quick to caution that some of the offseason hires have been to replace existing positions instead of newly-created ones. At the same time, this is certainly the biggest staff that Franklin has ever had in State College. Since January, Penn State has added Dan Connor, Rick Lyster, Gabe Infante, Frank Leonard, Charles Walker, and Rod Smith in analyst roles. Recruiting department staffers Rashad Rich and Rashad Elby have been brought into the fold, as well.

“Obviously my new contract was a big part of that,” Franklin said. “Typically these positions, they’re not usually long-term positions. They’re either young guys that are transitioning from being a [graduate assistant] to a full-time coach. Or, they’re coaches with tremendous experience that may be out of work that you’re able to bring in for a year and it keeps them involved in the game and allows us to gain some experience and some perspective.

“It’s about manpower in recruiting. It’s about manpower in terms of breaking down film, and when we’re watching tape, that we have enough perspectives in the room, enough experience in the room. And then, obviously, it helps in terms of manpower when it comes to game-planning and those types of things. So you know, there’s tremendous value in it. We have taken some really good strides. I’m pleased with the strides that we’ve made.”