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| Dan Gritti's first head coaching job was a success. Rhodes athletic photo |
Millikin athletic director Craig White is pleased to announce the hiring of Rhodes football coach Dan Gritti as the new Big Blue football coach.
Gritti comes to Millikin after successfully resurrecting the football program at Rhodes. In 2013, Gritti led the Lynx to an 8-2 record and the school’s first conference championship in 26 years.
Gritti replaces Patrick Etherton, who resigned at the end of the season. Millikin was 3-7 this past season, 1-6 in the CCIW, and had gone 16-34 under Etherton.
Under Gritti’s leadership, Rhodes had back-to-back 8-2 (5-1 Southern Athletic Association) seasons in 2013 and 2014, setting a school record for most wins over a two-year period. The five wins in SAA play were the most conference wins in a single season in Lynx history. The 8-2 records were the best single season records at Rhodes since 1985 and the most wins in a season since 1977. In his five seasons at Rhodes, Gritti compiled a 29-19 (.604) career record.
White said: “We had tremendous interest in the position with a quality pool of candidates. We looked at high school coaches with successful backgrounds, coordinators from top programs and college head coaches that had changed cultures and developed winning programs.
“I was impressed with what Coach Gritti accomplished at Rhodes. I am confident Coach Gritti will get Millikin football on the road to success and I look forward to working with him on that journey.”
"I am excited about the opportunity to bring the Big Blue football program back to prominence,” said Gritti. "It's an exciting time to be at Millikin, and I look forward to adding to the excitement on Saturdays in the fall as we put a successful team on the field. I chose to come to Millikin because of the quality of its student-athletes and the university's commitment to being successful in all its endeavors. They both deserve a winning football program, and I believe that I am the person to make that happen."
Gritti’s defenses at Rhodes were consistently among the best in the conference and nationally. In 2014, Rhodes was ranked second in the country in team sacks (41), second in fourth down defense and 12th in tackles for a loss. Rhodes’ special teams have excelled in the Gritti era earning Top 30 NCAA Division III national rankings in seven different special teams’ statistical categories.
"We would like to thank Dan for his contributions to the program the past five years," said Rhodes athletic director Mike Clary. "We wish him the best in his future endeavors."
In addition to the on-field success at Rhodes, Gritti recruited the two largest and most geographically diverse recruiting classes in program history and raised the team grade point average from 2.8 to 3.2. Gritti raised $4 million for the program that helped to fund a new FieldTurf field with lights, a varsity athletic weight room, and an endowed fund to provide budget enhancements for the football program.
Prior to coming to Rhodes, Gritti served as an assistant coach at the University of Chicago and Middlebury. At both stops, Gritti was part of conference championship seasons. Gritti coached at Chicago from 2009-2010 serving as special teams coordinator in both seasons. In his first season he coached the linebackers, and in 2010 his role expanded to directing the University of Chicago’s front seven. In his four seasons at Middlebury, Gritti served as special teams coordinator and coached the linebackers and defensive backs.
As an assistant coach, Gritti developed a reputation for aggressive defenses and dynamic special teams. On his way to the 2010 University Athletic Association championship at Chicago, Gritti’s defense finished second in the nation in sacks and third in tackles for loss. Similarly, Gritti’s special teams tied an NCAA record for most punts blocked for touchdowns in a season with six.
At Middlebury, Gritti was part of the team winning its first outright conference championship in 15 years and a defense that finished in the Top 20 nationally in seven separate categories including finishing third in the nation in scoring defense and fifth in pass efficiency defense in 2007.
Gritti began his coaching career at Indiana as a defensive quality control assistant. At Indiana, Gritti was reunited with his mentor Gerry DiNardo, who served as Vanderbilt’s head football coach while Gritti was an undergraduate.
Gritti earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and U.S. history at Vanderbilt in 1995. He earned a law degree from Wisconsin in 1998.