Assistant Coach Eric McDaniel

ERIC MCDANIEL

DEFENSIVE LINE

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Eric McDaniel begins his first season as Troy’s defensive line coach following one season in a similar role at Army West Point.

McDaniel helped guide Army to a 9-4 record in 2021, capped by a victory over Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl. Army ranked 17th nationally, holding opponents to just 328.4 yards per game, 36th allowing just 22.3 points per game and 17th allowing only 117.2 yards per game on the ground. The Black Knights were also one of the fewest penalized teams in the country, finishing third with just 3.85 penalties per game and set the school record for sacks in a season with 30.

Army’s defense specialized in getting off the field and limited opposing offenses to just 24:28 time of possession each game, tied for the lowest in the country.

Prior to his one-year stint with the Black Knights, McDaniel was a quality control coach at Louisville for two seasons after two seasons as quality control coach at App State working with the Mountaineers defensive line.

Louisville improved by over 10 points per game and more than doubled their sack total from the 2018 season in McDaniel’s first year with the Cardinals. At App State, the defense ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense at 15.7 points per game, holding the opposition to 10 or fewer points in seven contests. The Mountaineers also ranked No. 1 in big plays allowed and sixth in total defense (279.3) and in 2017 ranked 17th nationally with 38 sacks.

Before getting his start at the FBS level with App State, McDaniel was a graduate assistant at Muskingum for two seasons at the NCAA Division III level. McDaniel graduated with his degree in health and kinesiology from Purdue in 2014 where he played in 15 games for the Boilermakers from 2009-13. He earned his master’s degree in education from Muskingum in 2016.

YEAR AT TROY: AGE: HOMETOWN: HIGH SCHOOL: ALMA MATER:

MCDANIEL FILE

1st (2022) 31 (Sept. 8, 1990) Calhoun, Ga. Calhoun HS (‘09) Purdue (‘14) - B.S. in Health & Kinesiology Muskingum (‘16) - M.S. Education

PLAYING CAREER

2009-13

COACHING CAREER

Troy (Defensive Line)

Army (Defensive Line) Louisville (Quality Control) App State (Quality Control) Muskingum (Graduate Assistant)

BOWL HISTORY

Season Bowl

Team

2021 Armed Forces Army 2019 Music City Louisville

2018 New Orleans

App State 2017 Dollar General App State Purdue

2022

2021 2019-20 2016-18 2014-15

Opponent Result

Missouri W, 24-22 Mississippi State W, 38-28 Middle Tenn. W, 45-13 Toledo W, 34-0