Saturday’s Honorary Captain a Familiar Face

A man who coached at both Iowa and Iowa State will act as honorary captain before Iowa's season opener.

Dan McCarney, who was a player at the University of Iowa and later a Hawkeye assistant coach, will serve as honorary captain when Iowa opens their 2016 season Saturday afternoon at Kinnick Stadium.

McCarney is an Iowa City native who graduated from City High, was a Hawkeye letter winner from 1972-74, and was a team captain his senior year. Then began a career in football.

Dan McCarney was a Hawkeye assistant coach under Hayden Fry for 11 years. Iowa went to eight bowl games during that time, including two Rose Bowl games.

McCarney then went on to Wisconsin, before becoming the head coach at Iowa State. He spent 13 years as the head of the Cyclones program. McCarney was Big 12 Coach of the year in 2004 and during the 119-year history of Iowa State football, only 17 teams have won seven or more games. Five of those seventeen teams were coached by McCarney.

McCarney's other stops include the University of South Florida, Florida, and North Texas.

Dan McCarney's career coaching numbers are definitely impressive. He coached 21 bowl games in 36 years as a college coach. 22 players that he coached have been drafted into the NFL. Nine of those players were selected in the first three rounds.

Dan McCarney certainly made his mark at Iowa State, but it all started in Iowa City and Saturday, for the first time in a long time, Hawkeye fans will be able to say thank you with their voices and their applause. I expect it will be one very loud thank you when he accompanies the captains to the center of the field prior to kickoff.

[via University of Iowa Sports Information]