Dan Gritti named Rhodes new head football coach

(Story taken from the Rhodes College website)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Rhodes College announced today the selection of Dan Gritti as its new head football coach. Coach Gritti comes to Rhodes from the University of Chicago, where he served the past two seasons as the defensive line/linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

Chicago finished the 2010 season with an 8-2 record and won the University Athletic Association football title.

"The moment I stepped on campus I knew what a special place Rhodes is,” said Coach Gritti. “I am excited about building a championship football team at a school with such high academic standards. I look forward to meeting the football players and letting them know how excited I am to lead this program."

With the assistance of Coach Gritti, Chicago ranked in the top 10 in the country in several defensive and special teams categories. The Chicago defense ranked third in the country in sacks and tackles for loss. They tied the NCAA Division III record for most punts blocked for touchdowns in a season.

Prior to being on the staff at Chicago, Coach Gritti served as the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at Middlebury College in Vermont from 2005-08. Middlebury's 2007 team won the NESCAC league championship and their defense ranked #3 in the country in total defense.

While a student at Vanderbilt, Dan served as a student assistant with the Commodore football program. He graduated from Vanderbilt in 1995, then earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1998. After graduating from Wisconsin, Dan practiced for six years at the prestigious Littler Mendelson firm in New York City.

In 2003 Coach Gritti decided to forego his career as a lawyer and pursue his dream of being a college football coach. Coach Gritti reconnected with Gerry DiNardo at the University of Indiana, who was the head football coach at Vanderbilt when Dan served as a student assistant. Coach Gritti served for two years as a graduate assistant at Indiana.

"Dan Gritti brings unique qualities to Rhodes College and the Lynx football program," said Mike Clary, Rhodes Director of Athletics. "Beyond being an excellent football coach, Dan has lived and breathed the joys and rigors of being a Dean's List undergraduate and law student. We're also very excited about his interest and abilities to engage our alumni, parents, faculty and staff to provide the best academic and co-curricular opportunity for our football team.”