Dave DeGuglielmo

Dave DeGuglielmo

San Diego Chargers
Position:	Assistant offensive line coach
Personal information
Born:	(1968-07-15) July 15, 1968 Cambridge, Massachusetts
Career information
High school:	Lexington (MA)
College:	Boston University
Career history
As a coach:
Boston College (1991–1992) Graduate assistant (OL) Boston University (1993–1995) Offensive line coach Boston University (1996) Offensive line coach & assistant head coach University of Connecticut (1997–1998) Offensive line coach University of South Carolina (1999–2003) Offensive line coach New York Giants (2004) Assistant offensive line & quality control coach New York Giants (2005-2008) Assistant Offensive line coach Miami Dolphins (2009–2011) Offensive line coach New York Jets (2012) Offensive line coach New England Patriots (2014–2015) Offensive line coach San Diego Chargers (2016–present) Assistant offensive line coach
Career highlights and awards
2× Super Bowl Champion (XLII, XLIX) NFC Champion (2007) AFC Champion (2014)

Dave DeGuglielmo (day-ghoul-YELL-moh;) born July 15, 1968) is an American football coach who is currently an assistant offensive line coach for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He was also an offensive line coach for the NFL's Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.

Early years

DeGuglielmo was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was raised in Lexington, Massachusetts. One of three children (an older brother Charlie, and younger a sister Cristina), he is first generation Italian-American, as his father (Carmine Giuseppe DeGuglielmo / legally changed his name to Charles Joseph DeGuglielmo) emigrated to the US in 1954 with his family as a teenager, from a village outside of Avellino, Italy. His mother (June Dorothy Galassi) was born in Boston, and is of Italian and French Canadian heritage.

Playing career

DeGuglielmo played both offensive and defensive tackle at Lexington High School (MA) under legendary Massachusetts high school football coach, Bill Tighe. During that time, Lexington High School won two Middlesex League Championships and played for the Division I Super Bowl title against nationally ranked Brockton High School (MA). Moving on to play collegiately at Boston University, he red-shirted his first year (1986) at BU. Despite being a non-scholarship "walk-on," he ultimately became a four-year letterman at Boston University from 1987 to 1990. DeGuglielmo trained under world-renowned strength and conditioning guru, Mike Boyle, who was at the time the Terriers' head strength and conditioning coach. Playing for three different head coaches in five years, and three different offensive line coaches in his first three seasons, he persevered and was voted captain of the 1990 Terriers. The second of his head coaches was Chris Palmer, future head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Palmer and DeGuglielmo would reunite in 2007 at the NY Giants. His final offensive line coach was Tony Sparano, who went on to become the head football coach of the Miami Dolphins. Sparano would later hire Deguglielmo as his offensive line coach in Miami. Playing both guard and center, DeGuglielmo was a first-team All-New England selection as well as a two-time Academic All-Yankee Conference selection.

Coaching career

College coaching

After his playing career ended, DeGuglielmo started off his coaching career at Boston College as a graduate assistant for the 1991-1992 seasons. During this time he served on the staff of then head football coach, Tom Coughlin, and studied under legendary offensive line coach, Mike Maser; DeGuglielmo credits this period of his coaching career for learning many of the traits that would make him successful going forward. Boston College was invited to participate in the Hall of Fame Bowl (now called the Outback Bowl) in his second year on staff; this was the first bowl invitation for the Eagles in many years, and proves a significant step towards the resurgence of the Boston College Football program to national respectability.

Upon the conclusion of this apprenticeship, he returned to coach the offensive line at his alma mater, Boston University, from 1993-1996. In his first season, the Terriers compiled a 11-0 record in the regular season, and went on to beat the University of Northern Iowa (quarterbacked by future Super Bowl MVP, Kurt Warner) in the first round of the post-season. DeGuglielmo again helped Boston University to post-season play, and a regular season victory over the Division I-A opponent (now referred to as FBS), the Cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He held the title of offensive line coach throughout his four year stint, adding the assistant head coach title in his final season.

DeGuglielmo left the Terriers to take the position of offensive line coach at a Yankee Conference rival, the University of Connecticut, working for head football coach, Skip Holtz. At this time, Connecticut was in the process of elevating it's football program to Division I-A (FBS), while Boston University was set to disband it's football program the following season (1997), although DeGuglielmo had no knowledge of BU's plans. DeGuglielmo spent two season with UConn, helping them to the Division I-AA Playoffs (now called FCS) for the first time in school history; in his final season (1998) the Huskies beat the eventual I-AA National Champions, the University of Massachusetts, twice. Following the playoff loss to Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA, the football staff was informed that the head coach, Skip Holtz, was leaving to be the offensive coordinator on his father's staff at the University of South Carolina.

At only thirty years old, he was offered an opportunity to work in the most prestigious football conference in America, the SEC, and for hall of fame/coaching legend, Lou Holtz as part of his inaugural staff. After a winless season in 1999, DeGuglielmo helped USC earn a New Year's Day bowl birth with an invitation to the Outback Bowl, to be played in Tampa, FL, against perennial national powerhouse, Ohio State University. The Gamecocks' victory was instrumental in the resurgence of South Carolina's football program. The following year, the Gamecocks again earned an invitation to the Outback Bowl to play a familiar foe, the Ohio State University Buckeyes. The results were the same, as USC again defeated the representatives from the prestigious Big Ten Conference. In all, he coached the Gamecocks for five seasons, in a variety of roles including offensive line coach (1999,2003), and tackles/tight ends coach (2000-2002). His final game with the Gamecocks was a devastating loss to in state rival Clemson University, by a score of 63-17; two days later, bowing to the outrage of a proud fan base, he was one of four of Coach Holtz' original staff to be dismissed.

Within three weeks, DeGuglielmo was offered, and he accepted, a job as George O'Leary's first offensive line coach at the University of Central Florida in the winter of 2004.

NFL coaching

DeGuglielmo left the University of Central Florida twenty three days later, joining the New York Giants staff under head coach Tom Coughlin whom he had served as a graduate assistant at Boston College 13 years earlier. He initially joined the Giants as an assistant offensive line coach and quality control coach. After only one season in the NFL, he was elevated to full time assistant offensive line coach, handing off the quality control responsibilities. In his tenure, the Giants made the playoffs four consecutive years (the only time in team history), won Super Bowl XLII (the team's first in 19 years), and in 2008 set a franchise record for rushing yards (2,518) and yards per carry (5.0).

In January of 2009, DeGuglielmo bid farewell to the New York Giants, and the cold of the northeast, for a job with the Miami Dolphins, to replace his mentor, Mike Maser, as the head offensive line coach, and reuniting him with his former offensive line coach (Boston University '88-'90), head coach Tony Sparano; in 2011 the Dolphins rushed for 1,987 yards in what was also Reggie Bush's first and only 1,000+ yard season of his career. Sparano's release as Dolphins' head football coach brought about changes in Miami, these changes included the dismissal of DeGuglielmo.

One day later, DeGuglielmo was hired, and subsequently named the New York Jets' offensive line coach on January 24, 2012, again reuniting him with now Jets offensive coordinator, Tony Sparano. He was released only one year later on February 5, 2013, after the dismissal of Sparano as offensive coordinator. Still under contract, and with no NFL openings at this late date, he spent the 2013 football season as a football analyst for Clear Channel Radio's Sports Talk First Edition, on 560 AM WVOC in Columbia, SC, while living at his lake house in Prosperity, SC.

On January 22, 2014, the New England Patriots announced they had hired DeGuglielmo as the new offensive line coach to replace Dante Scarnecchia , who retired after 30 years with the team; DeGuglielmo had a preliminary agreement to serve as offensive line coach at University of Maryland six days prior to the Patriots' announcement. In spite of the Patriots' decision to trade away perennial Pro-Bowl offensive guard Logan Mankins ten days before the opening game of the season, and a rough start to the season as a result of starting lineup experimentation and premature use of rookie players, DeGuglilemo won his second Super Bowl ring in the Patriots' Super Bowl XLIX win over the Seattle Seahawks; after a horrible 2-2 start, and with eight sacks given up, the offensive line finished the year with a 15-4 record, giving up only 26 sacks, and improvement of fourteen sacks over the previous year under Scarnecchia. The 2015 season started much better as he juggled three rookies in the starting lineup to a 10-0 record; this included two 4th round selections and an undrafted free agent. Losing left tackle Nate Solder to a season ending injury against the Dallas Cowboys week five proved to be a hurdle the line could not overcome. Inadequate depth, and a lack of experience showed, as it was ravaged with injuries throughout the season, and DeGuglielmo was forced to play 30+ line combinations, and 13 different starting lineups. Despite the fact that the team's 38 sacks was still two sacks less than they had given up a year prior to DeGuglielmo's arrival, and that they had won 28 games in a two span of two seasons, DeGuglielmo's tenure with the Patriots would be over. It was announced on January 25, 2016, one day after the Patriots' offensive line "collapse[d]" in the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos, that the team would not extend his contract beyond it's initial two year agreement.

Two days later, DeGuglielmo agreed to become the assistant offensive line coach of the San Diego Chargers.

Personal

DeGuglielmo is married to the former Kimberly Ann McNeill of Port Charlotte, Florida. He is father to Saige Ashley, born August 31, 2008. He's made his permanent residence in Prosperity, South Carolina, at his home on Lake Murray. He currently lives between two coasts, keeping a home in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and a flat in the Gaslamp District of downtown San Diego, California.

External links

• New York Giants bio