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With more than 22 years of college football experience,
Daryl Daye is in his fourth season with the Lions. He serves as the Missouri
Southern Defensive Coordinator, special teams coach and also coaches the
Southern linebackers.
In 2008, the Lions once again led the MIAA in pass defense and junior linebacker
Jared Brawner was an All-MIAA, All-Region and All-American selection after
leading the MIAA in tackles with 120. The Lions held opponents to 172 passing
yards per game and recorded 58 tackles for a loss, 15 sacks and recovered all 15
fumbles the team forced.
The 2007 MSSU defense helped the Lions to their first winning season in 12
years. The defense led the MIAA in total defense for the 1st time in school
history and also led the MIAA pass defense, opponents’ first downs, passing
efficiency and were ranked second in Opponents third and fourth downs. The
Lions' defense was ranked 21st nationally in total defense and also broke a 17
year old division II school record with 21 interceptions. Coach Daye’s defenses
have now forced a total of 113 turnovers in 4 years.
Prior to Southern, Daye worked as special teams coach for the Southern
University Jaguars in Baton Rouge, La. until 2005. His punt return unit led the
nation with 19.1 yards per return in 2005, and the kickoff return squad ranked
ninth nationally at 22.4 yards per return. He coached place kicker Breck Ackley
who became the all-time leading scorer at Southern University.
Daye previously served as head coach at Nicholls State University, in
Thibodeaux, La., from 1999-2003.
His 2003 team broke 32 school records and played for the first ever Southland
Conference championship. The Colonels finished that year ranked 32nd nationally
and were among the top 45 percent in NCAA Division I-AA attendance. His
quarterback Josh Son became the All-Time leading rusher in Colonel History.
Daye led the Colonels to a four-win turnaround in 2002 as the team finished 7-4
and ended the season ranked in the Division I-AA top 25. For his efforts, he was
named the 2002 Southland Conference Coach of the year. The success for Daye at
Nicholls State started in 2001, where he guided the Colonels to a victory over
Division I-A foe Arkansas State, the first ever Division I-A victory in school
history.
Daye not only helped Nicholls State to wins on the field, but off it as well.
Over the course of his career, the team went from a 1.7 overall grade-point
average to a 2.5 GPA and over 150 players were named to the All-SLC academic
team and over 40 players were named to the Verizon All-Academic All American
team.
Daye took the head coaching job at Nicholls State after serving eight seasons
under former Cleveland Brown, two-time NFL Coach of the Year Sam Rutigliano at
Liberty University, where he served as the school’s defensive coordinator and
defensive line coach.
His first season in his defensive coordinator role proved to be an outstanding
experience. The defense showcased itself as one of the most opportunistic squads
in the I-AA ranks, leading the nation in turnovers (40), second in turnover
margin (1.82), and yielded only 17.7 points per contest, the best mark by a
Flames’ defensive squad over the previous 15 seasons. The Flames finished the
season at 9-2 and nationally ranked No. 17.
His football coaching experience began at Louisiana State University in 1986,
where he worked under and also played for Bill Arnsparger “the architect of the
Miami Dolphins' 'No-Name Defense'" in the early 1970s. He then coached two
seasons for then-coach Mike Archer who is the current defensive coordinator at
North Carolina State University. Initially, Daye came to LSU as a walk-on
player. He earned a scholarship and later lettered at inside linebacker for the
Tigers.
While at LSU the Tigers won two Southeastern Conference Championships. Daye was
a part of five teams that went to bowl games either as a player or coach. LSU
represented the SEC as the league champions in the Sugar Bowl in 1985 and 1987,
while also appearing in the 1983 Orange Bowl, 1985 Liberty Bowl and 1988 Gator
Bowl and the 1989 Hall of Fame Bowl
After his stint at LSU, Daye coached at Southern Mississippi under former head
coach Curley Hallman in 1989-90. The Golden Eagles, whose then-roster included
current Green Bay Packers star Brett Favre, made one postseason appearance
during his stay there in the 1990 All American Bowl.
The Ferriday, La., native a two-time All-State performer at Huntington High
School earned a bachelor’s degree in general studies from LSU in 1986 and added
a master’s degree in physical education from Southern Mississippi in 1990.
Daye is married to the former Kathy Polko, also a graduate of LSU and a former
All-SEC selection in gymnastics. His father Donnie Daye played for the 1958
National Champion LSU Tigers as a fullback/linebacker and coached for over 13
years, six seasons of which he was the defensive coordinator at New Mexico State
University. His mother Penny was a feature majorette for the University of
Missouri.
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