Daniel A. DiCenzo (born c. 1979) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for Wesleyan University, a position he has held since 2015.
In 2001, DiCenzo was hired as the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers for Trinity (CT) under head coach Chuck Priore.[3] In DiCenzo's final season in 2002, he was a part of the 7–1 NESCAC championship team.[4]
In 2003, DiCenzo was hired as the assistant outside linebackers coach for Division I-AABrown alongside Paul Frisone under head coach Phil Estes.[3][2] In his lone season under Estes he helped guide the team to a 5–5 record.[5]
In 2004, DiCenzo was hired as the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator for his alma mater, Williams, under first-year head coach Mike Whalen.[2][6] In six seasons as an assistant coach for Williams he helped lead the team to a 38–10 record and an undefeated 8–0 season in 2006.[7] He helped coach defensive back Jon Poppe who went on to become the head football coach for Union (NY) and Columbia to First Team All-NESCAC honors.[8]
During DiCenzo's stint with Williams he was an assistant wrestling coach from 2004 to 2006.[2] In 2004 and 2006, he was named New England Collegiate Conference Wrestling Association (NECCWA) Assistant Coach of the Year.[2][9] In 2007, he was promoted to head wrestling coach and maintained the position until he was hired by Wesleyan in 2010.[10] In three seasons he amassed an overall record of 50–16–1.[10]
In 2010, DiCenzo followed Whalen when he was hired as the head football coach for Wesleyan.[11] DiCenzo was hired as Whalen's associate head coach and defensive coordinator.[11][12] In five seasons as an assistant coach he helped lead the team to a 26–14 record including a 7–1 record in 2013 alongside a NESCAC championship.[13]
After Whalen resigned following the 2014 season to focus his efforts fully on his athletic director duties, DiCenzo was named head football coach.[14][15] In his first season as head coach he led the team to a 5–3 record which finished tied-fourth in the NESCAC.[16] His best win of his first season was against his alma mater where the team won 27–7 and were winning 27–0 until the final 71 second of the game.[17] In the following season his team improved to a 6–2 record which finished tied for third in the division.[18] Two of his six victories came against Williams and Amherst of the Little Three.[18] His only losses on the season came to Tufts in the first week of the season and Trinity (CT) which came in the last week of the season.[18] Wesleyan went on to finish 6–3 and 5–4 in 2017 and 2018 respectively before having the best record of DiCenzo's tenure as they finished 8–1 in 2019.[19][20][21] Their only loss on the season came to eventual-conference champions Middlebury. 2019 also marked the first time his team was able to beat Trinity (CT).[21] On July 7, 2020, Wesleyan announced they would cancel fall sports, including football, for the 2020 fall season due to COVID-19.[22] The team returned for the 2021 season. From 2021 to 2023, DiCenzo led the Cardinals to three-consecutive 6–3 season which all finished third or tied for third and has amassed an overall record of 48–22.[23][24][25][26] His 48 wins are good enough for fourth all-time in Wesleyan football history behind Norm Daniels (76), Frank Hauser (68), and Bill MacDermott (66).[27]