West Chester Adds Dan Connor To Football Coaching Staff

Connor Talks To KYW Newsradio

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – West Chester University football head coach, Bill Zwaan, announced Wednesday that he has added former NFL linebacker, Dan Connor, to his 2014 coaching staff. Connor replaces Bill Shuey, who left to take an assistant coaching position at Widener University.
 
"We are extremely happy to find someone with Dan's background playing the linebacker position," Zwaan commented. "He will get immediate respect from our group of linebackers, who have a ton of experience. We couldn't have found a better guy to fit our linebacker coaching situation right now."
 
Connor spent the spring semester working with the Golden Rams linebackers as a volunteer, before signing on with West Chester University this summer. He will coach the linebackers for Zwaan. Connor brings six years of playing experience in the National Football League with three different teams to his new job.
 
"I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be joining the West Chester University family," Connor stated. "I volunteered with the squad in the spring, and I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of this program.
 
"West Chester has one of the most experienced and battle-tested coaching staffs that I have ever been around. Coach Zwaan creates the type of up-tempo, competitive and fun environments that players thrive upon. I cannot wait to be a part of it." 
 
The former team captain and first-team All-America linebacker at Penn State graduated as the school's all-time leading tackler with 419 stops between 2004 and 2007 – a distinction that he still holds today. He appeared in 62 games during his six-year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys making 27 starts.
 
The third-round pick in the 2008 NFL Entry Draft by the Carolina Panthers played three seasons there, before moving over to the Dallas Cowboys for the 2012 campaign. He split time in 2013 with the New York Giants and back with his original squad in Carolina, before retiring from football at the end of the season. He registered 216 tackles over his pro career with 147 solo stops included.
 
In addition to his All-America selection, the PSU middle linebacker was the recipient of the Bednarik Award (top defensive player) and was a finalist for the Butkus Award while his 145 tackles led the Big Ten Conference and ranked seventh in the nation in 2007.
 
Connor started 36 of 45 games in which he played at Penn State, including 16 contests at middle linebacker. He holds the school's career record with 419 tackles (227 solo), produced 14 sacks for minus-101 yards and 34 stops for losses totaling 141 yards. He recovered three fumbles, returning one 18 yards for a touchdown and had three forced fumbles. He deflected eight passes, gained five yards on four interception returns and registered one safety.
 
He earned a bachelor's of arts degree in Crime, Law and Justice from Pennsylvania State University in 2007.