Archie McDaniel was born to be around football. As a native of Bay City, Texas, it was naturally introduced to him from an early age.
Now that his playing days are over, McDaniel has found his niche in the world of coaching, a profession that has taken him across the southern United States and, now, to Champaign as the Fighting Illini's newest linebackers coach.Â
"No matter how good you think you've done at something and no matter how long you've been doing something, there are always opportunities for growth and improvement," McDaniel said. "That was the biggest thing for me. To have an opportunity to get into a different conference and recruit in a different part of the country was important to me, and that's why I'm here today."
To say football was a big deal for McDaniel growing up would be an understatement. Born and raised in The Lone Star State, McDaniel remembers his hometown shutting down on Friday nights for high school football games.Â
Playing his high-school 'ball at Bay City High School, located about 90 minutes outside of Houston, McDaniel stayed in his home state and attended Texas A&M during his collegiate career. A three-year starter with the Aggies from 2003-05, he totaled 213 tackles, five sacks, and two interceptions and served as a team captain as a senior.
"I knew I was going to play for as long as I could play," McDaniel said. "Whenever that was over, I was going to coach, and that's what I did."
After one year at Trinity Valley Community College as a defensive assistant, McDaniel returned to his alma mater in 2008 as a grad assistant working with the defensive line. One season later, he transitioned once again by taking on the linebackers coaching role at Texas Southern.
His fourth school in four seasons, McDaniel moved to Tulsa, where he took on a job on the other side of the ball as a tight ends/H-backs coach before returning to the defensive side of the ball the following season.
McDaniel spent three seasons from 2012-14 at New Mexico, working with the defensive line and outside linebackers, along with three years (2015-17) as the linebackers coach at SMU. Returning to New Mexico in 2018, McDaniel then spent the 2019 and 2020 campaigns at Texas State as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach before moving closer to home by accepting a position at Houston from 2021-23.
With the Fighting Illini, McDaniel is moving far from comfort and familiarity, but he is OK with that. Already excited about his linebackers unit heading into the remainder of spring ball, McDaniel has quickly gotten to work on building meaningful relationships with his guys.
"I'm coming in and presenting my genuine self to them. I'm setting a foundation where they can start to see and understand that they can trust me," McDaniel said. "Once you establish those beginning stages of a personal relationship, the coaching blossoms organically from there. It's easy to be coached hard by a guy who genuinely cares and loves you. That's always the first step I try to take when coming into a new place."
Off the field, McDaniel is the president of the Minority Coaches Advancement Association, an organization he co-founded with Valdosta State (D2) head coach Tremaine Jackson and Kansas State assistant head coach Van Malone in 2020. Though McDaniel knows there is still a lot of work left to be done, he is passionate about impacting minority coaches across the country.
"Our biggest focus is bringing awareness to the problem of minority representation and then creating opportunities for preparation."
The MCAA offers a variety of resources to minorities within the industry, including mock interviews, networking opportunities, and more.
"Knowledge is power," McDaniel said, "and a lot of times that's information a lot of people don't have or have access to."
McDaniel has only been on campus for two months, but he has already integrated himself into the program's famILLy culture. Though he is now a bit farther from home, McDaniel will continue to stick with his values as he continues to adapt to Illinois and the Fighting Illini football program.
"I've been extremely blessed. The game of football – along with amazing support from my family, my parents, and my siblings – has been second to none. That's why I've been able to do a lot of the things I've done, lived in some of the places I've lived, and traveled and seen some of the things I've seen," McDaniel said. "When you think about being tough, smart, and dependable, you have a bunch of people depending on you when you have family. When you have people who you love and care for, who are all trying to achieve one goal, and who are depending on you, it allows you to understand the importance of being the best version of yourself every day.
"Those guys come in every day and try to give this program everything they have. I love that. They empty the tank mentally, emotionally, and physically every day for the University of Illinois. I think that's a huge testament to them and their work ethic. Their football IQs are extremely high, and they're all football junkies. They strive for greatness for our team and our unit, and then they put themselves last. I think that speaks big on the type of character they have. I think they're all great teammates, and they want to see this community and this university have a program and a product that they can be proud of."
