Muskingum mourns the passing of Joe McDaniel '56

Former Muskingum University football coach, golf coach, and standout student-athlete Joe McDaniel '56 passed away Monday evening.

A native of Belleville, Ohio, McDaniel earned eight letters (four in football, three in basketball, and one in baseball) while competing as a Muskie. He was MVP in football in 1954 and 1955 and MVP in basketball during the 1955-56 campaign. He was All-Ohio Athletic Conference in football in 1955 and was named Little All-American Honorable Mention the same year. Following graduation, McDaniel served as an assistant football coach and golf coach. He was inducted into the Muskingum Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.

McDaniel became the head football coach at Marietta College in 1966 and athletic director in 1969. He left Marietta in 1980 to become the head football coach at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. His football record at Marietta was 65-60-2. He coached 42 All-OAC offensive players and 25 All-OAC defensive players. His 1969 team was 8-1, while his 1974 Pioneers lost to Wittenberg in the OAC title game.

McDaniel served Centre athletics for over two decades, most notably as the Colonel football coach from 1980-1997. He went 101-63-3 overall with the Colonels, retiring as the winningest coach in program history. His 166-122-5 career mark ranked him seventh in wins among Division III coaches at the time of his Hall of Fame induction at Centre. His teams claimed seven conference championships, and McDaniel coached six AFCA All-Americans while being named conference Coach of the Year three times. As a golf coach from 1981 to 1993, he claimed three more conference titles and had one team participate in the NCAA Championship. Following his coaching career, McDaniel served as Centre's athletic director from 1998 to 2002.

Along with being in the Centre and Muskingtum Athletics Hall of Fame, he is also a Hall of Fame member at Marietta and Fredericktown High School.