Archie McDaniel is in his third season as linebackers coach at Illinois in 2026.

Since McDaniel's arrival in Champaign, he has helped the Illini win 19 games, the program's most ever in a two-year span. The winningest two-year run in program history includes 15 Power-4 wins (the fourth-most in the Big Ten), six ranked wins, and two bowl victories over SEC opponents in the 2024 Citrus Bowl vs. #14 South Carolina and 2025 Music City Bowl vs. #23 Tennessee. 

Over the last two seasons, McDaniel guided a linebacking corps spearheaded by honorable mention two-time All-Big Ten honoree and two-time team captain Dylan Rosiek, who totaled 114 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles in 2024 and 2025.

McDaniel helped the defense have its best game of the 2025 season in the Illini's Music City Bowl victory over Tennessee, holding the Volunteers' offense, which ranked fourth in the nation in yards per game, to a season-low 278 total yards. Illinois held Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar to a career-low 121 passing yards, 53 fewer than any other game in his career, and snapped his streak of 36 straight games throwing for more than 200 yards. 

In McDaniel’s first season in Champaign, he helped the Illini to a 10-3 record, tying the program's single-season wins record, and a final ranking of #16 in the AP Top 25. Illinois followed win nine wins in 2025 and finished ranked #25 in the Coaches Poll. 

The 2024 season was capped by a 21-17 victory over #14 South Carolina in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in one of the biggest bowl wins in program history, as McDaniel's unit helped hold the Gamecocks to 14 points under their season scoring average and South Carolina's second-lowest scoring output of the season.

McDaniel is in his 20th year of coaching, including 19 years in college, in 2025. He also starred as a three-year starter at linebacker and team captain for Texas A&M during his playing career.

McDaniel spent the 2021-23 seasons as linebackers coach at Houston. He helped the Cougars to two bowl wins in three seasons, a top-20 finish in 2021, and the transition to Power-5 in the Big XII in 2023. 

Under McDaniel's guidance, senior linebacker Donavan Mutin led the Cougars with 85 tackles during the 2022 season. The Spring, Texas, native capped his career with 252 tackles. Mutin's 245 tackles from 2019 to 2022 ranked seventh among all American Athletic Conference linebackers.

Linebackers Mannie Nunnery and Jamal Morris also turned in strong sophomore campaigns in 2022. Nunnery's 74.2 overall defensive grade by PFF ranked second among American Athletic Conference underclassmen linebackers. He also paced the league's underclassmen with a 78.2 coverage grade. Morris was key for the Cougars down the stretch, totaling 10 tackles against SMU on Nov. 5 and eight tackles in Houston's Independence Bowl victory against Louisiana.

In his first year as the program's linebackers coach, McDaniel helped the linebacker duo of Mutin and Deontay Anderson combine for 140 tackles. Under McDaniel’s tutelage, Mutin’s three forced fumbles ranked fourth in the American Athletic Conference. Mutin also earned Second Team American All-Conference Team honors.

McDaniel joined the Cougars' coaching staff after spending two seasons at Texas State, coaching a pair of All-Sun Belt Conference linebackers during the 2019 season. He coached 2019 All-Sun Belt First-Team selection Bryan London II, who ranked second in the conference with 118 tackles in 2019, and linebacker Nik Daniels, who was also selected as an All-Sun Belt Third Team performer.

Prior to Texas State, McDaniel spent the 2018 season at New Mexico as the Lobos' outside linebackers coach. McDaniel returned to New Mexico after serving three years as linebackers coach at SMU (2015-17). The Mustangs were one of college football's 10-most improved defenses in 2016, ranking seventh nationally in interceptions while forcing 26 turnovers.

McDaniel also spent three seasons at New Mexico (2012-14), working as the defensive line coach (2012-13) before moving to linebackers (2014). He served as an assistant coach at Tulsa from 2010-11, working with the Golden Hurricane's tight-ends/H-backs in 2010 before taking over as defensive line coach in 2011.

As a linebacker, McDaniel helped Texas A&M to a berth in the 2005 Cotton Bowl and recorded 213 tackles, five sacks, and two interceptions during his three-year career from 2003-05.

McDaniel also serves as the president of the Minority Coaches Advancement Association, an organization founded in 2020 that holds events and meetings to help train and prepare minority coaches for head coaching positions in college football. 

McDaniel is married to the former Princess Jackson. He has a daughter, Aubree, and a son, Christian.

Coaching Career