Danny Rocco has certainly been on the move since graduating from Fox Chapel High in 1979.

He spent two years as a college football player at Penn State, and two more at Wake Forest.

Then, Rocco began his life's work as a college football coach, tackling assistant positions at Wake Forest, Colorado, Tulsa, Boston College, Texas, Maryland, the NFL New York Jets for one year and the last five years at the University of Virginia.

Three months ago, Rocco got his first head coaching job, becoming the seventh person to lead the Division I-AA Liberty University (Lynchburg, Va.) football team in the 33-year history of the program.

"In the last 17 years I've moved nine times," said Rocco, 45, the father of a son, 15, and a daughter, 12. "I'm hoping to be here a while."

Rocco said he has spent 21 years "preparing myself for a head coaching job."

Liberty is a member of the Big South Conference, competing against league foes Gardner-Webb, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina and VMI.

Last season, Liberty went 1-10, losing by big margins to Connecticut, 59-0; William & Mary, 56-0; and Youngstown State, 42-0. The poor year led to the dismissal of coach Ken Karcher, a Shaler High grad, who led the program for six years and compiled a 21-45 record.

Liberty, however, was 6-5 in 2004 and 6-6 in 2003 and Rocco said he sees "opportunities" and feels he "can win" at the Christianity-based school of just under 10,000, where the well-known Jerry Falwell serves as Chancellor.

One of the opportunities that Rocco is excited about is the plan for Liberty to eventually move from Division I-AA to Division I in football, going the same route that Connecticut went in 2000 and Marshall in 1997.

There is no set timetable for the move, but, according to Rocco, plans are in place to upgrade the facilities and increase the seating capacity at the school's football stadium from 12,000 to 38,000.

"I would have taken the job without the Division I plans," said Rocco. "But, it does make the job more impressive."

Rocco, who mostly coached defense as an assistant, has been able to learn from and observe a number of head coaches in his more than two decades in the college football wars.

"My coaching philosophy will use a little bit from every place, everybody I've been around," said Rocco. "The foremost guy I'll pattern myself after is [Virginia coach] Al Groh.

"On offense, we want to run. We want to be physical and stop the run defensively."

Rocco said he plans on trying to do some recruiting in his old stomping grounds of Western Pennsylvania. He already has landed one major recruit from Pittsburgh for next season's Liberty team. But, it had nothing to do with tracking down high school talent.

Rocco was happy to get a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh -- 6-1, 235-pound freshman running back Rashad Jennings. In his lone season at Pitt last fall, Jennings was the Panthers' second-leading rusher with 427 yards on 86 carries (4.8 average). He is from Virginia, having attended Lynchburg Christian Academy (now known as Liberty Christian Academy).

"Rashad is an unbelievable pickup," said Rocco. "He's a difference-maker at this level."

Because he transferred down -- from Division I to Division I-AA -- Jennings will be eligible right away at Liberty.

"We're getting things lined up, getting some talent into the program," said Rocco.

Of his 27 announced recruits, 11 are from talent-rich Florida.

Rocco said so far he's enjoyed "every moment" of his head coaching experience.

He is also enjoying being close to two brothers. An older brother, Frank, is the head coach and athletic director at nearby Liberty Christian Academy. Also close by is younger brother, David, head football coach at Staunton River High School in Moneta, Va.

Danny Rocco is actually the third member of his family to work with the football program at Liberty University. Frank was an assistant there from 2000-2003. Danny's father, Frank Sr., former football coach at Fox Chapel High, served as Director of Football Operations in 2000 and 2001.