Dan "Bad Rad" Radakovich begins his sixth season as an offensive line coach and a football consultant for Westminster in 2019.
Radakovich, a native of Duquesne, Pa., spent 13 seasons at Robert Morris University as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach and left an undeniable mark on the fledgling program. Of RMU's top 10 career leaders in tackles, seven of them are linebackers, a position Radakovich helped revolutionize.
In 2006, Radakovich led a defensive unit at RMU which led the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in total defense, allowing just 228.36 yards per game. That total ranked second in all of Division I, behind only Virginia Tech (219.46 yards per game).
The 2006 Colonials also led the FCS in pass defense (128.55 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (88.70) while ranking sixth in rushing defense (99.8 ypg), seventh in sacks (3.09 per game) and tied for eighth in tackles for loss (7.55 per game). Three times under Radakovich's watch Robert Morris led the nation in pass defense after turning the trick in 2006, following his 2002 (91.0 ypg) and 1999 (132 ypg) squads.
Radakovich's 2004 defense ranked fifth in the FCS in total defense by allowing just over 289 yards per game, one season after his 2003 unit ranked 11th in the nation in total defense by allowing just 290 yards per game. In 1999, Robert Morris also ranked sixth in the country by yielding just 15.6 points per contest. His RMU defense shut out opponents three straight times to open the 1996 campaign, and his 1994 defense forced 34 turnovers, enabling Robert Morris to lead all of Division I with a plus-17 turnover ratio.
A 1957 graduate of Penn State, Radakovich started his coaching career with the Nittany Lions from 1957 to 1969. Known as the true patriarch of "Linebacker U" at Penn State, Radakovich served as an assistant collegiate coach for 30 years, including stops at Cincinnati (1970), Colorado (1972-73) and North Carolina State (1982).
In the professional ranks, Radakovich spent 18 years in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the 1971 season as the defensive line coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers before heading to Colorado, and then returned to the Steelers to coach the offensive line from 1974-77, where he won a pair of Super Bowl championships.
Radakovich also served as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers (1978), the Los Angeles Rams (1979-81), the Denver Broncos (1983), the Minnesota Vikings (1984), the Cleveland Browns (1985-88) and the St. Louis Rams (1994). From 1985 to 1988, Radakovich was an assistant coach under Joe Walton with the New York Jets.
He and his wife, Nancy, have four children and reside in Moon Township.
