Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Dan Earl 24-25

Dan Earl

  • Title
    Head Coach
Alma Mater: Penn State '97
Hired Date: March 2022
4th Season at UTC in 2025-26

Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball named Dan Earl its 22nd head coach of the program on March 31, 2022. In just three seasons at the helm, Earl has re-written the program's history books and has lifted the Mocs to national mid-major prominence. His 68 wins at Chattanooga is a program record for the most in the first three years of a coaching tenure.

"I am honored and extremely excited to be the next head basketball coach at UTC," said the new ball coach. "I would like to thank Mark Wharton and Chancellor Dr. Steven Angle for this amazing opportunity. During the process, I really connected with Mark and the search committee and I am confident that this is an outstanding fit for my family and UTC."


Earl led the program its most successful, historic and memorable season as a NCAA Division I member (since 1977-78) during the most recent 2024-25 campaign. Chattanooga finished the season a remarkable 29-9 overall, earned the Southern Conference regular season title, and captured the 2025 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) title behind one of the most memorable postseason runs in mid-major basketball lore. He was also tabbed the SoCon Coach of the Year for the second time in his career and first with the Mocs.

Just how historic was the 2024-25 team under Earl? Very... 
  • First SoCon men's basketball program to ever win an NCAA DI national title after capturing the NIT crown.
  • First "unseeded" NIT team to win a title since the format moved back to 32 teams in 2007.
  • The 29 wins tied a single-season school record (2015-16)... won 17 of the final 18 games.
  • Reached 15 SoCon wins for just the second time since 1993-94 (2015-16).
  • The team's 12 road wins tied a school record... 10-straight road victories to end the season.
  • Team featured three, 500-point scorers for the first time in school history.
  • Honor Huff led all of NCAA DI in 3FGM (131)... Garrison Keeslar set an NCAA DI single-season record in A/TO ratio (5.62).
Chattanooga, the top seed in the 2025 SoCon Tournament, suffered a tough overtime defeat to Furman in the semifinal round, thus ending its NCAA Tournament hopes and landing the squad in the NIT field as an automatic qualifier. From there, Mocs mania took center stage as the team embraced a true "underdog" theme beginning with a thrilling 109-103 triple-overtime victory at in-state foe and fourth-seeded Middle Tennessee in the NIT First Round.

The advancement to the NIT Second Round saw Chattanooga draw top-seeded Dayton for its matchup, however, the Flyers were forced to make the trip to the Scenic City instead of hosting in hostile UD Arena due to NCAA Tournament conflicts. The raucous Roundhouse faithful soaked in the national ESPN TV spotlight and lifted the team to a dominating 87-72 wire-to-wire upset and spot in the NIT Quarterfinal Round.

The Cinderalla story was now in motion as the team turned its attention to a lengthy trip to Peoria, Illinois, for a quarterfinal showdown at third-seeded Bradley. The Mocs trailed by as many as 16 late in the first half against the Braves before the unit stormed back in the second half to claim an improbable 69-67 victory and punch its ticket to the NIT Final Four at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Captivating its fans and the city of Chattanooga by storm, the program showcased a huge contingency of support inside Hinkle Fieldhouse as the Mocs fan support dazzled on the national stage. UTC used a late-game rally and three-point dagger from Honor Huff to help defeat Loyola Chicago, 80-73, in the NIT Semifinals and punch its ticket to the title game against UC Irvine.

In one of the most memorable and instant classic NIT title games in recent memory, Chattanooga defeated top-seeded UC Irvine 85-84 in overtime to capture the 2025 National Invitation Tournament title and cap off its historic run. Trey Bonham was named the NIT's Most Outstanding Player and became the first NIT MOP to average at least 20+ points (22.2) and shoot at least 50+ FG% (54.4) & 45+ 3FG% (46.4) since 2007.

Statistically in 2024-25, Honor Huff led all of NCAA Division I in 3FGM (131) while Garrison Keeslar set a new NCAA Division I single-season record in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.62). The team also featured three, 500-point scorers for the first time in single-season program history as Huff (578), Bonham (554) and Bash Wieland (502) all eclipsed the mark.

In Earl's second season with the Mocs in 2023-24, the team finished with a 21-12 overall record while ending 12-6 inside Southern Conference play which resulted in a third-place finish. The 21 wins were the most for Earl in his nine seasons as an NCAA DI head coach and marked the program's 22nd, 20-win season all-time. The team featured All-SoCon performers in Trey Bonham (first team), Honor Huff (second team) and Sam Alexis (third team & defensive), in addition to the SoCon Sixth Man of the Year Jan Zidek.

UTC finished a healthy 12-4 inside McKenzie Arena during the 2023-24 season to match the most home wins since 2021-22 and most since 13 home wins in 2015-16. The squad became the 23rd team in program history to amass 12 or more home wins in a season. The Mocs averaged a crowd size of 3,241 per game in 2023-24, the second-largest average attendance for the team since the 2015-2016 season.

Away from home in 2023-24? One for the record books. The Mocs finished with an 8-7 road mark which featured a string of six-straight SoCon road victories spanning from January 17-February 10. The streak tied the longest such stretch in program history and was the first of its kind since 1992-93 and marked just the fourth time accomplishing the feat all-time. 

It was instant success in Earl's first year as the bench boss at UTC during the 2022-23 campaign after the team finished 18-17 overall and reached the Southern Conference Tournament championship game for the 20th time in program history. The No. 7 seeded Chattanooga Mocs nearly capped off an incredible March run in Asheville, N.C., before falling to top-seeded Furman in a title game rematch from the previous season.

The Mocs almost became the first team since Clemson in 1939 to earn a Southern Conference Tournament title when having to win four games in a four day stretch. UTC defeated No. 10 VMI, No. 2 Samford and No. 6 Wofford in route to earning its spot in the championship game. 

The 2022-23 campaign featured lofty accolades from All-Southern Conference star Jake Stephens, whom transferred to the Scenic City following a four-year career at VMI under Earl and was key in the Mocs run during tournament play. Stephens scored 92 points over the four-game stretch to notch a new UTC program record for points at the SoCon Tournament. He posted 20 or more points in each of the four games including 25 points and eight rebounds in the title game against Furman.

Stephens finished the season averaging 22.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 blocks per game while becoming the 26th Moc in program history to score 500 or more points in a single season (527) and was one of just two players in NCAA Division I during the year (Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana) to average at least 20 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per contest.

Stephens, whose development at the collegiate level was directed by Earl for all five years, became the only player in NCAA DI basketball since at least 1992-93 to post 1,900 career points (1,943), 900 total rebounds (964), 350 assists (366) and 200 blocks (206) in a career, according to Sports Reference College Basketball's stat database.

A familiar name and face, Earl came to the Scenic City following a seven-year stint as the head coach of Southern Conference foe VMI. Earl led the Keydets to its first winning season since 2013-14 after finishing 13-12 (11-1 at home) and claiming SoCon Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21. That team also made a semifinal appearance for the first time since 2003.

Before UTC, Earl helped guide VMI to consecutive .500 or better seasons for the first time since 2010-12 and just the second time in program history since a four-year stretch from 1974-1978. In conference play, back-to-back .500 seasons (7-7 in 20-21, 9-9 in 21-22) were achieved for just the first time since 1997-1999 when the SoCon competed in a divisional format.
 
Earl previously served as an assistant at his alma mater Penn State from 2006-11 before obtaining associate head coach responsibilities at Navy from 2011-15. At Navy, Earl served as the recruiting director and played a vital role on the offensive side of the ball. He helped the Midshipmen double conference wins in each of the first four seasons under head coach Ed DeChellis.
 
In Happy Valley, Earl helped lead the Nittany Lions to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2011, the program's first in 10 years, and a 2009 NIT Championship that saw the team record a school record 27 wins. He helped develop All-Big 10 selection Talor Battle, who became the lone player in Big 10 history to surpass 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a career.
 
In his playing days, Earl was a three-time team captain, a 1996 All-Big Ten selection and helped lead the program to one of its best stretches in program history. PSU went 73-46 during his playing career while Earl posted 1,256 career points (15th all-time), 574 assists (2nd all-time) and 194 threes (7th all-time). He played professionally on the international side in addition to stints stateside in the Continental Basketball Association and NBA Development League.
 
Personally, Earl comes from a heavily-rooted basketball family. His father, Denny, started at forward for Rutgers in the 60's under head coach Bill Foster and alongside the late Jim Valvano. His younger brother, Brian, started for Princeton from 1996-99 and helped the program win 95 games during that span – most of any player in school history. Brian is currently the head coach at William & Mary (ahead of 2024-25) after spending the previous eight seasons at Cornell.
 
Earl received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Penn State in December of 1997 and achieved a master's degree in business logistics from PSU in 2007. He and his wife, Sheila, have two daughters, Mila and Alyssa.

DAN EARL YEAR-BY-YEAR HEAD COACHING RECORD
Year School Overall Conf. Place Postseason
2015-16 VMI 9-21 4-14 9th
2016-17 VMI 6-24 3-15 10th
2017-18 VMI 9-21 4-14 9th
2018-19 VMI 11-21 4-14 9th
2019-20 VMI 9-24 3-15 9th
2020-21 VMI 13-12 7-7 6th
2021-22 VMI 16-16 9-9 6th CBI Opening Round
2022-23 Chattanooga 18-17 7-11 7th SoCon Tournament Runner-Up
2023-24 Chattanooga 21-12 12-6 3rd SoCon Tournament Semis
2025-26 Chattanooga 29-9 15-3 1st 2025 NIT Champions
at Chattanooga (3 years) 68-38 (.642)  34-20 (.630)
Totals 9 Years 141-177 (.443) 68-108 (.386)

Â