Dante Scarnecchia

Dante Scarnecchia spent 36 years in the NFL, including 34 seasons with the Patriots (1982-88, 1991-2013, 2016-19). He joined the Patriots as an assistant on Ron Meyer’s staff in 1982. He spent his first six seasons coaching special teams and tight ends before joining the Indianapolis Colts staff as offensive line coach in 1989. He returned to the Patriots after two seasons with the Colts and remained with the team until retiring following the 2013 season. He was rehired as the offensive line coach in 2016 before retiring for the second time after the 2019 season. Scarnecchia was the longest tenured NFL coach when he retired following the 2019 season. The last NFL coach to garner at least 30 seasons with one team was Dick Hoak, who spent an NFL-record 35 seasons as an assistant with Pittsburgh. He coached the offensive line for 19 seasons for the Patriots, a position he coached for 32 of his 48 seasons in the coaching profession. He began his coaching career in 1970 as the offensive line coach at California Western University. His coaching career led him to Iowa State (1973-74), Southern Methodist (1975-76), Pacific (1977-78), Northern Arizona (1979) and back to Southern Methodist (1980-81) before entering the NFL ranks in 1982. He coached alongside six Patriots head coaches and under all four of the team’s owners.