Danny Verpaele officially joined the Valdosta State coaching staff as a linebackers coach on April 18, prior to the start of the 2016 season.
Verpaele came to Valdosta State after two seasons as an assistant coach at Army West Point. During his tenure at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., he acquired a significant amount of recruiting experience, particularly in the southeast, with time spent in Texas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
“Coach Verpaele is a guy who is going to complement Coach [James] Rowe very well,” said Head Coach Kerwin Bell. “He is a very knowledgeable guy, but he also brings a lot of juice, or energy, as we say, to our practices and our games.”
Verpaele spent time as a member of Coach Bell’s staff at Jacksonville University prior to his position at Army, working under Coach Bell as an assistant defensive coach with a primary focus on defensive backs. In 2012, his work at JU produced a defensive unit that ranked No. 1 in pass defense and total defense in the Pioneer Football League.
Success at JU led to a graduate assistant coaching position at Mississippi State in 2013, where Verpaele worked at the linebackers position and helped lead the Bulldogs to a No. 18 national ranking on defense. In addition, he helped guide sophomore Bernardrick McKinney to All-American honors and he helped develop New England Patriot free agent Deontae Skinner.
Prior to Jacksonville University, Verpaele kicked off his coaching career at Virginia Military Institute as an assistant coach in 2009, and he posted a three-year letterman career as a strong safety at the University of South Florida from 2004-08.
“[Verpaele] is a guy who brings great energy, who gets after it, and who gets his players to play at a very high level,” added Bell. “He’s a great addition to our staff and is going to bring a lot to the table.”
