PHILADELPHIA – Welcome back to the Penn Football Family, Dan Swanstrom.
A staff member for two of the Red and Blue's Ivy League championship teams, Swanstrom has been named the University of Pennsylvania football team's new offensive coordinator and Clarence S. Rockwell, VMD Quarterbacks Coach. The announcement was made by George A. Munger Head Coach Ray Priore.
Swanstrom returns to University City after a five-year stint as the Head Coach at Ithaca College. Prior to that, he was the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at Penn from 2014-16.
"It is great to have Dan rejoin the Penn Football Family after leading Ithaca to great success over the last five years," Priore said. "He returns with a tremendous work ethic, an incredible amount of football knowledge, and a passion for the game."
Swanstrom led the Bombers to success during his head coaching tenure, posting the highest winning percentage for any coach in program history that has coached more than one season. Swanstrom went 32-11 (.744) and his teams registered eight wins in all four seasons in which they took the field.
In his first season at the helm of the Ithaca program, Swanstrom guided the Bombers to an 8-3 overall record and a share of the Liberty League regular-season title. After an 0-2 start to the season, the Bombers capped off the season with eight wins in nine games, including a 48-20 victory over Cortland in the 59th Cortaca Jug Game to snap a seven-year losing streak to the Red Dragons.
"I want to start by thanking our director of athletics Susan Bassett for the wonderful opportunity at Ithaca College," Swanstrom said. "Her consistent support, friendship and leadership has fundamentally transformed me over these past five years. Also, I can't put into words how special my time at Ithaca has been. I would like to thank the players and coaches for the cherished experiences and the meaningful relationships.
"I would like to thank Ray Priore and Alanna Shanahan for this opportunity," Swanstrom added. "My family and I couldn't be more excited to return to the University of Pennsylvania."
With the Quakers, Swanstrom oversaw the growth of Alek Torgersen, a two-time first-team All-Ivy selection who became just the second signal caller in school history to pass for more than 7,000 yards. After leading the Red and Blue to success under Swanstrom's tutelage, Torgersen signed with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in 2017.
Swanstrom's collegiate coaching career began at the University of Redlands from 2006-08. He was the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach during his time there and Redlands won the 2007 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. After his time in California, he spent six seasons at Johns Hopkins from 2008-13 as a quarterbacks coach and before being promoted to offensive coordinator and then to associate head coach.
Hopkins won five Centennial Conference titles while Swanstrom was on the sidelines, and the Blue Jays averaged more than 500 yards of offense in three different seasons. Four straight players were named the conference's player of the year under Swanstrom's watch. Every significant offensive team record in school history was broken during his tenure as the offensive coordinator and no less than 75 individual records fell during that time.
Swanstrom also coached one season as a high school coach at Stratford High School in Texas, where he coached former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
He graduated from Rhodes College (Tenn.), where he was a three-time all-conference selection and a finalist (top 10) for the prestigious Gagliardi Trophy, which is presented annually to the top Division III player in the nation.
Swanstrom set more than a dozen school passing records at Rhodes and finished his career with 7,540 yards passing and 52 touchdown passes. He also rushed for more than 800 yards in his career, was named the SCAC Offensive Player of the Year as a junior and was selected as a team captain in each of his final two years.
In addition to his coaching exploits and playing career at Rhodes, Swanstrom coached and played for the Darmstadt Diamonds of the German Football League.
"I know Penn has high standards to go along with their tremendous commitment to academics and athletics," Swanstrom said. "I will work tirelessly to make sure that I give Penn the same type of success that I have had in my career, and I can't wait to get started."
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