Dan Ferrigno is in his fourth season at Washington State and will serve in a special teams quality control role for the 2023 campaign. Ferrigno was originally hired prior to the 2020 season and worked as an offensive analyst and was named an offensive assistant Oct. 22, 2021.
Ferrigno (pronounced Fuh-REEN-yo) brought four decades of coaching experience with him and served as the wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator at Cal Poly prior to WSU. His previous coaching stops include San Jose State, Michigan, San Diego State, Pacific, San Francisco State, Western Michigan, not to mention stops at Pac-12 schools USC, California, Oregon State, and Oregon.
Ferrigno, who worked on the Michigan staff (2011-14) as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach also oversaw the special teams units at San Diego State, Southern California, California and Oregon State.
Under Ferrigno, the tight ends were a prominent part of the Michigan offense. In 2013, Devin Funchess earned Big Ten Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year honors and was named as one of eight semi-finalists for the John Mackey Award, given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end. In 2012, Funchess earned Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America honors after catching 15 passes for 234 yards and a team-leading five touchdowns. In 2012, punter Will Hagerup earned Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year honors after leading the conference and setting a school mark with a 45.0 punting average.
As the wide receivers coach at California (2006-07), Ferrigno helped the Bears post a 10-3 record in 2006 en route to winning the Holiday Bowl and a No. 14 final ranking in the AP poll. Thanks in part to wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s Pac-10-best nine touchdowns in 2006. From 2001-05, Ferrigno helped lead Oregon to four bowl games, aided by 23 100-yard receiving performances. He helped develop Keenan Howry into Oregon’s first All-Pac-10 first-team wide receiver in 16 seasons, as well as Oregon’s all-time leading receiver, Samie Parker. Ferrigno was the tight ends coach at California (1996-98) where he coached Tony Gonzalez’, a first-team all-Pac-10 selection and NFL All-Pro, Gonzalez was the 13th overall pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1997 draft.
The former Riordan High School prep received his undergraduate degree in physical education in 1975 from San Francisco State, where he still holds the school’s career records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. Following his collegiate career, he signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos.
Ferrigno earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education at San Francisco State in 1975 and his teaching credential from San Francisco State in 1978. The San Francisco native and his wife, Shawna have three daughters and three sons.
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