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Princeton University Athletics
Dave Rackovan Named Offensive Coordinator
March 09, 2000 | Football
March 9, 2000
Dave Rackovan, a veteran of 14 seasons of Ivy League football coaching, has been named offensive coordinator at Princeton, Tiger head coach Roger Hughes announced.
Rackovan is one of three additions to Hughes' staff. Hughes also retained two assistant coaches from last year's staff and is adding two coaches with significant college and NFL experience.
"We're very happy with our staff," Hughes said. "We have more than 50 years of Ivy experience and 14 championships between all of us. It's also a great group of guys. We're going to have some fun."
Rackovan spent six seasons at Pennsylvania and eight at Dartmouth before moving to Princeton this year with Hughes, Dartmouth's former offensive coordinator. Rackovan worked with the Dartmouth special teams and offensive backs, and he will also work with the running backs at Princeton.
Before joining the Penn staff in 1986, Rackovan was wide receivers/tight ends coach for three years at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. From 1976-83, he was head coach at Purchase Line High in Commodore, Pa. A 1973 Millersville graduate, Rackovan started at wide reciever and quarterback. Steve Verbit will return to the Princeton staff as defensive coordinator, though he will switch from coaching the secondary to the defensive line. Don Dobes returns as linebackers coach.
Also joining the staff will be Eric Jackson, who will work with the defensive backs at Princeton after spending two seasons as defensive coordinator at Ithaca College. Jackson was a three-year letterwinner at Eastern Michigan in the mid-'80s before turning to coaching. His first job was at Ypsilanti High School in Michigan, and he then moved to the college level first at Cincinnati and then at Cornell, where he helped the Big Red to the 1990 Ivy League title. He has had coaching internships with the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers, spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Cal Tech and rejoined the staff at Cornell for two years before moving crosstown to Ithaca.
In addition to Rackovan offensively, Hughes will serve as quarterbacks coach. Joining them is former NFL offensive lineman Stanley Clayton, who played six years for the Falcons, Patriots and Steelers. Clayton will serve as offensive line coach.
Clayton was a member of Penn State's 1986 national championship team and a 1987 honorable mention All-America. After his playing career Clayton returned to Penn State as an assistant coach on in 1995 before moving to Massachusetts for the 1996 and 1997 seasons. He spent the last two years at Alabama State, and he also spent two summers as a coaching intern with the Chicago Bears.
Hughes became Princeton's 21st head coach on Jan. 14.