Now in his 24th season as head coach of the track & field program (and 31st season overall) at Manhattan College, Dan Mecca is the longest tenured head coach at Manhattan and only the sixth head coach in the track & field program's 100-year history. His 24 years as head coach equals Fred Dwyer’s tenure as the longest in program history. Before succeeding Dwyer, Mecca spent seven years (1986-93) as the field events coach for the men's team. He was also the Jaspers' head cross country coach from 1993-2012.
Over the course of his illustrious career, Mecca has continued Manhattan's tradition of excellence. During his career, Mecca has led the Jaspers to 61 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships, 39 Metropolitan Championships and two IC4A Championships.
Mecca was named the MAAC Men's Coach of the Year for both the 2012 indoor and outdoor seasons. He's been selected for that honor a total of 33 times since 2002. Mecca is the only coach in conference history to receive the award in each of the six disciplines (men’s & women’s indoor, outdoor and cross country). He was also the 2005 NCAA Regional Coach of the Year for men’s indoor track & field.
He has coached several athletes to the NCAA Championships, including five NCAA National Champions: Jake Freeman (2003 indoor weight throw, 2004 outdoor hammer throw), Aliann Pompey (2000 indoor 400 meters, Manhattan's first female NCAA Champion), Michael Williams (1995 indoor 800 meters), and Gary Halpin (1988 indoor weight throw). Mecca has coached a total of 32 NCAA All-Americans in his 30 years, and 14 athletes he’s mentored are now members of the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame.
Other Manhattan athletes to earn All-America honors under Mecca include shot putter Milan Jotanovic, weight throwers Patrick Martin and Gerry Ryan, triple jumper David Frazier, and three-time All-American Pat McGrath (twice in the hammer throw, once in the weight throw). In 2014, Mohamed Koita became the first Jasper in five years to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning Second Team All-America status with a 15th place finish in the high jump. Koita was also named Second Team All-American during the 2013 outdoor season.
In addition, at least one Manhattan athlete has won an IC4A championship every season since Mecca’s arrival. The Jaspers captured the IC4A indoor team title in 1992 and again in 2004.
Mecca has continued to coach eight-time All-American Jake Freeman in the weight and hammer throws since his graduation from Manhattan in 2003. Freeman qualified for the 2009 World Championships after a second place finish in the hammer throw at the U.S. National Championships. Freeman also competed in three Olympic Trials (2004, 2008, 2012), finishing third in 2008. He captured his first national championship in the hammer throw in 2010.
Over the years, athletes trained by Mecca have competed at prestigious international meets such as the Olympics, World Championships, World Junior Championships, World University Games, European Championships, Pan American Championships and Caribbean Championships, representing the United States, Ireland, Sweden, Jamaica, Serbia, Germany, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Throughout his career, Mecca has served in various capacities for a host of national and regional track & field committees. For the NCAA, Mecca has served as a member of the Regional Cross Country Championships Games Committee and on the Indoor & Outdoor National Championships Throws Jury. For the IC4A, he has served on the Site Selection Committee, as a seeding advisor, and on the Cross Country Games Committee. And for the MAAC, he has served as the meet director for the Cross Country and Indoor Track Championships and as a member of the Outdoor Track Games Committee.
He was also an integral member of the planning committee for the renovations to the indoor track in Draddy Gymnasium during the summer of 2011. The new 200-meter oval is one of the finest in the Northeast, and it was constructed with the same Mondo surface used at the Olympics and World Championships.
A 1976 graduate of Montclair State with degrees in history and physical education, Mecca began his coaching career in 1974 at St. Mary's High School in Rutherford, N.J. He began as a throwing coach, but eventually took over as the head coach in both cross country and track & field in 1977. Several of his athletes became state champions and established school records under his guidance.
In 1984, Mecca was named head coach at William Paterson College in Wayne, NJ. While there, Mecca produced six All-Americans (three in the javelin, and one each in the shot put, discus and triple jump). Since arriving at Manhattan in 1986, Mecca has had at least one athlete qualify for the NCAA Championships every year. In addition, Blerim Pocesta qualified for the 2016 USA Indoor Championships in the weight throw, becoming the first active Manhattan athlete to compete at U.S. Nationals since Freeman in 2004.
Mecca coached the United States squad that competed at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and the Irish National Team at the 1993 World University Games. He currently serves as a member of many national track & field committees.
A native of Passaic, NJ, Mecca currently resides in Florida, NY, with his wife, Kathleen. He has three children--Christopher, who lives in New Jersey with his wife, Jaimie, and daughter, Lyanna; Patrick, who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Manhattan in 2007 and lives in New Jersey with his wife, Rachel '09 '10; and Caelyn, a 2012 Summa Cum Laude Manhattan graduate, who received her Master's degree Summa Cum Laude from Manhattan in 2015.
