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Scarnecchia gave up beach lifestyle to return to coaching

Georgia Tech’s Shaquille Mason snapping to New England draft evaluator and former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia at Tech’s Pro Day. (By D. Orlando Ledbetter/DLedbetter@ajc.com)
Georgia Tech’s Shaquille Mason snapping to New England draft evaluator and former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia at Tech’s Pro Day. (By D. Orlando Ledbetter/DLedbetter@ajc.com)
By
Feb 1, 2018

New England offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was having a good time in retirement after the 2013 season.

“I had my own shop in the back of my house,” Scarnecchia said. “I was building furniture. I was playing golf. We had a house in Rhode Island, so I was at the beach all of the time surfing, paddle boarding, body surfing and playing with my grand kids.”

After two years out of the game, Scarnecchia, 69, got a call from Patriots coach Bill Belichick.  He was working a coaching clinic at Pacific University.

“(He) wanted to know if I’d be interested in talking about coming back,” Scarnecchia said. “When he called, at the time, I wasn’t (interested). Then he called about 10 days later and we talked it out.”

About the Author

Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.

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