Dante Warren will live in Coyote lore as the quarterback for perhaps the most significant victory in USD football history – a 41-38 win against the Minnesota Gophers in 2010, just three years after the Coyotes’ began their transition to the Division I level. Warren passed for a career-high 352 yards, ran for 81, and accounted for five touchdowns in the win. He would go on to earn all-conference honors that year and was a two-year starter at the position. Warren remains the seventh-leading passer in Coyote history with 4,361 yards.
Warren rejoined the program in the summer of 2018 and primarily works with USD running backs. He played a similar role at Augustana College in 2016 and 2017 when he served as a graduate assistant while pursuing a master’s degree in sports administration and management.
Following his collegiate career at USD, Warren played one season in the Indoor Football League for the Tri-Cities Fever. He threw for 1,472 yards and 28 touchdowns while rushing for 654 yards and 25 scores in his only season with Tri-Cities.
Warren began his coaching career as the quarterbacks coach at North Chicago High School in 2012. Following his year in the IFL, he became the offensive coordinator at Zion Benton Township High School in Zion, Illinois, in 2014. Warren was also responsible for the strength and conditioning duties with the football program at Zion Benton. He was a teacher’s aide at Zion Benton Alternative Program, teaching history and English.
Warren's four seasons on staff at USD are highlighted by the 2019 campaign when the Coyotes boasted two 500-yard running backs, averaged 185 yards rushing and scored 30 points per game. Kai Henry ran for a career-high 797 yards with nine touchdowns that season and would go on to finish as the 12th-leading rusher in program history with 2,128 yards.
The Coyotes and Warren one-upped those numbers in 2021 when true freshman Nate Thomas and third-year freshman Travis Theis combined for nearly 1,400 yards and 13 touchdowns in leading USD back to the FCS playoffs. Thomas averaged 6.3 yards per carry, which ranked 13th nationally, and both rushers placed in the top-eight on the Valley’s rushing list. Thomas was named to the Valley’s all-newcomer team and Theis earned honorable mention honors in 2021.
Warren and his wife, Hailie, reside in Vermillion and have a daughter, Winter.
