Rory Mannering enters his sixth season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator with the Big Red in 2020 and his second as the team's defensive coordinator.
Mannering came to Denison after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio. In five seasons with Mannering on staff, the Big Red has enjoyed one of the program's most successful stints in school history. Denison has posted records of 7-3 (2015), 8-2 (2016), 7-3 (2017), 8-3 (2018), and 8-2 in 2019 highlighted by Denison's second-straight conference championship. The Big Red broke eight single-season team records in 2018 and the defense posted a 42-0 shutout of Allegheny and held No. 22 Wabash scoreless until the final four minutes of the contest.
Senior safety and co-captain Ryan Zinkula was named second-team All-NCAC and junior defensive end Nate Keirn was named to the All-NCAC first-team. Sophomore cornerback Michael Flanagan also received honorable mention all-conference accolades.
While at Defiance, Mannering was a graduate assistant who coached linebackers in 2013 and safeties in the spring of 2014. In his second year at Defiance Mannering was promoted to co-special teams coordinator where he also made a shift to the offensive side of the football, coaching slot backs and receivers. Following the 2014 season, Mannering was promoted once again to recruiting coordinator.
Mannering is a 2012 graduate of Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana where he was a four-year starter and four-time all-conference honoree as a safety. In 2011 he was named to the All-North Region first-team by D3football.com. Mannering was part of a turnaround at Hanover which saw them go from a 2-8 record in 2008 to a 7-3 season in 2010. He left Hanover with a Bachelor of Arts in health and movement studies and elementary and secondary education. He received his Master of Arts in Education from Defiance in 2015 with a concentration in coaching.
Mannering played in the Stars and Stripes Division III Senior Bowl in Puebla, Mexico in 2011 and went on to serve as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Hanover during the spring of 2012.
Rory and his wife, Blaine, reside in Granville.
