Gary Brent Darnell (born October 15, 1948) is an American former college football player and coach.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969 and again remained with the Oklahoma State football team as a graduate assistant.
In 1986, Darnell joined the staff of Al Groh at Wake Forest University as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
In 1990, he accepted a position under Lou Holtz at the University of Notre Dame as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
Darnell was replacing Barry Alvarez, who left to take the head coaching job at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
He later joined John Mackovic's staff at the University of Texas at Austin as assistant head coach and special teams coordinator in 1992.
Darnell was hired as the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M University by head coach Dennis Franchione for the 2006 season.
[3] Following the 2000 season, Darnell became a top candidate for several head coaching positions at BCS conference schools, including Missouri, North Carolina, Rutgers, and Oklahoma State.