Alan Faneca will have more on his plate this summer aside from being one of the newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Faneca, 44, was hired Monday as head football coach at Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Va. The former Steelers All-Pro guard previously was an assistant coach at the program.
Faneca, a Louisiana native and long-time resident, relocated to Virginia in recent years. His wife, Julie, is from Virginia Beach.
We are excited to announce that our next head football coach will be Alan Faneca! Coach Faneca played college football in the SEC for LSU, spent 13 years in the NFL (mostly with the Steelers), where he was named to the pro bowl nine times, and won a Super Bowl ring. Welcome! pic.twitter.com/rF8CRud5PU
— Frank W. Cox HS (@FrankWCoxHS) May 10, 2021
Faneca’s daughter is a sophomore at Cox High School. He previously coached offensive line for the football team.
“I’m not selling any fantasies,” Faneca told the Virginian-Pilot in February. “I’m going out there and coaching football and getting the kids developed as football players and people. That’s how I was taught when I was in school.
“I’ve always been a good athlete, but I was not always natural. I always worked hard, and in many respects that’s what got me to where I am today. The work you put into that God-given talent — that’s what I try to pass on.”
In February, Faneca was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his sixth year as a finalist. He is one of five Steelers representatives to be honored among the class of 2020 and ’21 this summer.
A first-round pick in 1998, Faneca spent the first 10 of his 13 NFL seasons with the Steelers. He was named to the Pro Bowl nine times and was a six-time first-team All-Pro selection. Faneca also was a member of the Super Bowl XL championship team, throwing the block that helped Willie Parker break off a 75-yard touchdown run, the longest in Super Bowl history.
Faneca retired in 2011 after spending two seasons with the New York Jets and one with the Arizona Cardinals.
