DiNucci attended Pine-Richland High School. As a sophomore, he became a starter at quarterback. He also practiced basketball under Mike McCarthy's brother, Joe. As a senior, he became the first player in Pennsylvania history to throw for 4,000 yards in a single-season. He threw for a WPIAL-record 4,269 yards, while also registering 46 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He led his team to a 15-1 record and the PIAA Class AAAA state championship. He received 2014-2015 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Pennsylvania, second-team USA TODAY All-American, Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class AAAA Player of the Year, Pennsylvania Football News Class AAAA Offensive Player of the Year honors. DiNucci finished his high school career with 548-of-809 completions for 7,619 yards, 72 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.
College career
Although he originally intended to enroll at the University of Pennsylvania, he decomitted and accepted instead a football scholarship from the University of Pittsburgh, after Pat Narduzzi was hired as the new head coach and became interested in recruiting DiNucci. As a redshirt freshman, he was a backup quarterback behind Nathan Peterman. His first game experience came in the final offensive series against Duke University. In the 2016 Pinstripe Bowl, he relieved an injured Peterman late in the third quarter, posting 3-of-9 completions for 16 yards, one touchdown, 2 interceptions and 2 carries for 18 yards in a 24-31 loss against Northwestern University. As a sophomore, he was named the starting quarterback before the seventh game against North Carolina State University, after senior Max Browne suffered a season-ending right shoulder injury. He was platooned during the year and eventually lost the starting position to true freshman Kenny Pickett, for the season finale 24-14 victory against the previously undefeated No. 2 University of Miami. He finished with 88-of-158 completions for 1,091 yards, 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. In December, he announced his decision to transfer to James Madison University. As a junior, he started all 13 games at quarterback, posting 211-of-309 completions for 2,275 yards, 16 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 433 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns. He received third-team All-CAA honors. He had a career-high 316 passing yards against Elon University. He passed for a career-best 4 touchdowns against the University of Rhode Island. He rushed for career highs of 104 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns at Towson University. As a senior, he started all 16 games at quarterback, passing for 3,441 yards, 29 passing touchdowns, completed nearly 71% of his throws, had 122 carries for 569 yards and 7 rushing touchdowns. He earned All-CAA, CAA Offensive Player of the Year and AFCA first-team All-American honors. He led the Dukes to the FCS Championship Game, where the team lost to North Dakota State University. In the title game, DiNucci completed 22 of 33 passes for 204 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He finished his career in James Madison ranked third in completions, fourth in passing touchdowns and passing yards and seventh in total offense.
