When John Wristen returned to his alma mater to become head coach at Colorado State-Pueblo in 2007, he was charged with restarting a program that had been discontinued in 1984. In the course of just over a year, he had to field a varsity team without the benefit of any prior preparation. He used word of mouth, personal contact, and many emails to advertise tryouts that fall. There hadn’t even been a club team since the sport was dropped.

That first year – 2008 – the Thunderwolves finished 4-6 but improved to 7-4 in 2009. CS-P then went 9-2 in 2010 and this past fall finished 11-1 with a perfect 9-0 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Wristen’s team finished number 1 in the polls among all Division II teams at the end of the regular season.

The Thunderwolves featured a balanced attack on offense, rushing for 187 yards per game and passing for 181 more. On defense, they led all Division II colleges in scoring defense, surrendering just 10.3 points per game.

Wristen had been an honorable mention All-American quarterback at then-University of Southern Colorado and guided the team to its only NAIA playoff appearance in 1983. He graduated with an education degree in 1984.

Wristen returned to Pueblo after coaching for 17 seasons at Colorado, Northwestern, and UCLA. He was chosen as CS-P’s new head coach from a pool of more than 100 applicants. For his accomplishments, Wristen was selected as American Football Monthly’s Division II Coach of the Year for 2011.

After attending the FCS Championship game that December, Fritz came back to campus and wrote three things on the board in the locker room – ‘6-5, average; 8-3, good; 10-1, great.’ The Bearkats responded even better than ‘great’ with a 14-1 record in 2011, their only loss being to South Dakota State in the FCS Championship to South Dakota State.

Fritz now has a 20-6 record in his two seasons at SHSU. He earned Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors and was selected by American Football Monthly as the Football Championship Subdivision Coach of the Year for 2011. The Bearkats 14 victories marks the most wins in one season in Sam Houston’s 96 years of football.

During a 30-year coaching career, Fritz has been part of programs both as a head coach and as an assistant that have produced an overall record of 234 wins, 66 losses, and five ties. Before being named Sam Houston’s head coach in December of 2009, Fritz rolled up a 97-47 record in 13 seasons as Central Missouri’s head coach. He became the only Central Missouri coach to produce eight consecutive seasons of seven or more wins.

Fritz played college football at Pittsburg State where he was a four-year starter as a defensive back. He then served as a high school assistant coach before being named defensive coordinator at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas in 1987. From there, he went to SHSU as defensive backs and special teams coach and then became head coach at Blinn Junior College in 1993. At Blinn, he turned a program around that had been 5-24-1 in its three previous seasons, producing a 39-5-1 record. Blinn won two national junior college championships under Fritz and he was later inducted into the NJCAA hall of Fame.

Fritz’ father, the late, Harry Fritz, was Central Missouri’s head coach in 1952 and later became the executive director of the NAIA.

When Steve Specht was a senior at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati in 1985, one of the assistant coaches on the staff was Urban Meyer. More than 25 years later, Meyer has won two National Championships while at Florida and Specht was won two Ohio Division I State Championships as the head coach at his alma mater.

In fact, Specht was also the Ohio Division I Coach of the Year when St. X won the two titles in 2005 and 2007. This fall he is in his eighth season as head coach for the Bombers and 18^th as a coach at the school. Specht played baseball and football at Earlham College and started his coaching career at Roger Bacon High School (OH) in 1989. He then coached at West Chester Lakota (OH) before returning to St. X as an assistant.

In 2004, Specht became head coach and has an overall 71-17 record. He also became a member of USA’s Football and Wellness Committee, a group designed to further promote the best practices for America’s youth and the amateur football community. Specht also ventured to Sao Paulo, Brazil this past spring and introduced many South Americans to American football. Funded in part by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Education Development Program and Brazil’s American Football Federation, the two-day clinic benefited over 100 coaches of high school-aged and adult club teams across the entire country.

Specht is an English teacher at St. Xavier and teaches Freshman Oral Communication. He’s also a defensive specialist on the football field. Specht’s teams use matching zone concepts and employ a number of nickel pressure packages. Ranked among the prep elite teams this fall, St. Xavier held their first opponent to a total of 11 yards. Urban Meyer, to this day a friend and mentor to Specht, would be proud.

Now in his 19th season at the Dover, Delaware school, Drass has an overall record of 155-45-1. Wesley completed their second straight undefeated regular season last fall, losing to eventual National Champion Wisconsin-Whitewater in the national D-III semifinals. During his tenure, Wesley has had five seasons of at least 10 wins and their 70 victories over the past six years ranks third among all D-III programs. Additionally, the Wolverines have been to at least the second round of the D-III playoffs for six straight years.

An offensive lineman at Mansfield University, Drass started his coaching career as a high school coach in Pennsylvania. He then went back to his alma mater as an assistant coach and joined the Wesley program in 1989 as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. Then, after three years as the defensive coordinator, Drass was promoted to head coach in March, 1993. He has spearheaded the Wolverines defense since 1989 and last fall the Wolverines finished #1 in the nation in overall defense. In the last 16 seasons, his defense has been in the top 25 a total of 11 times.

Drass also serves as the Executive Director of Athletics for Wesley. His number one priority is stressing to his players the importance of a student-athlete’s education. “Wesley is about getting a cap and gown, not a helmet and shoulder pads. The classroom and the playing field are tied together and you cannot have success in one without the other.”

In 2010, Nielson and the Bulldogs did something no other NCAA Division II college had been able to do – finish 15-0 for a second time. For his efforts, Nielson received three coaching honors – the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year, the Liberty Mutual D-II Coach of the Year, and American Football Monthly’s D-II Coach of the Year.

Nielson returned to the UMD sidelines in 2008 following a four-year hiatus and oversaw one of the most impressive turnarounds in Division II history. The 4-6 Bulldogs of 2007 were molded into national champions the next season. Along the process, UMD set or equaled 50 team and individual records.

Nielson spent five years as UMD’s head coach from 1998-2003 but stepped down and became the school’s athletic director. He then was reassigned to the head coaching positions in January, 2008 while still retaining his title of athletics director. His overall eight-year record now stands at 79-21.

Nielson previously was the head coach for three years at Wisconsin-Eau Claire and also was the head coach at his alma mater, Wartburg College, from 1991-1995. He began his head coaching career at Ripon College and was an assistant coach at Wartburg from 1981-1988.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wartburg in 1982 and received his Master’s from Northern Iowa in 1988. If that isn’t enough, Nielson graduated with a 4.00 cumulative grade point average and, while at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, was a member of the Department of Kinesiology teaching staff.

Navarro won 11 straight games after their opening week loss, going into the championship game ranked #2 in the nation. With just over a minute remaining in the title game, Navarro’s Jueventino Sanchez nailed a 28-yard goal and Navarro defeated the top-ranked Grizzlies, 13-12. Butler’s offense had been averaging 40 points per game but were limited to two touchdowns in the championship game.

For Navarro head coach Nick Bobeck, the win was the culmination of three years of hard work. ‘This is very rewarding,” said Bobeck, who is now an impressive 32-3 in his three years leading the Bulldogs. “I’m very proud of the accomplishments of this group of kids. We didn’t play great, but these kids reached down within themselves and found enough inside to get the win.”

Bobeck played at the University of Central Oklahoma where he was an All-Conference fullback. He became a graduate assistant there and briefly joined the Navarro staff as the quarterbacks/receivers coach in 2006. Bobeck then became a graduate assistant at Texas A & M under head coach Dennis Francione. The next year he was selected as the offensive coordinator at Navarro.

On June 13, 2008, Bobeck was named head coach of the Bulldogs. Their 2010 NJCAA championship was their first since 1989. Not a bad resume for a 30-year old.

As the only head coach in the school’s history, Fredenburg has compiled a 13-year record of 121-32. Last fall, UMHB completed an undefeated regular season, but lost in the Division III playoffs to Wesley and finished 12-1. The Cru has earned eight trips to the playoffs under his tenure and were ASC Champions for six straight seasons, 2005-2010. The Crusaders have advanced to the second round of the playoffs for seven straight years. Fredenburg has coached nine AFCA All-Americans, 215 All-Conference players, and 78 Academic All-Conference selections.

Fredenburg began his career as a high school coach in Texas and had stops at Canyon High School, New Braunfels, and Giddings. He had a thirteen-year career at Baylor as both defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Fredenburg then moved on to LSU for a year, and, before coming to UMHB, he was the DC at Louisiana Tech for three years. Among the honor he’s received over the years:

·    Southwest Conference Defensive Coach of the Year – 1990
·    American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year – 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008
·    AFCA Region III Coach of the Year – 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007

Coach Fredenburg was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association. Honored by American Football Monthly in 2002, he was named the Division III National Coach of the Year Runner-Up

Consider the following accomplishments of the Rams defense in 2010:

*Finished 3rd in total defense, giving up only 228 yards per game.

*Finished 2nd in rushing defense, surrendering only 67 yards per game.

*Finished 2nd in scoring defense, allowing only 155 points in 12 games.

*Finished 4th in pass efficiency defense, giving up only 10 touchdowns.

*Finished 4th in tackles for loss per game.

White was an All-American defensive lineman for Albany State and the fourth round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1979. He played for both the Bengals and Seattle Seahawks for five years. White was appointed defensive line coach for the Rams in 1997 and still coaches the D-line as well as serving as defensive coordinator in addition to his duties as head coach.

The Rams finished the regular 2010 season 10-0, losing in the second round of the D-II playoffs. White won the Heritage Sports Radio Network’s (HSRN) National Division II Coach of the Year award. White and the Rams captured the 2010 SBN National Black College Football Championship and the SIAC Championship title.

His first year at Union was the program’s first winning season in 12 years. During the next decade, Union posted a winning record every season. In 1992, Bagnoli was selected by the University of Pennsylvania as their head coach. In the 19 years since, Bagnoli has become the winningest coach in the FCS and owns the highest Ivy League winning percentage of all time. Consider his achievements:

•    6 undefeated Ivy League seasons (all-time record)
•    8 outright Ivy League titles (all-time record)
•    24 consecutive wins (FCS record – 11/30/92 – 9/30/95)
•    131 wins at Penn – most all-time
•    169 All-Ivy League players

Bagnoli is now the longest-tenured coach in Penn’s 134-year football tradition and is one of five coaches in FCS history to record 200 career wins. He has had only one losing season at Penn and the Quakers won back-to-back Ivy titles in 2009 and 2010. Although somewhat under the radar, Bagnoli is clearly becoming a living legend.

All that changed in 1999 when Mike Feminis was named head coach. In 12 seasons at SXU, Feminis has compiled a 102-40 record, back-to-back Mid-State Football Association Championships, and finished 2010 with an overall 13-1 record. Since 2005, Saint Xavier has more wins than any other program in the state of Illinois. The Cougars had 11-0 regular season records in both 2009 and 2010.

After playing high school football for Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights and then at  St. Francis in Joliet,  Feminis coached at his alma mater before coming back to Chicago. He brought a high-powered offense to SXU and hasn’t looked back since. The Cougars have averaged over 40 points a game over the last three seasons and compile a 62-14 record since 2005. This past year, SXU reached the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship, falling to eventual champion Carroll College.

Feminis’ secret – recruiting in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. “There’s so much talent in the Chicago area, we don’t really need to recruit outside of Chicago,” said Feminis. A total of 72 of the 84 players on the team are from the Chicagoland area. The NAIA school has an enrollment of just over 5,000 with males comprising now 30 percent of the students. Does it get any better than being a football player at Saint Francis?