AFM’s 2010 College Coaches of the Year

FCS

Beau Baldwin
Eastern Washington

If Eastern Washington could have written a script for the 2010 football season, it could not have gone any better. The Eagles got a lot of the buzz in the Football Championship Subdivision early in the year because of their newly installed red turf, which became known as the Inferno.

    In September, the Eagles, whom the media had given modest preseason aspirations in the Big Sky Conference, were routed in Bozeman, losing at Montana State, 30-7 to fall to 2-2.  But then a funny thing happened. Head coach Beau Baldwin saw a spark ignite the following week in a win at Weber State.

    “I remember the way we responded after the Weber State game, and I honestly felt that this group has a little something about them, but let’s see what happens,” Baldwin recalled. “Being and staying together as a family was important for us, but as long as I’ve been in football, I cannot remember more inspiring leaders than we had on this football team. They were amazing and they got us going.” 

    And going is what the Eagles did, as EWU would not taste defeat again, flying under the radar all season while claiming a share of the Big Sky title and earning homefield advantage throughout the FCS playoffs.

    After a scare in the second round, an overtime win over North Dakota State, the Eagles knocked off defending champion Villanova on national television to earn their first-ever national championship game appearance against Delaware.

    The game looked all but over for the favored Delaware Blue Hens, who led 19-0 late in the third quarter and sported the nation’s best defense, which allowed only 11 points per game.  The magical season then took one final amazing turn as the Eagles rallied late and scored two touchdowns in the last eight minutes to win the national championship, 20-19.

    Like the moment when they were 2-2, EWU reached down deep, never panicked, stayed together, and pulled off an amazing comeback to stun Delaware. “We were fine, just slow down and make plays – if we did that, we would be fine,” said Baldwin.

    The whole experience still overwhelms Baldwin; from the red turf, to the comeback from a 2-2 record to win the last 11, to rallying from 19-0 down late in the third quarter in the title game. Baldwin’s life and his EWU program have now changed and will always be linked to something amazing during the fall of 2010.

    “I know the red turf brought us a lot of attention, but Eastern has been to the playoffs five of the last seven years,” he said. We don’t want just to be a great team, we believe that we are a great program. I told my coaches recently, now the work starts. I cannot believe how busy I’ve become after this run we made.”

    The playoff run was one that will be remembered for a long time, and in today’s landscape at the FCS level, Baldwin offered his thoughts about the playoff season for FCS football.

    “Playoffs are incredible and quite addicting. It is something you really want and it’s a feeling like no other,” Baldwin added.


Division II

Bob Nielson
Minnesota-Duluth

It may seem hard to believe that a highly successful, veteran head coach of a young football team continues to learn on the job. That happened this past fall as Bob Nielson was amazed how much he learned during the 2010 season and the national championship run by his University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

    Nielson, who has won 79 of the 100 games he has coached during his eight seasons at UMD, led the Bulldogs to their second Division II national championship in the past three years as UMD capped off a perfect 15-0 season in December by beating Delta State, 20-17 on a field goal as time expired.

    “I learned so much from this group in how they stayed focused. The confidence on this team started with the players, and it was amazing how unselfish they were and how they adapted to things that happened on the football field,” Nielson explained. “They had this consistent level of emotion that they carried the entire season.”

    In 2008, the Bulldogs won the national championship with a veteran squad that had 20 more seniors than the 2010 team. You would not know that looking at what UMD did during this past title season.

    The Bulldogs won all 11 regular season games by at least 20 points, so they were never challenged late in games. That all changed in the playoffs. UMD won three of its four postseason games by a field goal, including an overtime thriller over St. Cloud State in the second round.

    However, despite the presence of so much youth on the Bulldog roster, Nielson felt early on that something special could happen again. His team was maturing in front of his eyes.

    “After a good preseason camp, we went to (perennial power) Central Washington for that first game and, after we won that one, I was amazed how focused and unselfish this team was,” said Nielson. “I thought then we had a chance to do some big things if we kept that focus and confidence.”

    Nielson, who also has served as UMD’s athletic director since 2004, believes he has a unique and special situation while building his own Division II power on the football field in Duluth.

    “I think we have the best of both worlds in Division II. We have high-quality athletes that compete at a high level, and we have a huge emphasis on the balance for our kids in terms of being a student and an athlete,” Nielson said.


Division III

Lance Leipold
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
 
What Lance Leipold has done at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is nothing short of amazing. A former quarterback at UW-Whitewater 25 years ago, Leipold has come back to the school he loves and turned it into a bona fide Division III football powerhouse.

    Since returning to his alma mater four years ago, Leipold has guided the Warhawks to three national championships, including back-to-back in 2009 and 2010, a current winning streak of 30 games (dating back to the loss in the 2008 national championship game), and victories in 57 of 60 games he has coached.

    After his former coach, Bob Berezowitz, retired after 22 seasons at UW-Whitewater, Leipold was summoned from Nebraska-Omaha, where he was the offensive coordinator. As Leipold was soaking up the moment of returning to his alma mater, he said it was something he had thought about years ago.

    “When I left Whitewater after playing and coaching here, I thought maybe, just maybe I would have the chance to come back and be the head coach here,” Leipold recalled. “Obviously I could have stayed way back when, but I thought it was important to go get other experiences, and it might have made it easier for me to come back to Whitewater after being other places.”

    Leipold broadened his horizons between his time as Berezowitz’s offensive coordinator at Whitewater and his time at UNO. The Wisconsin native, who had played at the Division III level and coached at Division II, was part of Barry Alvarez’s staff at Wisconsin from 1991-93.  Leipold was part of the Badgers’ Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl team in 1993.

    “It was an amazing experience working with Coach Alvarez and his staff. I can honestly say I picked up a lot of good things that have helped me as a head coach,” Leipold admitted. “I look at what we have done here at Whitewater, and the Stagg Bowls (Division III national championship game) we have played in are our Rose Bowl.”

    He returned to Nebraska-Omaha in 1994 and stayed until 2001 when he joined the football staff of the Big Red at the University of Nebraska. The Cornhuskers played for the national championship that year and also played in bowl games in 2002 and 2003. Leipold returned to Omaha in 2004, where he stayed until getting one of his greatest calls – the chance to come back to Whitewater.

    “There was so much emotion for me when I came back. I want to do so well, give back, and I don’t want to let people down,” Leipold said. “You can feel the pride here with the campus, community, former players, and alumni, and I have all of them to thank for the position I am in today – this is an unbelievable place.”

    Leipold says that each championship is special, yet different. In 2007, he inherited a talented, experienced, senior-laden team, but one that had to deal with the retirement of a long time coach, and the team rolled to the title. After losing in the 2008 championship game, the 2009 team had huge expectations and a lot of returning players. The squad responded and won the title.

    This past year’s team had some unknowns and a lot of obstacles along the way. After compiling a perfect season in the tough WIAC, the Warhawks lost their starting quarterback to a broken hand in the season finale, and had to be prepared to defend their title with his backup.

    “It’s a credit to our coaches and the kids for their preparation each and every week,” Leipold said. “We just kept the goal and the mission in front of us, we never got rattled or questioned anything, and we just kept going. They were not going to be denied.”

    And to make things even tougher, UW-Whitewater received a surprising seed and ended up having to go on the road the last rounds before advancing to the title game, the Stagg Bowl against fellow power Mount Union. The Warhawks prevailed 31-21, the win streak had reached 30, and UW-Whitewater had accomplished their back-to-back national championships.

    What also made it special for Leipold and his staff was the fact that in Division III, only 52 kids are allowed to dress. Consequently, some players who were on the field for this championship were not in uniform for the 2009 title.

    “It has been an amazing run and I am so happy for our kids, our coaches, our university, the alums, and all the former coaches and players who paved the way for someone like me to enjoy this kind of success,” Leipold concluded.


NAIA

Mike Feminis
Saint Xavier, Division III
 
That loud sound you might be hearing in the ranks of NAIA football is coming from Chicago. The pounding is coming from the Saint Xavier University football team, who has been knocking on the championship door the past two years.

    The Cougars have posted back-to-back perfect regular seasons, only to be knocked out in the semifinals of the NAIA playoffs, both times on the road. In 2009, SXU lost in the round of four at No. 1 Sioux Falls, and last December, the Cougars were eliminated in the final four by No. 2 Carroll College in Montana. Actually, Saint Xavier has been to the semifinals three times in the past five years.

    Saint Xavier has been close the last two seasons, but the mission and the focus remain the same for the Chicago-based school – “One Goal!” Ironically, the team slogan and battle cry before the 2010 season was “Still One Goal.” The Cougars remain driven and as head coach Mike Feminis, a Chicago native, admits, “I think the slogan is already set – There is Still Only One Goal.”

    Despite the 13-1 record and No. 3 ranking from this past season, SXU knows it will keep moving forward and the leader of the pack is the man responsible for taking the program to these heights.  

    “We have great kids that work hard, and come from great programs, mostly from the Chicago area. We have built this program the right way and expect to compete at a high level,” Feminis said. “Trying to win a national championship is a motivating factor. If you are not in it to win it, then why are you here? We want to win it and we are not going to be satisfied until we do.” 

    Feminis preaches the workmanlike approach and mentality throughout his program. His coaching staff includes six men who have been head coaches and the professionalism resonates throughout the team.

    “Our guys are focused and pay attention to detail. The kids don’t take a day off or a week off. They work hard and are a close knit group. I’ve got a coaching staff that is loyal, hard-working, and committed,” Feminis adds.

    The numbers speak volumes for Saint Xavier football since Feminis took over 12 years ago.  He has compiled a 102-40 record, which includes 11 consecutive winning seasons and six trips to the NAIA playoffs. The Cougars have won 62 games since 2005, the most of any football school in the state of Illinois, and among the top five in the entire NAIA.

    Feminis has elevated the program to where it’s a legitimate title contender year in and year out. Now the only question remains, does the sound get louder or do the Cougars and coach Mike Feminis knock the door down and claim the big prize?


JUCO

Nick Bobeck
Navarro College
 
A lot of great things have happened for Nick Bobeck over the past three years, but that has not changed one of the youngest head coaches at any level in college football. He gets it – he really gets it.

    The now 30-year old Bobeck is wiser than his years and knows exactly what his role is in the life of football players that come to him at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. The mission at a community or junior college is to develop young players and get them ready both academically and athletically for bigger and better things, and Bobeck is totally fine and very embracing of what he has at Navarro.  

    “We get kids here for a short time and we have them on a concentrated academic schedule. We have to find kids who have a great attitude and want to put the work in,” said Bobeck.

    “If we handle the interview and recruiting process and get the kids on the same page with the coaches, a good snowball effect will happen for us. But if the kids don’t want to work at it, they will just wash out and never make it here or at the next level. This takes a great deal of trust.”

    Bobeck must be doing something right. After serving as the OC at Navarro in 2007, Bobeck, then 27, was elevated to head coach, and have things ever been rolling in Corsicana.

    All Bobeck and the Bulldogs have done is go 32-3 over the last three seasons, capped by winning the 2010 NJCAA national championship in December, beating Butler (KS) Community College, 13-12, avenging a season-opening 16-10 defeat, vs. Butler. Navarro ended the season 11-1, finishing with an 11-game winning streak.

    However, it seemed Bobeck and Navarro would not be in that position, after what happened last February. Bobeck lost four assistant coaches right after signing day, and so what could have been a major hit to the program, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Bulldog football.

    “We lost some quality coaches, but I got very lucky because the guys I was able to hire are unbelievable,” conceded Bobeck. “We are all on the same page, we share similar philosophies in recruiting and style of play, and they are a big reason we were able to win a championship.”

    Football, at any level, is important in Texas. Bobeck, a native of Oklahoma, is humble and appreciative of what has happened and what he has at Navarro.

    “This is very gratifying. The administration is amazing. They believed in me and gave me a chance when I was 27,” Bobeck recalls. “I know we can win at Navarro. We have an amazing recruiting base here in Texas, but what thrills me the most is that we graduate our kids and prepare them and move them on to the four-year schools of their choice so they can pursue their dreams.”

    Bobeck has seen 45 of his players in the last three years move on to a Division I school, either FBS or FCS.