Alumni Association

Bob Nielson Appointed Bulldog Head Football Coach

After a four-year hiatus, Bob Nielson has returned to the UMD football sidelines. Nielson, who spent five seasons as the Bulldogs' head coach (1999-2003) and racked up the best winning percentage in school history, was appointed to the post by Chancellor Kathryn A. Martin. Nielson, 48, will continue to also serve as UMD's director of intercollegiate athletics, a position he's held since the 2003-04 season. Nielson succeeds Kyle "Bubba" Schweigert, who resigned after four years with the Bulldogs to become the defensive coordinator at Southern Illinois University.

"We are grateful for the many talents of Bob Nielson which allow him to step right in, and for the dedicated coaching staff which allows the UMD football program to continue to excel without missing a beat," said Martin. "We are also proud of the fine work done by Bubba Schweigert, and wish him well."

"I'm extremely excited to assume these additional responsibilities," said Nielson. "I've missed coaching and see this as an opportunity to once again engage in something I really enjoy doing.

"I'm appreciative of the confidence Chancellor Martin and Vice Chancellor Bill Wade have demonstrated in me through this appointment. This move will obviously require some changes in our administrative staffing structure but I feel we have the right people in place to make this not only a workable combination, but a highly successful one.

"We lost a tremendous person and coach in Bubba Schweigert and felt it was important to act quickly in order not to lose the momentum he and our outstanding staff have created with our football program."

During his five seasons with the Bulldogs, Nielson helped marshal the UMD football program to unprecedented heights. In 2002, for example, his Bulldogs posted their only perfect 11-0 regular season record to date, advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time ever and captured the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship. One year earlier, UMD made its inaugural post-season appearance (the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Mo.) and rolled up a 9-3 overall mark. In 2000, Nielson's second year at the helm, the Bulldogs went 7-4 -- their first winning season since 1996 -- while experiencing their greatest one-year turnaround ever (they managed a 3-8 mark the previous fall). His overall record with the Bulldogs now stands at 38-19 for a .667 winning percentage -- a figure unsurpassed by any UMD football coach.

Nielson, the 2002 NSIC Coach of the Year and a runner-up for the American Football Monthly magazine NCAA II Coach of the Year award, joined the UMD staff after guiding the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to the semifinal round of the 1998 NCAA Division III playoffs. He amassed a three-year mark of 22-11 with the Blugolds, including a 10-3 record in his farewell season when Wisconsin-Eau Claire claimed a share of its first WIAC title in 15 years, while setting a school mark for victories. While at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, he was also an associate athletic director and a member of the Department of Kinesiology teaching staff. A native of Marion, Iowa, Nielson spent five years (1991-95) as the head coach at his alma mater, Wartburg (Iowa) College, where he pieced together five successive non-losing seasons and doubled as the school's director of intercollegiate athletics, and two years at Ripon (Wis.) College (1989-90).

Nielson, who will enter the 2008 season with a 15-year college coaching record of 108-52-1, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education from Wartburg College (1982) and a Master's degree in physical education from the University of Northern Iowa (1988). He and his wife, Terri, have three children -- Amanda, and twins Kyle and Kasey -- and reside in Hermantown.

Nielson and the Bulldogs will rejoin the NSIC next fall following a four-year stay in the North Central Conference, which is dissolving at the end of the 2007-08 season.

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