THE OFFICIAL ATHLETICS SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER

Lance Leipold enters his eighth year as head football coach at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Through seven seasons, Leipold’s numbers are astounding. His 94-6 record, for a .940 winning percentage, is the best among all active NCAA Division II and III coaches. The record includes 30 NCAA Playoff games, where the opponents are the best teams in Division III.

Leipold’s record in the postseason, against those top teams, is 29-1, for a .967 winning percentage that is even higher than his overall mark. Following six WIAC championships, those postseason wins have led to six appearances in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III championship game, in Salem, Virginia, where UW-Whitewater captured national titles in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013. The Warhawks have won an astounding five Stagg Bowl trophies in seven years.

There has been a shelf full of honors along the way. A three-time WIAC Coach of the Year and six-time national coach of the year, Leipold has gathered multiple honors from as many as five football-related organizations. He earned his fifth American Football Coaches Association Division III Coach of the Year award in 2013, joining Penn State's Joe Paterno as the only coaches at any level of college football to earn five AFCA Coach of the Year honors.

All of that said, there is another way, possibly the most important, to measure Leipold’s success. In Division III, where scholarships aren’t a part of the game, success is measured by the accomplishments of the student-athlete. During Leipold’s tenure, running back Justin Beaver earned the Gagliardi Trophy as the top player in Division III. Brent Allen earned the Division III Rimington Award as the top center. Jeff Schebler was the first recipient of the Fred Mitchell Award, given to the top placekicker in Division II or III. Tailback Levell Coppage earned D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year accolades, and Cole Klotz was selected D3football.com Defensive Player of the Year. Defensive back Jared Kiesow was named an NCAA Elite 88 Award winner. The Warhawks have piled up 56 All-America honors under Leipold’s tutelage.

Leipold had helped strengthen the bond with campus and community. The team’s winning ways have propelled UW-Whitewater into the top 10 in Division III attendance all seven years, and among the top five in the last six years. The Warhawks’ home game against UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 20, 2012, drew a WIAC-record 12,138 fans.

Leipold, out of Jefferson, Wis., played four years for the Warhawks (1983-1986). The 1984 team won the WIAC title, and the teams he played on were a combined 20-10-2. He is still second all-time in the Warhawk record books for career pass attempts (647), fourth in yards (4,277), sixth in completions (303) and tied for 10th with 27 touchdowns. He is also among the top 10 in those same categories for a single season, all in his junior year (1985). In a game against UW-River Falls in 1985, Leipold completed 37-of-57 passes for 494 yards, among the top 20 individual games in WIAC history. He was the team’s Most Valuable Player in 1986 and was elected to the UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Leipold’s coaching career began where he played, at UW-Whitewater. He coached quarterbacks in 1987 and wide receivers in 1988, helping both teams win WIAC (then WSUC) championships. After one year at Doane College in Nebraska, he returned to UW-W in 1990 to coach and work on his master’s degree. He helped the Warhawks win another WIAC title while serving as Berezowitz’s offensive coordinator.

Leipold moved on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the 1991, ’92, and ’93 seasons, serving as a graduate assistant all three years and working with the offense. The 1993 Badgers won the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl, going 10-1-1.

As an assistant coach at Division II Nebraska-Omaha from 1994-2000, Leipold helped turned UNO from a 1-10 team in 1994 to three-time North Central Conference champions during his tenure. After being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2000, he moved on to the University of Nebraska, where he served for three seasons. The Cornhuskers competed in the national championship game in 2001 and earned bowl bids in 2002 and 2003.

In 2004, Leipold returned to Nebraska-Omaha as associate head coach and offensive coordinator. The Mavericks finished 8-3 and won conference championships during each of Leipold’s three seasons.

Leipold and his wife Kelly have a daughter, Lindsey, and a son, Landon.

Office: Student Athletic Complex 113
Phone: (262) 472-1453
Fax: (262) 472-5691
Email: WarhawkFootball@uww.edu
Twitter: @CoachLeipold  OR   @Warhawk Football

YEAR BY YEAR WITH LEIPOLD