02/19/07

Greg Carlson	Bill Diesing	Mark Henninger	Chuck Moller

DULUTH, Minn. — The lengthy and in-depth process of finding the right man to lead The College of St. Scholastica’s first football team is nearing its completion as the search committee has whittled down a candidate list of over 140 applicants from 38 states to a group of four that will come to campus for a final interview.

"It's gratifying to hear from these finalists that the primary attribute that attracted them to this position was the strong academic reputation of St. Scholastica,” said Vice-President of Enrollment Management Brian Dalton, one of the members of the search committee. “They are confident they can be successful here not just because of our commitment to this initiative, but that they know they have a high caliber academic experience to offer their recruits," he added.

Three of the four have ties to either Minnesota or Wisconsin, and two have been part of programs within the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. All four have coaching experience at the NCAA Division III level, one at the D-II level, and two at the D-I level.

The varying attributes the four bring to the table is a welcome test for the search committee. “Our challenge will be choosing among four highly qualified yet very different candidates,” said committee member and Athletic Director Tony Barrett.

The four candidates:

Greg Carlson is currently the Assistant Head Coach for the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League where he coaches both the offensive and defensive lines as well as the fullbacks in addition to serving as the team’s Video Coordinator.

The Wauwatosa West (Wis.) High School product has been a head coach twice before, leading Wabash (Ind.) College for 18 years from 1983-2000 and working at Whittier (Calif.) College from 2003-2005.

During his extended stay at Wabash, Carlson compiled a 112-57-2 record and won four conference championships as the head coach after spending three previous seasons as the program’s Defensive Coordinator.

At Whittier, he took over a team that had only 13 players in the spring of 2003 and by the 2005 season had increased the team roster to more than 80 players.

His coaching resume includes stops at Ball (Ind.) State (Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator), the University of Illinois (Director of Football Operations), the University of Evansville (Defensive Coordinator), and at MetairieParkCountryDay School in New Orleans (Head Coach).

Carlson holds a Masters of Education in Physical Education from the University of Oklahoma and completed his undergraduate degree in Physical Education at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Bill Diesing has been the Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach at UW-Platteville since 2004. He also coordinates the program’s recruiting efforts. Platteville owns a 12-18 record during his time with the Pioneers.

After playing football each of his four years at Loras (Iowa) College where he captained the team his senior season and was named 1^st team all-conference, Diesing stepped back across the sideline into a coaching roll with his alma mater. He was the Assistant Offensive Line Coach for three seasons before being named the Duhawk’s Running Backs Coach in what would be his final season at Loras.

Diesing moved on to Rockford (Ill.) College — a member of the UMAC from 2000 through the 2006 season — to join the start up efforts of the College’s football program in 2000. He spent four seasons with the Regents as the staff’s Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator, Recruiting Coordinator, and JV Head Coach.

In his final season with Rockford, he coached two-time All-UMAC running back Marcus Howard to the UMAC Offensive Player of the Year award. Howard finished the season ranked 14^th in the nation in D-III rushing totals after accumulating more than 1,400 yards.

Diesing holds a Master of Arts degree in Administration of Athletics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sports Management from Loras.

Mark Henninger is the Defensive Coordinator at North CarolinaWesleyanCollege where he was on the program’s coaching staff when the College fielded their initial team in the fall of 2004.

N.C. Wesleyan’s first year record of 5-4 was the best record for a first year program in NCAA Division III football in 23 years (1981). Henninger was instrumental in bringing in 177 players in the first year of the program and then another 104 recruits in its second season.

Prior to moving to North Carolina, Henninger spent four years as the Recruiting Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach at his alma mater, Wittenberg (Ohio) College. During his time as coach with the Tigers, the football program compiled a 41-7 record, earned two conference championships, and made three NCAA D-III Playoff appearances.

Henninger also was a graduate assistant coach at Millikin (Ill.) University and Wartburg (Iowa) College and spent one season as an assistant coach with the Hamburg (Germany) Blue Devils Football Club, who were the Euro-Bowl Champions and German National Runners-Up in 1998.

From Wittenberg, Henninger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management while earning four varsity letters as a defensive back for a Tiger team that won two conference titles and made one appearance in the NCAA D-III playoffs.

Chuck Moller carries an extensive Division I background with him, most recently as the Offensive Line Coach at OklahomaStateUniversity where he joined the Cowboys staff prior to the 2001 season.

OklahomaState made three Bowl appearances during Moller’s stint with the Cowboys. They defeated Southern Mississippi to win the 2002 Houston Bowl, played in the 2004 Alamo Bowl following the 2003 season and finished 21^st in the country after a loss to the University of Mississippi, then lost to Ohio State in the 2004 Cotton Bowl.

Prior to his Oklahoma stay, Moller coached the tackles and tight ends for four years at StanfordUniversity on the staff of Ty Willingham who led the Cardinal to a 2000 Rose Bowl invitation.

Moller’s 22 years of coaching experience include stops at the University of New Mexico, SouthwestTexasStateUniversity, Pittsburg (Kan.) State, FergusFalls (Minn.) Community College and the University of Minnesota-Morris. He has coached both the offensive and defensive lines, been a Defensive Coordinator, and served as the Assistant Head Coach at SouthwestTexasState.

Moller has coached or recruited 30 players that went on to the NFL and coached 31 players who earned NCAA Academic All-American awards.

After earning an Associate of Arts degree from Fergus Falls C.C., Moller earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Minnesota-Morris.

The four candidates will interview on campus the weeks of February 26^th and March 5^th, bringing the College one step closer to the naming of their first ever football head coach.