Lynx’s new football coach led Valparaiso program for 4 years
Lindenwood University-Belleville Director of Athletics Scott Spinner announced Thursday the hiring of Dale Carlson as football coach.
Carlson is the second coach for the Lynx since the inception of the program in 2012. He replaces Jeff Fisher, who was told in June he wouldn’t be returning to the program he launched. The Lynx were 2-8 last season and 10-21 under Fisher.
Carlson spent last season as the assistant head coach at North Park University in Chicago. Prior to that, he spent four years at the helm of Valparaiso University, an NCAA Division I FCS program.
Carlson has started programs at both Trine University and Ohio Dominican, where he was named the NAIA Coach of the Year in 2009. His career coaching record is 111-124-1.
“I am pleased that Scott Spinner, President Barger, and the search committee have chosen me to lead the Lindenwood-Belleville football program,” said Carlson. “I’m excited to meet the coaches and players and begin work on the 2015 season.”
Carlson has been coaching in some aspect since 1982, where he was the offensive line coach at Elmhurst College. Spending time at Franklin College, Grand Valley State University, Lakeland College, and Taylor University, Carlson has been the head coach at four different schools prior to Lindenwood-Belleville.
“I’ve never been more excited for our football program,” said Spinner. “I think that Dale brings an instant level of credibility to our program in the Mid-States Football Association, as a direct result of his previous success. We interviewed a number of candidates and we are confident Dale is somebody who the students, faculty, and community can relate to and appreciate.”
In 1998, as well as from 2000-2002, Carlson’s offense and defense at Trine finished the year in the top-25. In 1998, Carlson led Trine to the national semifinals and rose as high as third in the NAIA national rankings in the program’s fourth year. From 1999-2002, Trine finished the year ranked in the top-25 in the NAIA, making the playoffs in 2001 after winning a conference title in the Mid-States Football Association.
Following his time at Trine, Carlson left for Ohio Dominican in 2003 to again start a program from its inception.
From 2006-2008, Ohio Dominican finished in the top-25 in the NAIA in total offense and defense and finished in the top-25 in the final poll from 2006-2009, including rising as high as sixth in 2007. In that 2007 campaign, Carlson won another conference championship, again in the Mid-States Football Association, and made an appearance in the national quarterfinals.
“Dale has proven that he can take our football program where we want to go because he has done it twice before. Both of those programs were start-up operations and he turned them into national powerhouses and that’s exactly what we are asking him to do here,” said Spinner. “We have completed the task of starting the program and are now ready to move into an era of success and we believe Dale is the right person to lead this program in that direction.”
Carlson is a two-time recipient of the MSFA Mideast Coach of the Year, both in 2001 and 2007. Additionally, in 2007, he was named the AFCA Region II Coach of the Year as well as the American Football Monthly / Schutt Sports NAIA National Coach of the Year. In 2009, he was named the NAIA Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Coach of the Year.
At the time of Fisher’s firing, Spinner appointed assistant Byron Gettis, a former all-state football and baseball player at Cahokia High School, as interim head coach.
This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Lynx’s new football coach led Valparaiso program for 4 years."