After a four-year hiatus,Bob Nielson returns to the University of Minnesota Duluth football sidelines in 2008 with intentions of picking up where he left off. Nielson, who spent five seasons as the Bulldogs' head coach (1999-2003) and racked up the best winning percentage in school history, was officially appointed to his old post on Jan. 3, 2008. He'll will continue to also serve as UMD's director of intercollegiate athletics, a position he's held since the 2003-04 season.

Nielson, 48, succeeded Kyle "Bubba" Schweigert, who resigned in early January following a four-year stay with the Bulldogs to become the defensive coordinator at Southern Illinois University.

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 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. Along the way, some 57 UMD team and individual records fell by the wayside, including those for points (539) and wins (11), and a school-record nine players landed All-NSIC acclaim. 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 career 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 runnerup for the American Football Monthly magazine NCAA II Coach of the Year award, joined the UMD staff after experiencing a substantial amount of success at the NCAA III level. In his third, and final year at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, he guided the Blugolds to a share of the 1998 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title (their first since 1983) and an initial berth in NCAA III post-season play. Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which advanced all the way to the semifinal round of the NCAA III playoffs that fall, finished with a 10-3 overall record, setting a school single-season mark for victories in the process. In three seasons at the Blugold helm, Nielson, the Football Gazette's 1998 Division III Coach of the Year, amassed a mark of 22-11 while producing six All-Americans, 22 All-WIAC picks and 50 WIAC All-Academic Team honorees. In addition to his coaching duties, the Marion, Iowa, native also was Wisconsin-Eau Claire's associate athletic director and a member of its department of kinesiology teaching staff.

Nielson spent the previous five years (1991-95) as both the head football and and director of athletics at his alma mater, Wartburg College, In addition to stringing together five successive non-losing seasons at the Waverly, Iowa-based school, he directed the Knights to back-to-back NCAA III playoff appearances (1993 and 1994) and an Iowa Conference crown in 1993.

The Iowa Conference Coach of Year award recipient in 1993, Nielson began his head coaching career at Ripon (Wis.) College, compiling a 9-8-1 record in two years with that NCAA III program. In the second of those two seasons, the Red Hawks turned in their first winning mark (7-2) in eight seasons. From 1981-88, Nielson served as an assistant coach at Wartburg, working six years as the Knights' offensive line coach and two seasons as their defensive coordinator.

Nielson, who will enter the 2008 season with a 15-year college coaching mark of 108-52-1, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education from Wartburg College in 1982 (he graduated with a 4.00 cumulative grade point average) and a Master's degree in physical education from the University of Northern Iowa six years later. He and his wife, Terri, have three children -- Amanda, and twins Kyle and Kasey -- and reside in Hermantown.

The dean of the Bulldog football coaching staff, John Steger returns for his ninth season in 2007 to once again assume the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator assignment.

Under Steger’s watch, UMD has consistently finished among the conference leaders in a number of defensive statistical categories. On a national scale, the Bulldogs have received plenty of notice both as a team and individually. In 2004, for example, All-American defensive end Russ Rabe placed third in the NCAA II in quarterback sacks and, in 2002, UMD as a team sported the nation's second-best defense against the run. Rabe went on to participate in pair of National Football League pre-season camps, spend the 2006 season with the NFL Europe's Hamburg Sea Devils, and receive a tryout this past summer with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.

Steger joined the Bulldog football family in 1999 after being employed the previous 11 years as a defensive coordinator at two NCAA Division III schools. He served a seven-season stint at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, working for three of those years (1996-98) with former Bulldog Head Coach (and now UMD Athletic Director) Bob Nielson. During his tenure, the 1998 Blugolds topped the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in total defense, rushing defense, and scoring defense. For his efforts, the Wisconsin High School Coaches Association chose him as their 1998 College Assistant Coach of the Year.

Steger began his coaching career at Sul Ross State University where he was employed for four seasons (1988-91) as the Lobos’ defensive coordinator after serving two years as a graduate assistant at that Texas institution. A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Steger started a pair of seasons at linebacker while attending Loras College (Iowa) and co-captained the Duhawks as a senior in 1984. He lettered three times in two sports -- football and track (sprinter) -- at Dubuque’s Wahlert High School and landed All-Mississippi Valley Conference honors following his final prep football season.

Steger, 44, received a B.A. degree in both physical education and business from Loras College in 1985 and a Master’s degree in education from Sul Ross State three years later. He and his wife, Barb, reside in Duluth.


The newest addition to the UMD football coaching staff, Nick Goeser will supervise the Bulldogs' first line of defense in 2007 after working in that same capacity at a pair of NCAA Division III institutions the previous four seasons.

The 27-year old Goeser (GAY-zer) served as an assistant coach in charge of the defensive ends at Augustana College (Ill.) during the 2005 and 2006 seasons -- a period in which the Vikings won two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) championships and made one NCAA III playoff appearance. Goeser, who also handled Augustana College's film coordinator duties, was a member of the Marietta College (Ohio) football staff the previous two years and, as a defensive line coach, helped rebuild a Pioneer team which had gone 2-8 in his debut season to a 6-4 club the following fall.

A native of Scandinavia, Wis., Goeser played his college ball at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he was a four-year starting defensive lineman and a 2002 All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honoree. He played an integral part in helping the Blugolds post back-to-back 8-2 seasons during his final two years in Eau Claire and the 2001 WIAC title.

Goeser, who was redshirted as a freshman at Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1998 under then-head coach and current UMD Athletic Director Bob Nielson and then-assistant coach and current Bulldog defensive coordinator John Steger, was named the Blugolds' Most Valuable Lineman for three straight seasons and captained the team as a senior.

A three-sport standout (football, basketball, and baseball) at Iola-Scandinavia High School, Goeser received his bachelor's degree in in kinesiology from Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2003 and his Master's degree in education from Marietta College two years later.

Goeser, whose younger brother, Mike, was a defensive lineman with the Bulldogs in 2001 and 2002, is single and resides in Duluth.

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Another somewhat recent arrival on the Bulldog football landscape, Peter Lue is back for Year Two and is responsible for UMD's offensive interior.

Lue, 36,who was appointed to his new post on March 7, served a four-year assistant coaching stint (offensive line) at La Salle University and, in 2005, was promoted to director of football operations at the NCAA I-AA institution. Lue has worked under, or with, fellow Bulldog rookie assistant coach Phil Longo for the last 10 years. He joined the Explorer staff in 2002 fresh off a two-season stay as William Paterson University’s line coach and special teams coordinator. From 1996-1999, he was employed in that same capacity at Parsippany Hills (N.J.) High School.

A defensive lineman at Rowan University (N.J.) from 1992-95, Lue helped lead the Profs to a pair of NCAA Division III championship game appearances (1993 and 1995). He graduated from Rowan U. in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

The Parsippany, N.J. native, is single and lives in Duluth.

The 2007 season marks the second year of UMD graduate assistant coaching duty for Vernard Abrams, who, like Bulldog assistants Phil Longo and Pete Lue, is a former La Salle University football staff member.

Abrams served as the Explorers' quarterback coach (he works with the wide receivers at UMD) in 2005, one year after he put the wraps on an exceptional playing career at that NCAA I-AA school. As a senior, Abrams was chosen the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's Co-Offensive Player of the Year after quarterbacking that circuit's most productive offensive. Abrams was a full-time starter in the Explorer defensive secondary (free safety and cornerback) for a pair of seasons before taking over as La Salle's No. 1 signal caller in 2004.Abrams, who was also used at the wide out position during his collegiate tenure, attained All-MAAC honors as a defensive back following the 2003 season.

In the spring and summer of 2006, Abrams, 23, was a two-way starter (wide receiver and defensive specialist) for the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings of the Arena2 Football League.

A native of Philadelphi and 2001 graduate of Cardinal Dougherty High School, Abrams earned a B.A. degree in marketing from La Salee in 2005 and is currently enrolled in the Master's of Education program at UMD.


Graduate assistant coach Jason Hoskins is embarking on his second season with the Bulldogs and will be in charge of the team's running back.

Haskins, 24, joined the UMD football program last fall after spending four years working at a pair NCAA Division III institutions. He sandwiched a one-season stint at Rockford College (Ill.) between two separate tenures in Dubuque, Iowa with Loras College. While at Loras, Hoskins coached the wide receivers (2002), tight ends (2004), and, most recently, the running backs (2005). He was responsible for the Rockford College’s cornerbacking crew during his one season there.

Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Hoskins was a two-way starter (wide receiver and defensive back) as a junior and senior at Dubuque Senior High School. Upon graduation in 2001, Hoskins attended Loras College where he earned a B.A. degree in history/secondary education. He is pursuing a Master’s degree in education at UMD.


Mike Lang, who broke into the coaching college ranks two years ago, returns for his second season of graduate assistant coaching activity and has been assigned to the defensive secondary (backs).

Lang served in that same capacity during the 2005 season at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, where, as a student assistant, he also coached the Beaver punt returners.

The 24-year old Emmetsburg, Iowa, native latched on with the Buena Vista coaching staff fresh off three-year playing career with the Beavers. Besides being used extensively at the cornerback position, Lange also returned punts for Buena Vista, an NCAA Division III school.

A three-sport letterman at Emmetsburg High School (football, basketball and baseball), Lang graduated from Buena Vista in 2006 with a B.A. degree in history education and is now working on a Master’s degree in education at UMD.