| Jerry Olszewski's Oles went
15-5 over the past two seasons. St. Olaf athletics photo |
Jerry Olszewski, head football coach at St. Olaf since 2008, will leave the college as he was introduced as head coach at Division II Augustana (S.D.) on Wednesday morning.
"Jerry Olszewski has done an outstanding job as the leader of our football program for the last five years," said St. Olaf athletic director Matt McDonald. "We are grateful for his work and wish he and his family the best."
St. Olaf compiled a 32-18 record under Olszewski in five seasons, including a 22-18 mark in MIAC play. The Oles' best season under the UW-Stevens Point grad was 2011, when St. Olaf went 8-2 with a 6-2 record in league play. In that season, St. Olaf reached as high as No. 19 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll and No. 22 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll. The Oles were 7-3 and 5-3 in the MIAC in 2012.
Olszewski was the program's 12th head coach and the sixth since
1958 (Tom Porter, 1958-90, 174-116-10; Don Canfield, 1991-95,
22-27-0; Rod Grubb, 1996, 2-8-0; Paul Miller, 1997-01, 20-30-0;
Chris Meidt, 2002-07, 40-20-0; Olzewski, 2008-12,
32-18-0).
Olszewski will take over an Augustana program that went 5-6 in
2012. The Vikings reached the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2010,
going 11-2, before finishing 6-5 in 2011. He spent parts of eight
seasons, in two stints (1993-96, 1999-02), at the Division II level
as an assistant at MSU-Mankato. Before coming to St. Olaf he was
the defensive coordinator at his alma mater, UW-Stevens Point, for
two seasons (2006-07).
St. Olaf will begin a search for Olzsweski's replacement
immediately.