Mike_Van_Diest
Mike Van Diest
American football coach (born 1950s)
Mike Van Diest (born c. 1951 or 1952) is an American college football coach. He was the head football coach at Carroll College in Helena, Montana from 1999 to 2018, compiling a record of 203–54. Van Diest's Carroll Fighting Saints won six NAIA National Championships, four consecutively from 2002 to 2005, a fifth in 2007, and a sixth in 2010.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1951 or 1952 (age 71–72) Helena, Montana, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1971–1972 | Wyoming |
| 1974 | Wyoming |
| 1975 | Washington Redskins* |
| Position(s) | Guard, linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1977 | Wyoming (GA) |
| 1978 | Wyoming (DT) |
| 1979 | Wyoming (co-JV) |
| 1980–1985 | Montana (DL) |
| 1986 | UMass (DL) |
| 1987–1990 | Northwestern (DL) |
| 1991–1998 | Wyoming (DL) |
| 1999–2018 | Carroll (MT) |
| 2020 (spring) | Mary (assistant) |
| 2020 | Helena HS (MT) (volunteer) |
| 2021 | Montana State–Northern (DC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 203–54 |
| Tournaments | 35–8 (NAIA playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 6 NAIA (2002–2005, 2007, 2010) 14 Frontier (2000–2011, 2013–2014) | |
| Awards | |
| 4× NAIA Coach of the Year (2003, 2005, 2007, 2010) 2× AFCA NAIA Coach of the Year (2007, 2010) | |
Van Diest played college football for Wyoming between 1971 and 1974. He was listed as a tight end and offensive guard throughout his career.[1] Following his graduation in 1975, he signed with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) as a linebacker.[2]
Van Diest began his coaching career in 1977 as a graduate assistant for his alma mater, Wyoming.[3] In 1978, he was promoted to the defensive tackles coach position.[3] In 1979, he served as the co-head coach of the junior varsity team for Wyoming.[4] In that same year he was hired as the head strength and conditioning coach.[5]
In 1980, Van Diest was hired as the defensive line coach for Montana.[3] He maintained that position for six years before being hired in the same position for UMass.[6][7] After only one season with UMass, he was hired as the defensive line coach for Northwestern.[8] In 1991, he rejoined his alma mater as the defensive line coach.[9]
In 1999, Van Diest took his first head coaching position as the head football coach for Carroll College.[10] He maintained the position for twenty seasons and led the team to an overall record of 203–54 and six NAIA National Championships.[11] He retired after the 2018 season.[12][13]
In the spring of 2020, Van Diest came out of retirement to coach for Mary.[14] The season was ultimately cancelled due to COVID-19 before he coached a game for the Marauders.[15] He spent the fall of 2020 as a volunteer assistant for Helena High School.[15] In 2021, he joined Montana State–Northern as the team's defensive coordinator—his first coordinator position of his entire career.[15][16][17][18] He retired after one season.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | NAIA# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carroll Fighting Saints (Frontier Conference) (1999–2018) | |||||||||
| 1999 | Carroll | 5–6 | 5–3 | 3rd | |||||
| 2000 | Carroll | 10–4 | 6–2 | 1st | L NAIA Semifinal | 3 | |||
| 2001 | Carroll | 10–2 | 7–1 | 1st | L NAIA Semifinal | 3 | |||
| 2002 | Carroll | 12–2 | 7–1 | 1st | W NAIA Championship | 1 | |||
| 2003 | Carroll | 15–0 | 8–0 | 1st | W NAIA Championship | 1 | |||
| 2004 | Carroll | 12–2 | 6–2 | T–1st | W NAIA Championship | 1 | |||
| 2005 | Carroll | 14–0 | 8–0 | 1st | W NAIA Championship | 1 | |||
| 2006 | Carroll | 11–2 | 9–1 | 1st | L NAIA Quarterfinal | 5 | |||
| 2007 | Carroll | 15–0 | 10–0 | 1st | W NAIA Championship | 1 | |||
| 2008 | Carroll | 13–1 | 10–0 | 1st | L NAIA Championship | 2 | |||
| 2009 | Carroll | 13–1 | 8–1 | 1st | L NAIA Semifinal | 3 | |||
| 2010 | Carroll | 14–0 | 10–0 | 1st | W NAIA Championship | 1 | |||
| 2011 | Carroll | 13–2 | 9–1 | 1st | L NAIA Championship | 2 | |||
| 2012 | Carroll | 7–4 | 7–3 | 3rd | 21 | ||||
| 2013 | Carroll | 12–2 | 9–1 | 1st | L NAIA Seminfinal | 3 | |||
| 2014 | Carroll | 10–2 | 9–1 | 1st | L NAIA Quarterfinal | 5 | |||
| 2015 | Carroll | 4–6 | 4–6 | T–4th | |||||
| 2016 | Carroll | 4–6 | 4–6 | T–5th | |||||
| 2017 | Carroll | 4–6 | 4–6 | T–5th | |||||
| 2018 | Carroll | 5–6 | 4–6 | 7th | |||||
| Carroll: | 203–54 | 144–41 | |||||||
| Total: | 203–54 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
- "Mike Van Diest". The Missoulian. September 26, 1985. p. 36. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Mike Van Diest signs with Redskins". The Independent-Record. March 26, 1975. p. 9. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Mike Van Diest joins UM staff". The Independent-Record. January 13, 1980. p. 11. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- Shurmur, Sally Ann (May 22, 1979). "Lewis previews UW grid program". Casper Star-Tribune. p. 9. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Van Diest hired". Casper Star-Tribune. June 14, 1979. p. 12. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "UMass gets new grid assistant". Daily Hampshire Gazette. April 19, 1986. p. 17. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- Perlmutter, David (July 24, 1986). "Building Div. 3 grid power means work, work, work". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. 25. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- Cole, Milton (April 28, 1987). "Ex-Patriot is UM coach". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. 21. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- Mossman, John (September 1, 1991). "Wacky WAC certain to feature excitement". Great Falls Tribune. p. 97. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Van Diest new Carroll football coach". The Billings Gazette. December 12, 1998. p. 24. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Carroll coach Mike Van Diest retires after 20 seasons, 6 NAIA titles". ESPN. Associated Press. November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- Mansch, Scott. "Coach Mike Van Diest: A Carroll College football legend retires". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Carroll football coach Mike Van Diest retires after 20 seasons | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Legendary coach Mike Van Diest joins Marauders football coaching staff". University of Mary Athletics. February 10, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- Shepard, Daniel (July 13, 2021). "'Coaching is my lifeline': Hall of Famer Mike Van Diest returns to Frontier Conference as Lights' defensive coordinator". NonStop Local KHQ. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Mike Van Diest excited for opportunity to return to college football". MontanaSports.com (MTSPX). July 15, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Mike Van Diest excited to return to coaching". Havre Daily News. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- Ferguson, George (July 12, 2021). "Carroll, NAIA legend Mike Van Diest hired to coach at MSU-Northern". Havre Daily News. Havre, Montana. Retrieved November 2, 2021.