Jerry Olszewski enters his 11th season as the Augustana head football coach in 2023 as a two-time NSIC Coach of the Year. Entering his 16th season overall as a head coach, Coach Olszewski owns a career record of 95-57 while owning a 63-39 record in nine completed seasons at Augustana.
He was named the 21st head coach in school history on Dec. 12, 2012, after five seasons as the head coach at St. Olaf in Northfield, Minnesota.
The 2022 season saw Augustana complete a 7-4 record while Grayson Diepenbrock and Eli Weber earned Second Team AFCA All-America honors. Diepenbrock broke the single-season and career records for sacks with 10.5 in 2022 and 26 total for his career. Augustana totaled eight All-NSIC honorees while Blake Larson saw his name on the D2football Elite 100 list along with Weber.
Olszewski led Augustana to its first outright conference championship in 62 years in the 2021 season and a 9-2 NSIC mark. The Vikings claimed the NSIC South Division and ended the season with its second-straight unblemished record on its home turf in the regular season. Augustana advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the second-straight year. Defensive back Peyton Buckley was named the NSIC Defensive Newcomer of the Year while Logan Swanson was named an AFCA Second Team All-America honoree. In addition, Kyle Saddler and Blake Larson earned an honorable mention to the Don Hansen All-America Teams.
Consistent with academics, Olszewski saw three student-athletes named CoSIDA Academic All-America in Eli Weber, Luke Fritsch and T.J. Liggett.
During the COVID-19 canceled season of 2020, Olszewski oversaw a roster that produced a pair of Academic All-America honorees in Eli Weber and Luke Fritsch. In addition, T.J. Liggett earned an All-District honor from CoSIDA.
The 2019 season saw Coach Olszewski become just the second coach in Augustana history to guide the Vikings to more than one playoff appearance as AU tallied a 9-3 overall record and a trip to the NCAA Playoffs. Named the NSIC Coach of the Year, the Vikings recorded an unblemished record at home while the nine wins were the second-most in program history.
He oversaw the ascension of Jake Lacina, who became Augustana’s first-ever Rimington Trophy award winner, given annually to the nation’s top center. Lacina also earned First Team All-America honors from the AFCA and Don Hansen Football Gazette along with second team honors from D2Football.com. Joining Lacina on an All-America list was sophomore Luis Guarita who earned an honorable mention on the Don Hansen squad.
The Vikings saw 12 players honored by the NSIC including four first-team selections.
Off the playing surface, former Viking Kirby Hora was honored as the NCAA Today’s Top-10 award winner in Jan. 2020, following his decorated career with Augustana which concluded in 2018.
Coach Olszewski led the Vikings to unprecedented heights in 2018, bringing home the program’s first-ever 6-0 road record. With a perfect road mark, Augustana set a school and tied an NSIC record for conference victories on the road.
After securing a 7-4 record in 2018, the Vikings saw 12 student-athletes earn NSIC South Division All-Conference honors, including four standouts on the first team. The Vikings also excelled in the classroom with 27 student-athletes earning academic All-NSIC honors.
Following a 4-7 season in Olszewski’s first year at Augustana (2013), he put the program on the upward swing leading the Vikings to a 6-5 mark in 2014, followed by a 9-3 record and a playoff appearance in 2015.
Historically, Olszewski’s squad has set the bar high on the offensive side of the field. Under Olszewski, Augustana has a history of setting school records beginning in 2014 with 5,124 yards of total offense, followed by 5,527 yards of total offense in 2015 and raising the bar even higher with 5,617 yards in 2016.
Behind the arm of 2016 Harlon Hill Finalist and two-time NSIC Offensive Player of the Year, Trey Heid, Augustana set single-season records for passing yards with 3,603 in 2015 before he raised it to 3,786 yards in 2016. The Vikings scored 65 total touchdowns in 2016, a new single-season record after putting up 64 touchdowns in 2015.
2017 saw the Vikings land two individual All-American honors in linebacker Kirby Hora and offensive lineman Sam Lee. A D2Football.com All-American and CCA All-Super Region 4 selection, Hora led the NSIC with 129 total tackles, including a 21-tackle effort against MSU Moorhead in the season opener, which tied the school's single-game record. Lee, who was named a D2Football.com All-American and an AFCA Second Team All-American, started all 11 games as a senior in 2017 on the offensive line, anchoring a Vikings offense that posted 1,674 rushing yards and 2,069 yards through the air.
In 2016, senior quarterback Trey Heid became just the third player in program history to earn First Team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches’ Association. Heid set single-season records in passing yards (3,582) and passing touchdowns (41) in 2016 and became Augustana’s all-time leader in passing yards (11,476), passing touchdowns (105) and total offense yards (13,235). He also ended his career as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference all-time leader in passing touchdowns (104) and total offense (13,019) in 43 career conference games.
Augustana had three players earn All-America honors in 2016. Senior wide receiver Matt Heller was named to three All-America teams, including the Associated Press Little All-America First Team. Heller set a single-season record with 1,490 receiving yards while hauling in a single-season record 21 touchdown catches. Both marks ranked second in the country. Bryson Hamilton was the third Viking to earn All-America honors in 2016. Hamilton earned All-NSIC First Team honors at defensive end after recording 44 tackles and a career-high seven sacks before missing the last two games of the year due to injury.
Hamilton was also one of two Vikings to be awarded nationally for academics in 2016. Hamilton and Hora were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team after both earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
Olszewski led Augustana to a 9-3 record and its fourth NCAA Playoff appearance in program history in 2015. The nine-win season marked just the second season with nine or more wins in Augustana’s 96-year football history. Olszewski’s squad finished with a 6-1 record in divisional play in 2015, which earned the Vikings a share of the NSIC South Division Championship.
After a breakout sophomore campaign in 2014, quarterback Trey Heid found another level in 2015 and was named the NSIC’s Offensive Player of the Year. Heid is the first Viking football student-athlete to be named Player of the Year by the NSIC. He ranked second in the NSIC in passing yards tossing for a then single-season record 3,493 yards to go along with 29 touchdown passes.
Augustana had 15 players earn All-NSIC South Division honors in 2015, including seven first-team selections. Augustana also had four players earn Conference Commissioner’s Association All-Central Region honors. Charlie Hayes and Brian Long were both named to the CCA All-Central Region First Team.
Linebacker Brandon Mohr was selected to the All-NSIC South Division team for the third-straight season in 2015, earning first-team honors. He led the team with 97 tackles and finished his career with 331 tackles, the sixth-most all-time amongst NSIC players. Jamal Samaha tied the single-season sack record with eight on the season and finished the year with a team-high 10.5 tackles for loss. Samaha also tied a single-game record at Augustana with three sacks against Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 3, 2015.
Heid had a breakout sophomore campaign in 2014 finishing with 25 touchdown passes while throwing just four interceptions (fewest amongst all starting quarterbacks in the NSIC). Heid passed for 2,564 yards and tossed two or more touchdowns in eight of 10 games, including six against Wayne State on Oct. 19, which tied a single-game record at Augustana. Heid also tied an NCAA record for touchdown passes in a quarter in that game, throwing five of his six touchdowns in the second quarter alone.
Augustana had nine players earn All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors, including first-team linebacker Ben Skelly. Skelly recorded 90 tackles for the second-straight season, including a team-high nine tackles for loss and three sacks. Skelly was invited to play in the National Bowl in 2014, a showcase of seniors from around the nation representing Division II, Division III and NAIA schools. The Viking football program had 16 players named Academic All-NSIC in 2014.
Olszewski began his tenure at Augustana in 2013 with a 41-28 win over MSU Moorhead in the season opener at Kirkeby-Over Stadium. Augustana posted a 4-2 record in home games during Olszewski’s first season while allowing just 14.2 points per game at KO Stadium.
Six Viking players earned All-NSIC honors in Olszewski’s first season, including two first-team selections in defensive lineman Jake Lee and linebacker Ben Skelly. Augustana also had 12 players earn Academic All-NSIC honors in 2013.
Before his appointment at St. Olaf, Olszewski was the defensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for two seasons (2006-2008). He served two terms on the staff at Minnesota State (1993-1997 and 1999-2002).
He was with the Green Bay Bombers of the Indoor Football League as the offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator for one season (1998-99) and served one year as a defensive line coach at California Lutheran University (1997-98).
Away from coaching, Olszewski was the athletic director and dean of students for the Little Chute (Wisconsin) School District (1998-99) and chief executive officer of the Mankato Family YMCA (2002-2006).
Olszewski earned his bachelor’s degree at Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1993) and a master’s degree from Minnesota State-Mankato (1995).
He earned All-Wisconsin State University Conference honors as a defensive back at Stevens Point and led the league in interceptions (1990).
An active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for more than 20 years, Olszewski’s community service also includes Special Olympics, YMCA volunteer, church youth leader, MS Walk coordinator and school district volunteer.
He and his wife, Deana, are the parents of one son Jett, and two daughters, Jersey and J.J.
