Mel Tjeerdsma
Football Coach
Northwest Missouri (1994-2010)
Tjeerdsma went 183-43 with three national championships and 12 MIAA titles in his 17 seasons at Northwest Missouri State. Four years after his inaugural season with the team, Northwest became the first NCAA Division II program to finish a season 15-0.
The Bearcats won back-to-back national championships in 1998 and 1999 - the University's first national titles in any sport. Northwest added a third championship in 2009 that capped an unprecedented run of five national championship game appearances that began in 2005. The Bearcats were 76-12 in those five seasons. Among his peers in Division II, Tjeerdsma is third on the active wins list (242) and has tallied more postseason victories than any other coach in Division II history. He led Northwest to the playoffs 13 times in the last 15 seasons, sports a 32-10 overall postseason record (Division II record for postseason victories) and is the program's all-time winningest coach.
The Bearcats' 12 MIAA championships are highlighted by two prolific conference winning streaks. His teams won 41 consecutive conference games from 1997-2001, a record that stood until his squad surpassed it this past season. The 2011 Bearcat team will open conference play riding a 46-game win streak in MIAA play. Ten Northwest teams have finished 9-0 in league play since 1997.
Matching on-the-field performance are exploits and honors off the field. Tjeerdsma's teams have featured seven academic All-Americans in the last seven years and two Ken B. Jones Award Winners in the last five years as the top male student-athlete in the MIAA. Safety Myles Burnsides was named National Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2009-10.
Northwest's football program boasts a graduation rate of 85 percent, a mark that rises well above the national average of 53 percent.
Tjeerdsma's honors include being named the Kansas City Chiefs' nominee for the Don Shula Coach of the Year Award, being inducted into the NCAA Division II Football Hall of Fame back on Dec. 17 (among the first three coaches inducted) and being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame last January. He is a 12-time MIAA Coach of the Year honoree. Tjeerdsma is a four-time national coach of the year honoree, was Liberty Mutual's Coach of the Year in 2009 and was a finalist for the award again in 2010. Tjeerdsma also served as keynote speaker at Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's prayer breakfast Jan. 5.
Tjeerdsma is a seven-time AFCA Regional Coach of the Year (1996-2000, 2006, 2008). Four players under Tjeerdsma have been drafted into the NFL, while 15 players have either been drafted or signed NFL contracts during Tjeerdsma's tenure. He served as president of the AFCA in 2006. Tjeerdsma has produced 44 All-Americans, including 30 first-team All-Americans and 14 players who earned All-America honors in two or more seasons. He has produced 119 All-MIAA student-athletes, including 80 players who earned first-team honors.