football coaching staff
Head Coach - Mike Van Diest
During his nine year tenure as Head Football Coach at Carroll College, Mike Van Diest has
lead the Fighting Saints to 5 National Championships in the last six years, which has been one of the most dominating runs in college football history. The Saints have posted 104-18 record during the past eight seasons. This includes a 66-10 Frontier Conference record for an impressive 87%. The Fighting Saints have earned eight consecutive Frontier Conference Championships.
In 2007 the Fighting Saints won their fifth National Championship with a 17-9 victory over the University of Sioux Falls. Carroll finished the year with a perfect 15-0 record as the only undefeated college football team for the 2007 season. This was Carroll’s 3rd time under Van Diest that the Saints had a perfect record. In 2003 the Saints were 15-0 and in 2005 they were a perfect 14-0.
This past season the Saints defense finished 3rd in the nation in total defense giving up 225/yards and 3rd in rushing defense giving up 64.7/yards a game and an average rush of 2.1/cary. The Saints finished number one in the country in three different categories; scoring defense giving up 86 total points in 15 games for an outstanding 5.4/game, they had 65 sacks which led the nation as well and led by punter Zach Thiry they were the number one punting team in the nation with a 43.3 average.
In 2005, the Saints won their fourth consecutive National Championship with a convincing 27-10 victory over St. Francis University (Ind.) In 2004 the Fighting Saints were the NAIA national champions for the third year in a row with a slim 15-13 victory again over St. Francis University (Ind.) in Savannah Tennessee.
In 2003, the Saints were national champions with their first perfect season at 15-0, by defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State 41-28.
In 2002, the Saints won their first national championship with a 28-7 victory over Georgetown, KY. Van Diest and his staff have led Carroll College to a 25-3 record in the NAIA national playoffs.
In 2000 and 2001, the Saints finished with the number three national ranking. During this time the Saints defense has been ranked 11th in 2000, 4th in 2001, 6th in 2002, 5th in 2003, and 3rd in 2004 and number 1 2005 and 2006. In 2006 the Saints defense gave up an average of 5.8 points per contest. While at Carroll, Van Diest has coached 23 All-Conference linebackers with six being named first team All-American, Joe Horne (2001), Cory Perzinski (2002), Marcus Atkinson (2003), and Gary Cooper (2004, 2005), Seamus Molloy (2006) and Owen Koppen (2007). Horne, Atkinson, and Cooper and Koppen were all named Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Year. During his tenure as head Coach of the Fighting Saints, Van Diest has been named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year seven times. In 2003 and 2007 Van Diest was named NAIA National Coach of the Year by the American Football Association as well as the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year in 2003.
Van Diest is a 1970 graduate of Helena High School. His career has included stops at his alma mater, the University of Wyoming, the University of Montana, the University of Massachusetts, and Big Ten representative, Northwestern University as an assistant coach. Van Diest has won titles at Montana (Big Sky Conference Champions, 1982), Wyoming (Two Western Athletic Conference Championships and one Pacific Division Championship, 1986) and now eight Frontier Conference Championships at Carroll, as well as the 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007 NAIA National Championships. He and his wife Heidi have two sons, Shane and Clay. Shane is a football player at Carroll College.
Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach - Nick Howlett
Nick enters his tenth year at Carroll College. This will be his ninth directing the Saints
offense. In 2004 Howlett was named the NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year.
Under Howlett’s guidance Saints quarterbacks have been the Frontier Conference Players of the Year five times, JD Emmert in 2000 and Tyler Emmert in 2003, 2004, and 2005 and John Barnett in 2007. Tyler was 1st Team All-Conference in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Under Howlett the Saints offense averaged 26 points/game good for 29th in the country. The Saints were 23rd in the country in pass efficiency completing over 60% of their passes and throwing for 2783 yards.
Howlett is a former Western Montana College standout and three-time Frontier All-Conference running back. Howlett was an assistant at his alma mater for three years before coming to Carroll. Howlett was ninth in the nation receiving his senior season at Western. He earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Western Montana College. Nick resides in Helena with his wife Sandy.
Offensive Line and Strength Coach - Jim Hogan
Jim begins his tenth season at Carroll College and his ninth as the offensive line coach
Hogan has coached seven 1st Team All-Conference players over the past six seasons. This past year Scott Holbrook was named to the 1st Team, and Bryan Camino and Bryson Pelc
were named to the 2nd Team. Hogan also oversees the Saints strength and conditioning program and was named Samson’s National Strength Coach of the Year for the 2005-06 season.
This past season under Hogan’s guidance the Saints offense gave up only 23 sacks in 411 attempts.
Before coming to Carroll, Hogan was the head coach for football, wrestling, and track at Billings Central High School. His 1999 track team won the Class A State Championship.
In addition to his eight years of coaching in Billlings, Hogan’s career has included stops in Gillette, WY and as an assistant coach for Western Montana College. Hogan is originally from Lacey, WA and graduated from the University of Montana in 1981 where he played for Coach Van Diest in 1980. He and his wife Barb have four children, Anthony, Adam, James and Brittany. Anthony will be a freshman at Carroll and a member of the Saints
football team this fall. jhogan -is-at- carroll -dot- edu
Defensive Backs Coach-Jarrod Wirt
This will be Jarrod’s tenth season with the Fighting Saints Football program. He was a standout defensive back here from 1999-2003. Jarrod started 27 games during his final two years at Carroll College. While at Carroll as a player the Saints won four Frontier Conference Championships and two NAIA National Championships. The past four years Jarrod has coached on the defensive side of the football and the Saints have won four more Frontier Conference Championships and three National Championships. This past season under Jarrod’s direction as the Saints secondary coach, Nick Milodragovich received All-Conference honors. Jarrod has coached four All-Conference players over the past 2 seasons. This past season the Saints led the Frontier Conference creating 34 turnovers. He has done a great job coaching special teams as well. Jarrod is a native of Havre, MT. where he was an All-State athlete for the Blue Ponies. Jarrod graduated from Carroll in 2004.
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Running Backs Coach - Jed Thomas
After a great career at Carroll College Jed will begin his second season as the Fighting Saints running back coach. Jed finished with over 4,500 yards of total offense in his career and was a major player in all four of Carroll’s National Championships. He was named All-Conference in 2004, 2005, and 2006. In 2006 he was one of the teams Co-Captains. Thomas developed a great 1-2-3 punch at running back with Herrin, Le and Camino. All three regions in 2008. Jed graduated with a degree in Sports Management from Carroll. Jed is from Heyburn, ID and played at Burley High School.
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Assistant Offensive Line Coach Nick Hammond
Nick will begin his third year coaching with the Fighting Saints after an outstanding career at Carroll College. In 2005 Nick was named 1st Team All-American as an offensive lineman under Coach Jim Hogan. Nick played on all four National Championship teams and was a three year starter. In 2006 Hammond helped Coach Hogan with the offensive line. This past year Hammond coached two First All-Conference performers, in DE Phil Lenoue and DT Mike Paffhausen. In addition Lenoue was named NAIA First Team All-American. This past season the Saints led the nation with 65 sacks. Nick graduated from Carroll College with a degree in psychology. Nick is from Missoula and attended Big Sky High School.
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Wide Receiver Coach - Tyler Emmert
This will be Tyler’s second year on the Saints coaching staff. After a brilliant career at Carroll
which saw Tyler lead the Fighting Saints to four straight NAIA Championships which included three All-American selections and two National Player of the Year Awards, he will coach the WR’s this fall. He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering. Last season seniors Dan Lovin and David Whitmoyer, had outstanding seasons under Emmert’s leadership and JR Travis Browne led the Saints with receptions and was named 1st Team All-Conference. Tyler is a Helena native who attended Capital H.S. Tyler and his wife Amy are the proud parents of their daughters Catherine and Madilyn.
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Secondary Coach - Nick Mildragovich
After a great career as a Fighting Saint, Nick will begin his first season working with the secondary. Nick was a three year starter for the Saints and was one of the conferences top punt returner. He was named All-Conference in 2005, 2006 and 2007. His senior year he was selected co-captain by his teammates. He has been an Academic All-American for the past three years as well. Nick graduated with a degree in civil engineering this past spring and hails from Great Falls, MT where he played high school football for Great Falls High School.
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Defensive Line Coach-Will Hamilton
Will starts his first season coaching the defensive line helping Nick Hammond. Will had an outstanding career at Carroll and was one of the top defensive tackles in the Frontier Conference this past season. He played for the Fighting Saints in 2006 and 2007 after transferring from Sacramento State. Will graduated from Carroll with a degree in Secondary Education with a History minor. He played high school football at An Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno California.
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Tight Ends Coach-Kyle Moore
Kyle will enter this fall as his first season coaching the Saints tight ends. Kyle played tight end the past four seasons for Carroll and will graduate this spring with a degree in Education. He played high school football and basketball at Central Catholic High School in Portland Oregon.
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Offensive Line Coach-Nick Coulson
Nick will begin his first year on the coaching staff at Carroll. A 2007 graduate of Colorado State. Nick has coached at Rocky Mountain High School the past four seasons. He will work with Jim Hogan and the offensive line this fall. He graduated with a degree in Psychology from Colorado State.