Mount Marty hires Mike Woodley as first football coach in program history

Two months ago Mount Marty College (MMC) announced the addition of football to the school’s growing list of varsity athletic offerings. Today, the College is excited to announce the hiring of the football programs inaugural head coach, Mike Woodley. Coach Woodley, currently the head coach at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, has agreed to take on the head coaching position for the MMC Lancers effective July 1.

Woodley is no stranger to developing programs as he started the Grand View football team eleven years ago. During his tenure at GVU, he built one of the top programs in the NAIA and has accumulated a record of 85-32 while leading the Vikings to six playoff appearances, seven consecutive conference titles, and winning the 2013 NAIA National Football Championship with a record of 14-0 overall. That same year, Woodley was named the AFCA NAIA National Football Coach of the Year. He was voted the MSFA Midwest Coach of the Year in 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2014 and the Heart of America Conference Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2017.

Athletic Director Chris Kassin is excited by Coach Woodley’s experience when it comes to creating successful programs. "We are excited Coach Woodley has decided to become our first head coach. It was not too long ago, he had a vision of what Grand View football could become. A national championship and multiple conference championships later, that vision has been realized. In our discussions, I hear the same kind of vision of what Mount Marty football can become. We are looking forward to watching his blueprint in action."

Prior to coaching at Grand View, Coach Woodley spent four years as the athletic director and head football coach at Sam Rayburn High School in Houston, Texas. He was a nine-year assistant coach at Iowa State University, head coach at St. Ambrose University, Osage High School, Fort Dodge High School, and West Des Moines Valley High School, an assistant coach at Waterloo East High School, and a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa.

Woodley is a Hall of Fame inductee for the Iowa High School Football Coaches’ Association, the University of Northern Iowa, and Waterloo East High School. He won Coach of the Year honors at every school he has coached at and was the NAIA District 15 Coach of the Year while at St. Ambrose following the team’s victory over IAA power Western Illinois.

Woodley — who played football collegiately at the University of Northern Iowa — holds a bachelor’s degree from UNI, as well as a master’s degree from the University of Iowa.

 For more information about Mount Marty College Athletics visit www.mtmc.edu.