NWMSU’s Joel Osborn Named New Benedictine Head Football Coach

Benedictine College Athletic Director Charlie Gartenmayer has announced the hiring of Joel Osborn to be the next head coach for the Raven Football program.

Osborn takes over for Larry Wilcox, who announced his retirement from his post as head football coach on November 17.

Osborn comes to Benedictine from Northwest Missouri State University where he has served in a number of roles for the Bearcat Football program as a Recruiting Coordinator and Co-Offensive Coordinator as well as the position coach for wide receivers and running backs.

In two seasons as Co-Offensive Coordinator (2018, 2019), he helped guide the Bearcats to a record of 22-5 with two MIAA Co-Championships and two berths in the NCAA Div. II National Playoffs. His team averaged 41.9 points per game during the 2019 season, which ranked the Bearcats ninth in NCAA Div. II. In 2018, they averaged 36.6, which led the MIAA. In the last seven years, the Bearcats have gone 86-10 overall and 68-6 in MIAA play.

As a player for the Bearcats, Coach Osborn was named the 2008 MIAA Offensive Player of the Year along with a first-team All-MIAA selection. As a two-year starter at quarterback, he finished with an overall record of 16-3 and started in two NCAA Division II National Championship game.

A native of Harlan, Iowa, Osborn earned his bachelor’s degree at Northwest in 2008 and received his master’s in 2011.

Osborn becomes the fifth head football coach in the modern era of Benedictine College football, which began in 1973 when the program was officially reinstated as a varsity sport at Benedictine.

Coach Osborn will be formally introduced on Tuesday during a special Facebook live event.