Less than two months after announcing his retirement from coaching, Bob Nielson has a new job.
AFCA announced Monday that the former South Dakota (and others, we'll get to that in a moment) head coach is joining its executive team in a newly-created position as director of divisional football.
In that role, Nielson will serve as liaison for AFCA members in FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA to their respective national offices on all things rules and legislation.
“I am excited to be able to join Coach Bohl and the rest of the AFCA Leadership Team,” Nielson said. “I look forward to working with coaches from across the country to help advance our great game while facing the challenges of today’s ever changing national landscape.”
Nielson is the perfect man for the job, given he spent the past 36 seasons as a head coach at six different universities up and down the sub-FBS ladder. He went 9-8-1 at Ripon College, a Division III school in Wisconsin, from 1989-90; 39-14 at Wartburg College, a Division III school in Iowa, from 1991-95; 22-11 at Division III Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1996-98; 100-26 over two stints at Division II Minnesota-Duluth from 1999-2012; 16-21 with an FCS playoffs appearance at Western Illinois from 2013-15; and, most recently, 53-48 from 2016-24 at South Dakota.
Nielson retired from coaching in January after taking South Dakota to their first FCS semifinal berth in December.
Along the way to recording 239 career wins, the future College Football Hall of Fame coach won two Division II national championships at Minnesota-Duluth, took three universities to the national semifinals, won at least a share of four different conference championships, and was named coach of the year in three separate conferences.
Nielson also has executive experience, serving as Minnesota-Duluth's athletics director from 2004-12. He chaired the NCAA Football Rules Committee from 2015-17 and served on the FCS Football Oversight Committee at the time of his retirement.