Todd Stepsis has been named the top coach of the FCS's Pioneer League twice in his six seasons leading Drake (FCS - IA).
After leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back Pioneer League titles to go along with back-to-back appearances in the FCS playoff field, Stepsis has been selected to replace longtime head coach Mark Farley at Northern Iowa.
UNI didn't have to look far, as the two campuses are separated by just under two hours of drive time.
Over the past two seasons, the Ohio native has put together a dominant 15-1 record in league play to go alongside a 16-7 mark while battling a non-conference slate that included FCS powers North Dakota and South Dakota State.
The 2023 conference title marked Drake's first Pioneer League title since 2012, when Eastern Michigan head coach Chris Creighton was leading the program. That season they rattled off eight straight wins to punch a ticket to the FCS playoffs for the first time ever.
It marked an impressive turnaround. Stepsis went 6-5 in his first season before a 2-3 record during the COVID 2020 season and then 2-9 and 3-8 seasons in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
So what led to the turnaround?
In addition to the head coaching duties, Stepsis also took on the team's offensive coordinator duties during past three seasons.
That's not all that uncommon, a head coach calling the plays, but considering Stepsis was elevated to the head coaching role at Drake based on building a stout defense over the previous five seasons with the program, taking over the offensive play calling duties while leading unprecedented success on the field is pretty dang impressive.
As an assistant at Drake, Stepsis built one of the best defenses in all of the FCS, and prior to that spent six seasons calling the defensive at Division II power Saginaw Valley State and also has experience at the Division III level from eight seasons at Capital (D-III - OH).
He takes over for Mark Farley, who stepped away in recent weeks after 24 seasons at the helm sharing "the purity of college football is gone" after compiling a 183-112 record with the Panthers.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.