John Wristen will step into another role at Colorado State-Pueblo, sources told FootballScoop on Tuesday.
Wristen has led the program since 2007, when he was hired to revive a program that had been dormant since 1984.
The program played its first game in 2008, and by 2009 the ThunderWolves posted a winning record, by 2011 they were Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions and Division II playoff participants, and in 2014 the ThunderWolves won the Division II national championship.
Overall, Wristen exits the head coach's chair with a 133-37 record, at least a share of eight RMAC titles, the 2014 national title, and nine D2 playoff appearances -- including in 2022. CSU-Pueblo went 8-4 this fall and fell to Colorado School of Mines, who competes for the national championship on Saturday, in the first round of the postseason.
Wristen was named the RMAC coach of the year six times, including five consecutive from 2011-15. He won numerous national coach of the year honors following the 2014 title.
Prior to CSU-Pueblo, Wristen built a career coaching special teams, tight ends and running backs at Northwestern, Colorado and UCLA.
Wristen will remain with the school in a leadership role, and the university will undergo a national search for his replacement.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.