Earle Solomonson (born September 2, 1947) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

from 1985 to 1986 and at

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

from 1987 to 1991, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

head coaching record of 39–42–1. Solomonson won back-to-back NCAA Division II Football Championships with the North Dakota State Bison in 1985 and 1986. He played college football at Augsburg College, from which he graduated in 1969. Solomonson began his coaching career in 1969 as an assistant at Richfield High School in

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota. An inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis, Richfield is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and Fort Snelling to the east, Bloomington to the south, ...

. He was the head football coach at Park Center High School in

Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Brooklyn Park is a suburban city on the west bank of the Mississippi River, upstream from (north of) the Twin Cities in northern Hennepin County. It is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 86,478 at the ...

from 1975 to 1978, leading his teams to a record of 30–7 in four seasons. Solomonson joined the coaching staff at North Dakota State in 1979 as defensive line coach under head coach Don Morton. He was elevated to

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

in 1984, succeeding Mike Daly, who left the program to coach at

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations ...

Head coaching record

College

References

1947 births Living people Augsburg Auggies football players Montana State Bobcats football coaches North Dakota State Bison football coaches High school football coaches in Minnesota University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Sports coaches from Minneapolis Players of American football from Minneapolis Coaches of American football from Minnesota {{1920s-collegefootball-coach-stub