After a successful 10 year tenure as the head coach of Wyoming football, Craig Bohl will be stepping into a new role as executive director for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) . Bohl was voted in by the AFCA’s board of trustees and will take over for former executive director Todd Berry.
The AFCA consists of over 11,000 football coaches and staff on all levels. It aims to maintain the highest standards in football and the profession of coaching football and to provide an avenue for the discussion and study of all matters related to football and coaching. The AFCA oversees the Division 1 FBS coaches poll and is responsible for the Division two and Division three top 25 poll.
After a 43-year career in coaching at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) levels, Bohl said he looked forward to the new challenge.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to follow in the footsteps of Todd Berry,” Bohl said. “I appreciate the AFCA Board of Trustees entrusting the leadership of the AFCA to me. I’m very excited about the future.”
As a Lincoln, Nebraska native, Bohl is no stranger to the football landscape. His coaching career started in 1981 for Nebraska as a graduate assistant. Bohl would receive his first position for North Dakota State as the defensive backs coach. After several stops at Tulsa and Wisconsin, Bohl was hired as the defensive coordinator for the Rice Owls in 1989. After five seasons with the Owls, Bohl took the same position for Duke in 1994 and returned home to Nebraska as a linebackers coach in 1995.
Bohl remained at Nebraska for eight seasons and was part of two national championship seasons in 1995 and 1997. Bohl was promoted to defensive coordinator from 2000-2002. The Huskers earned a BCS National Championship appearance in 2001. In 2003, Bohl earned his first head coaching position with North Dakota State.
In 11 seasons as the head coach of the North Dakota State Bison, Bohl led the program to a Great West Conference title in 2006 and three straight Missouri Valley Football Conference titles from 2011 to 2013. The Bison also appeared in three straight FCS national championship games, winning all of them.
In 2014, Bohl was hired to coach the Wyoming Cowboys. In his time in Laramie, Bohl helped the Cowboys to six winning seasons, six bowl game appearances, and four bowl wins. Six winning seasons marks the second most in the program’s history.
Bohl’s connection with the AFCA began in 1983 when he became a member. He was later named to the Board of Trustees in 2012 and served as president in 2022. Bohl becomes the sixth executive director of the AFCA.
