The Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves football team represents Nebraska Wesleyan University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Prairie Wolves are members of the American Rivers Conference (ARC), fielding its team in the ARC since 2016 when it was named the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). Nebraska Wesleyan plays home games at Abel Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. The team's head coach is Brian Keller, who took over the position for the 1996 season.

Nebraska Wesleyan's athletic teams were known as the Coyotes in the early 1900s. The nickname was changed to the Plainsmen in 1933 and then to the Prairie Wolves in 2000.

Conference affiliations NAIA / pre-NCAA Nebraska Conference (1911–1915; rebranded, 1926–1927; rebranded) Nebraska Intercollegiate Conference (1916–1923) North Central Conference (1924–1925) Nebraska College Athletic Conference (1928–1942) Nebraska College Conference (1946–1961) Great Plains College Association (1963–1964) Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1970–1991; rebranded) Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference (1992–1999; rebranded) Great Plains Athletic Conference (2000–2015) NCAA Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (2016–2017; rebranded) American Rivers Conference (2018–present)

Championships Conference championships Nebraska Wesleyan claims 22 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 2000.

1911 Nebraska Conference 7–0 N/A William G. Kline 1912 5–2–1 N/A 1913† 4–3–1 N/A 1914 7–1 N/A 1915 6–3 N/A 1918 Nebraska Intercollegiate Conference 2–3 N/A William A. Norris 1920 6–2–2 4–0–1 Ray B. McCandless 1921 8–3 5–0 1925† North Central Conference 6–0–2 3–0–1 Clarence L. Dow 1931 Nebraska College Athletic Conference 4–3–1 4–0–1 John D. Waldorf 1932† 4–3–1 4–0–1 1934 6–2–1 4–0 John E. Roberts 1947† Nebraska College Conference 7–1–1 5–1–1 George "Bus" Knight 1963 Great Plains College Association 7–2 3–0 Raymond Westover 1964 7–1 3–0 1976† Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 6–3 4–1 Harold G. Chaffee 1983† 7–3 4–1 Orson Christensen 1986 7–3 5–0 1988 8–2 5–0 Jim Svoboda 1989 10–2 5–0 1990† 7–2 4–1 2000† Great Plains Athletic Conference 8–3 6–2 Brian Keller † Co-champions

Postseason games

NAIA playoff games The Prairie Wolves have appeared in the NAIA playoffs four times with an overall record of 1–4. 1988 Jim Svoboda First round Evangel L 14–45 1989 First roundQuarterfinals Chadron StateWisconsin–La Crosse W 46–43L 0–29 1991 First round Peru State L 20–41 2000 Brian Keller First round Northwestern Oklahoma State L 13–40

Bowl games Nebraska Wesleyan has participated in one bowl game, and has a record of 0–1. 1946 George Knight Will Rogers Bowl Pepperdine L 13–38

List of head coaches Key

Coaches + List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards No. Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC CC NC Awards 1 Frank Crawford 1896 5 3 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 2 Charley Thomas 1897 7 5 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 3 Zora Clevenger 1908; 1910 9 2 7 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 4 William G. Kline 1909; 1911–1917 62 37 19 6 – – – – – – – – – – – 5 William A. Norris 1918 5 2 3 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 6 Benjamin Beck 1919 9 7 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 7 Ray McCandless 1920–1922 29 17 9 3 – – – – – – – – – – – 8 Glenn Preston 1923–1924 17 8 5 4 – – – – – – – – – – – 9 Clarence Dow 1925–1926 18 12 4 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 10 Howard Durham 1927 9 0 8 1 – – – – – – – – – – – 11 Francis Alabaster 1928–1929 18 5 10 3 – – – – – – – – – – – 12 John Waldorf 1930–1932 25 14 9 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 13 John E. Roberts 1933–1934 18 9 7 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 14 George Farley 1935; 1941–1942 27 13 11 3 – – – – – – – – – – – 15 Dwight Thomas 1936–1940 42 14 26 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 16 Allen Stroh 1945 5 3 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 17 George Knight 1946–1949 37 24 9 4 – – – – – – – – – – – 18 Roy Roberston 1950–1953 39 14 22 3 – – – – – – – – – – – 19 Keith Skogman 1954–1959 56 21 32 3 – – – – – – – – – – – 20 Raymond Westover 1960–1968 78 36 40 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 21 Harold Chaffee 1969–1981 118 55 61 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 22 Orson Christensen 1982–1986 49 29 20 – – – – – – – – – – – 23 Jim Svoboda 1987–1993 71 51 20 – – – – – – – – – – – 24 Steve Stanard 1994–1995 20 6 14 – – – – – – – – – – – 25 Brian Keller 1996–2025 292 133 159 – – – – – – – – – – – 26 Jacob Donohoe 2026–present 0 0 – – – – – – – – – – –

Year-by-year results National championsConference championsBowl game berthPlayoff berth

SeasonYearHead coachAssociationDivisionConferenceRecordPostseasonFinal rankingOverallConferenceWinLossTieFinishWinLossTieNebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves 1896 1896Frank Crawford––– 3 2 0 – – – –—— 1897 1897Charley Thomas 5 2 0 – – – –——No team from 1888 to 1907 1908 1908Zora Cleavenger––– 1 2 0 – – – –—— 1909 1909William G. Kline 0 1 3 – – – –—— 1910 1910Zora Cleavenger 1 5 0 – – – –—— 1911 1911William G. KlineNebraska 7 0 0 1st – – –Conference champions— 1912 1912 5 2 1 1st – – –Conference champions— 1913 1913 4 3 1 T-1st – – –Conference co-champions— 1914 1914 7 1 0 1st – – –Conference champions— 1915 1915 6 3 0 1st – – –Conference champions— 1916 1916NIC 5 4 1 2nd – – –—— 1917 1917 3 5 0 3rd – – –—— 1918 1918William A. Norris 2 3 0 1st – – –Conference champions— 1919 1919Benjamin Beck 7 2 0 2nd – – –—— 1920 1920Ray B. McCandless 6 2 2 1st – – –Conference champions— 1921 1921 7 3 0 1st – – –Conference champions— 1922 1922 4 4 1 3rd – – –—— 1923 1923Glenn A. Preston 6 1 2 2nd – ––—— 1924 1924NCC 2 4 2 T-5th 1 20—— 1925 1925Clarence L. Dow 6 0 2 1st 3 01Conference champions— 1926 1926Nebraska 6 4 0 2nd – ––—— 1927 1927Howard Durham 0 8 1 13th – ––—— 1928 1928Francis AlabasterNCAC 5 2 2 3rd 2 12—— 1929 1929 3 5 1 5th 2 30—— 1930 1930John D. Waldorf 6 3 2nd 4 10—— 1931 1931 4 3 1 1st 4 01Conference champions— 1932 1932 4 3 1 T-1st 4 01Conference co-champions— 1933 1933John E. Roberts 3 5 1 2nd 3 10—— 1934 1934 6 2 1 1st 4 00Conference champions— 1935 1935George M. Farley 5 3 1 2nd 2 11—— 1936 1936Dwight P. Thomas 5 3 2nd 3 10—— 1937 1937 2 5 1 4th 0 30—— 1938 1938 4 4 1 4th 1 21—— 1939 1939 2 7 0 4th 1 30—— 1940 1940NAIA 1 7 0 4th 1 30—— 1941 1941George M. Farley 2 6 1 3rd 2 20—— 1942 1942 6 2 1 2nd 3 10——No team from 1943 to 1944 1945 1945Allen StrohNAIA–– 3 2 0 – – ––—— 1946 1946George "Bus" KnightNCC 7 0 3 2nd 4 02Playoff berth— 1947 1947 7 1 1 T-1st 5 11Conference co-champions— 1948 1948 6 3 0 2nd 5 20—— 1949 1949 4 5 0 T-4th 4 40—— 1950 1950Roy B. Robertson 5 5 0 6th 4 30—— 1951 1951 2 8 0 6th 2 50—— 1952 1952 5 5 0 T-3rd 4 30—— 1953 1953 2 4 3 7th 1 42—— 1954 1954Keith Skogman 3 6 1 6th 2 41—— 1955 1955 2 7 1 6th 2 41—— 1956 1956 3 7 0 5th 3 40—— 1957 1957 3 5 0 T-4th 3 40—— 1958 1958 5 4 0 4th 5 30—— 1959 1959 5 3 1 5th 4 31—— 1960 1960Raymond Westover 0 8 0 7th 0 60—— 1961 1961 0 9 0 7th 0 60—— 1962 1962– 2 4 2 – – ––—— 1963 1963GPCA 7 2 0 1st 3 00Conference champions— 1964 1964 7 1 0 1st 3 00Conference champions— 1965 1965– 7 2 0 – – ––—— 1966 1966 7 2 0 – – ––—— 1967 1967 5 4 0 – – ––—— 1968 1968 1 8 0 – – ––—— 1969 1969Harold G. Chaffee 5 4 0 – – ––——19701970Division IINIAC6404th230—— 1971 1971 7 2 0 T-2nd 3 20—— 1972 1972 4 5 0 4th 2 30—— 1973 1973 4 3 1 2nd 3 11—— 1974 1974 3 6 0 5th 1 40—— 1975 1975 5 5 0 4th 2 30—— 1976 1976 6 3 0 T-1st 4 10Conference co-champions— 1977 1977 2 7 0 T-4th 2 30—— 1978 1978 5 4 0 T-3rd 3 20—— 1979 1979 3 5 1 5th 1 31—— 1980 1980 3 6 0 T-3rd 2 30—— 1981 1981 2 7 0 5th 1 40—— 1982 1982Orson Christensen 4 5 0 5th 2 30—— 1983 1983 7 3 0 T-1st 4 10Conference co-champions— 1984 1984 6 4 0 3rd 3 20—— 1985 1985 6 5 0 T-3rd 2 30—— 1986 1986 6 3 0 1st 5 00Conference champions— 1987 1987James Svoboda 6 4 0 T-2nd 3 20—— 1988 1988 7 3 0 1st 5 00Playoff berth— 1989 1989 10 2 0 1st 5 00Playoff berth— 1990 1990 7 2 0 T-1st 4 10Conference co-champions— 1991 1991 8 3 0 2nd 4 10Playoff berth— 1992 1992 6 3 0 3rd 4 20—— 1993 1993 7 3 0 3rd 4 20—— 1994 1994Steve Standard 3 7 0 5th 2 40—— 1995 1995 3 7 0 6th 2 40—— 1996 1996Brian Keller 2 8 0 6th 1 50—— 1997 1997– 5 5 0 T-3rd 4 40—— 1998 1998 6 4 0 4th 4 40—— 1999 1999 4 6 0 7th 1 50—— 2000 2000GPAC 8 3 0 1st 6 20Playoff berth— 2001 2001 5 5 0 T-5th 3 50—— 2002 2002 6 4 0 T-5th 4 40—— 2003 2003 6 4 0 T-3rd 6 40—— 2004 2004 6 4 0 T-5th 6 40—— 2005 2005 5 5 0 5th 5 50—— 2006 2006 7 3 0 4th 7 30—— 2007 2007 7 3 0 4th 7 30—— 2008 2008 7 3 0 T-3rd 7 30—— 2009 2009 5 5 0 6th 5 50—— 2010 2010 4 6 0 7th 4 60—— 2011 2011 5 5 0 7th 4 50—— 2012 2012 6 4 0 T-4th 5 40—— 2013 2013 6 4 0 4th 6 30—— 2014 2014 4 6 0 T-6th 4 50—— 2015 2015 4 6 0 7th 3 60—— 2016 2016NCAADivision IIIIIAC 4 6 0 T-5th 3 50—— 2017 2017 2 8 0 T-7th 2 60—— 2018 2018A-R-C 3 7 0 7th 2 60—— 2019 2019 3 7 0 T-7th 1 70—— 2020–21 2020–21 0 1 0 T-6th 0 10—— 2021 2021 4 6 0 7th 2 60—— 2022 2022 1 9 0 9th 0 80—— 2023 2023 4 6 0 T–6th 2 60—— 2024 2024 3 7 0 T–6th 2 60 —— 2024 2024 1 9 0 8th 1 70 ——

Notes

References

External links