Nebraska Wesleyan University Athletics

Brian Keller, the all-time winningest football coach in Nebraska Wesleyan history, will enter his 18th season at the helm of his alma mater in 2013. Keller became the all-time winningest football coach in Nebraska Wesleyan history in 2006 surpassing NWU legendary coach Harold Chaffee.  He currently ranks among the Top 20 active NAIA coaches in victories.
           
Last season, Keller led the Prairie Wolves to a 6-4 overall record as the team ended the season with five consecutive victories.  NWU was 5-4 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.  Keller is now the longest tenured coach in the GPAC.  For the second straight season, NWU led the entire nation in number of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans producing five in 2012.
           
From 2000-09 Keller coached the NWU football program to 10 consecutive seasons with a .500 or better record.
           
In 2008, Keller guided the Prairie Wolves to their third straight 7-3 record giving NWU three straight years with seven wins for the first time since 1989-91.
           
Keller’s career record stands at 94-77, during which time he has produced 28 NAIA All-Americans and 29 Academic All-Americans. In his 17 previous seasons, he has orchestrated six of the top 10 most productive offenses in team history and coached NWU’s all-time leading rusher, the top two leading receivers and the school’s all-time leader in career pass completions. As an offensive line coach, Keller has tutored 12 All-Americans, as well as the National Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1998.
           
In 2000, Keller was named GPAC Co-Coach of the Year after he guided the Prairie Wolves to a share of the league title, the team’s first NAIA playoff berth since 1991 and an overall record of 8-3.
           
The Seward, Neb., native was a four-year letter winner for Nebraska Wesleyan as a defensive lineman and linebacker from 1979 to 1982. After graduating in 1983 with a B.S. in Business Administration, Keller began his coaching career at Seward High School, where he worked with receivers and outside linebackers.
           
In 1984, Keller joined the Nebraska Wesleyan coaching staff as an assistant to Orson Christensen. Keller coached the offensive line for three years as the team won six games each season, compiling an overall mark of 18-12.
           
Keller then followed Christensen to Eastern Oregon State College in LaGrande, Ore., where he began his preparation for a head coaching position. In nine seasons at Eastern Oregon State, Keller served as offensive line coach and coordinated the special teams, recruitment and strength training for the Mountaineers. He was promoted to assistant head coach before accepting the opening at Nebraska Wesleyan.
           
At Eastern Oregon State, Keller obtained his master’s degree in Education in 1991, compiling a 4.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale). Aside from his duties as head football coach, Keller is an instructor in the Department of Health and Human Performance. He and his wife, Jeanette, have three sons, Crew, Braly and Quinn.