Steve Olson named new MTU football coach

HOUGHTON — With the retirement of head coach Tom Kearly on Monday, the Huskies were in need of a new head coach of the football team and they decided to promote from within.

Defensive coordinator Steve Olson has been selected to become the 16th head coach of the Michigan Tech football team. He talked about what qualities from Coach Kearly he will be taking with him as he takes over.

“The emphasis on the players and player development, but making sure that they understand that it’s part of being a whole player or a whole person. Not only being good on the football field and working hard to be good on the football field, but being great in the classroom and being great in your family life,” Olson said.

Olson has been with the team for six years, serving as linebackers coach for the first three and defensive coordinator for the last three. He says the future is very bright for a team that has a lot of young talent on both sides of the field.

“Virtually every single game that we will play next year will be a challenge. So moving forward with our players to meet those challenges day in and day out will clearly be excited. I think we’ve got some good young talent that got a chance to play this year. We’ve got some work to do in certain areas as well, but it will be fun to see how we grow as we get our work in during the offseason,” said Olson.

Olson has over 25 years of collegiate coaching experience, including 12 years at Minnesota–Crookston before he joining the Huskies.