Football

In 2012, Southwestern University named Joe Austin the head football coach of the Pirates. Coach Austin is entering his 11th season as head coach of the program. 

In just four years, Austin established Southwestern as a successful program, winning the SCAC championship in 2016 with 31 seniors who were part of the Pirates’ original first-year class. That season, Austin was named the SCAC Coach of the Year after leading the Pirates to a 7–3 record (6–0 in conference play) and winning Southwestern’s first football championship since 1941. 

The following season, the Pirates moved to perhaps the toughest conference in Division III: the ASC. In the Pirates’ time as a member of the ASC, the conference has featured six nationally-ranked teams. Southwestern climbed as high as No. 26 in the BennetRank national rankings in 2018, finishing that season ranked No. 41 in the nation by the American Football Coaches Association. 

Over eleven seasons, Austin and his coaching staff have recruited and coached two All-Americans, six conference Player of the Year winners, and 108 all-conference selections. 

In 2020, Austin published The Tex-Bone: Triple Option for the 21st Century, a football textbook and video series inspired by the unique offense crafted by Austin and associate head coach Tom Ross that was used by the Pirates from 2016 to 2019. In 2021, Austin published his second book, Drills for the Triple Option. 

From 2013 to 2017, Austin also served as the offensive coordinator for Team Stars & Stripes in the Tazón de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars), an annual event pitting some of the best players in Division III football against all-stars from Mexico’s private universities. President of Global Football Patrick Steenberge called Austin one of the most-traveled American football coaches in the world, having represented the United States in international competition 11 times. 

Austin’s first head coaching opportunity came at Hanover College in 2008 as he took over a program that had suffered four consecutive losing seasons. By his third season, Austin had completely rebuilt the program, guiding Hanover to a 7–3 record. Hanover finished second in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in each of Austin’s final two seasons.

Prior to that, Austin was the offensive coordinator at the University of Dubuque from 2005 to 2007, helping transform a program that hadn’t had a winning season in almost two decades into a top 25 team that posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 28 years. 

Austin was hired at Dubuque after serving as Augsburg College’s offensive coordinator for the 2004 season, leading an offense that set five school records and placed three players on the all-conference team. He began his coaching career at Concordia University, St. Paul, where he started as a wide receiver coach in 2000 and was promoted to assistant offensive coordinator in 2003. Austin’s tenure at Concordia coincided with the best four-year period in school history, with the team going 32–12 over that time and winning the conference championship to earn a berth in the 2003 Mineral Water Bowl. 

Austin was an All-Midstates Football Conference quarterback at St. Ambrose University, setting a school record for most completions in a game. In high school, he was named All-Central Iowa Metro League quarterback after leading Des Moines Roosevelt High School to its only state playoff appearance in 30 years. 

Austin holds two degrees from Concordia University, St. Paul, a bachelor of arts in communications studies and a master of arts in organizational management. He and his wife, Marissa, reside in Georgetown with their daughter, Reagan.

THE AUSTIN FILE

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa
High School: Des Moines Roosevelt
Alma Mater: Concordia-St. Paul '01, '04
Bachelor's Degree: Communication Studies
Master's Degree: Organizational Management
Wife: Marissa
Children: Reagan 

COACHING EXPERIENCE

2013-present: Southwestern University Head Coach
2008-12: Hanover College Head Coach
2005-07: University of Dubuque Offensive Coordinator
2004: Augsburg College Offensive Coordinator
2000-03: Concordia University, St. Paul Wide Receiver Coach