Frank Haege (born October 11, 1968) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as a head coach for 20 years in the Arena Football League, arenafootball2 and the NCAA from 2000-2019. He head coached 236 games, compiling a record of 119-117. Coach Haege is known for his coaching flexibility, he is likely the only coach to ever serve as a head coach, coordinate offense, defense and special teams at both the professional and collegiate levels. His teams were best known for their wide open spread passing attacks, athleticism, energy and diversity.

Arena football

Haege began his head coaching career with the

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was ...

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

from 2000 to 2001 earning a record of 37-1 including a pro football record of 19-0 in 2000. His teams won the league championship both years he served as Head Coach. Haege then rose the position of Head Football Coach of the

Las Vegas Gladiators {{Cat main, Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas Wikipedia categories named after buildings and structures in the United States Wikipedia categories named after sports venues ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

from 2002 to 2004 where he set a pro football record for best (+7) turnaround of a professional football team. Haege also took his team to the playoffs in 2002 and 2003. The Gladiators were East Division Champions in 2002. His final record with the Gladiators was in route to a 25-23. Additionally, he was an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Mustangs in 1994, Volunteered with the Iowa Barnstormers in 1995, coached the

Minnesota Fighting Pike The Minnesota Fighting Pike were an Arena football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They joined the Arena Football League (AFL) in 1996 as an expansion team. The Fighting Pike were the first ever attempt at an arena/indoor football team in t ...

in 1996, and was with the

New Jersey Red Dogs The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

from 1997 through 1999.

College football

Haege spent four years as an assistant football coach at

Bemidji State University Bemidji State University (BSU) is a public university in Bemidji, Minnesota. Founded as a preparatory institution for teachers in 1919, it provides higher education to north-central Minnesota. It is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Univ ...

from 1992 to 1995, where he founded one of college football's best traditions, where the team "Jumps in the Lake" after each homecoming win. Additionally, he was the WR Coach in 1996 and

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

1997 to 1998 at

Augsburg University Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. where the team set numerous conference and team offensive records on the way to a Conference Championship in 1997. From 1998 to 2004 he coached mostly in the Arena Football League. Haege then served as the head football coach at

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, NCAA III from 2005-2019. At Augsburg he founded the "Hammer" Trophy which is a traveling trophy Augsburg University plays Hamline University for to this day. He compiled a record of 57–93. His teams had a record of 46-44 from 2007-2015. He served at the Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator for Team USA in the Aztec Bowl, a game between small college All-Americans and the All-Mexican college team from 2008-20012, winning Championships in 2008-2009 and 2010. The games were played in various urban cities in Mexico. Haege became the first recreation director in

Tiffin, Iowa Tiffin is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,512 at the time of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. F. W. Kent ...

. He also serves as the special teams coordinator for Solon, Iowa High School, starting in 2020.

Family

Haege is the son of Career football coach

Art Haege Arthur T. Haege (September 29, 1937 – March 5, 2007) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at St. Ambrose and later had short stints in the American Football League (AFL) with the Boston Patriots, the United ...

, who is known for his time with the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa) ...

. Haege, a native of

Virginia, Minnesota Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mesabi Iron Range. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Range's commercial center. The population was 8,423 ...

, and his wife, Michele, have three sons, Frank Jr, MJ and AJ and reside in Solon, Iowa. Haege has been the Director of Recreation in Tiffin, Iowa since 2020.

Head coaching record

Professional

College

References

External links

Augsburg profile

AFL coaching stats

af2 teams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haege, Frank 1968 births Living people American football tight ends Augsburg Auggies football coaches Bemidji State Beavers football coaches Cleveland Gladiators coaches Milwaukee Mustangs (1994–2001) coaches Minnesota Fighting Pike coaches Quad City Steamwheelers coaches Wisconsin–Stout Blue Devils football players Sports coaches from Minneapolis People from Virginia, Minnesota Players of American football from Minneapolis