Mike Gravier (born September 27, 1960) 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 and former player. He is the head football coach at

Hug High School Procter R. Hug High School is a fully accredited public high school in Reno, Nevada, and belongs to the Washoe County School District. Hug High was built on a hillside in east Reno in 1968 to serve students from rapidly growing areas. Like many ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, a position he had held since 2019. Gravier served as the head football coach at Malone College—now known as

Malone University Malone University is a private Christian university in Canton, Ohio. It was founded in 1892 by Walter and Emma Malone as a small, co-educational Bible institute called Cleveland Bible College. The institution has always maintained a close relat ...

—in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

, from 1995 to 1998 and at

Bluefield College Bluefield University is a private Baptist university in Bluefield, Virginia. It offers 22 majors and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The campus is about from the state line between Virginia and West Virgi ...

Bluefield, Virginia Bluefield is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, United States, located along the Bluestone River. The population was 5,096 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 106,363 in 2020. G ...

, in 2012. He was also the interim head football coach at

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. History The site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the ...

, for the final game of the 2013 season. Gravier played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

. At Malone, he led the

Malone Pioneers football The Malone Pioneers are athletic teams of Malone University in Canton, Ohio, United States. The Pioneers compete in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). ...

to significant victories early in the history of the program and an NAIA Division II playoff appearance in the program's third year.

Coaching career

Malone

Gravier was the second head football coach at Malone College—now known as

—in

, serving for four seasons, from 1995 to 1998, and compiling a record of His career coaching record at Malone was 30–12–1. This ranks him first at Malone in total wins and first at Malone in winning percentage. Gravier's success at Malone is supported by his first-year record of 10 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tie and included a victory over rival

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergra ...

. The sole loss came in the quarterfinal playoffs for the NAIA national championships. His team also reached the national championship hunt during his last season at Malone, losing to

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

. Three of the four years he coached at Malone, his team was either league champion or co-champion. In spite of his success on the field, he was asked to resign by the administration a week before the season opening game of 1999 after allegations surfaced that he struck a student athlete during a practice session.

Assistant coaching

Prior to coaching at Malone, he was an assistant coach for the

Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Technological University's sports teams are called the Huskies. The Huskies participate in NCAA Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), a member of the Central Collegiate Ski Associatio ...

and at Southeast Missouri State He also was an assistant at Malone under head coach Joe Palmisano, whom he replaced to be the head coach. He also worked as the tight ends coach at

Concord University Concord University (Concord) is a public university in Athens, West Virginia. It was founded on February 28, 1872, when the West Virginia Legislature passed "an Act to locate a Branch State Normal School, in the town of Concord Church, in the ...

Athens, West Virginia Athens is a town in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 944 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV- VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578. Athens is the home of Concord University. Hist ...

Bluefield College

Gravier was the head coach for the Bluefield College Rams in

. The program participated in non-sanctioned "club play" for the 2011 season and joined the NAIA's

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Lou ...

beginning in the 2012 football season. In their first season since 1941, the Bluefield Rams finished without a single win. Their record was 0–11 overall, recording 0–6 in conference play. In April 2013 during spring drills, he was fired by the school.

Valparaiso

Gravier became an assistant coach of the

Valparaiso Crusaders The Valparaiso Beacons is the name of the athletic teams from Valparaiso University – often referred to as Valpo – in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. The Beacons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

for the 2013 season. When the head coach was fired with one game to go in the season, he was promoted to interim head coach for the final game. Valparaiso lost their final game that season. At the end of the season,

Dave Cecchini Dave Cecchini is an American football coach. He was announced as the 27th head coach for Bucknell University in February 2019. Previously, in 2014, he was hired as head football coach at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. Before coming ...

was hired as a full-time replacement and Gravier was fired shortly thereafter.

Subsequent coaching jobs

During the 2014 season, Gravier served as an assistant coach at

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

. After leaving the Eagles, he was out of college football. In 2017, he became the offensive line coach and associate coach at North Park In 2019, Gravier was hired as the head football coach at

Head coaching record

College

Notes

References

External links

North Park profile

Valparaiso profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gravier, Mike Living people 1960 births Bluefield Rams football coaches Concord Mountain Lions football coaches Grand Valley State Lakers football players Kalamazoo Hornets football coaches Malone Pioneers football coaches Michigan Tech Huskies football coaches North Park Vikings football coaches Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches Valparaiso Beacons football coaches High school football coaches in Nevada Western Michigan University alumni