Coaching Staff
Scott Bostwick
Northwest is saddened to report the unexpected passing of Coach Scott Bostwick on June 5, 2011.
Head Coach
Office: (660) 562-1784
E-mail: sbostwick@nwmissouri.edu
Northwest Missouri State University has announced that Northwest defensive coordinator Scott Bostwick will succeed Mel Tjeerdsma as head football coach. The announcement came Friday following news that Tjeerdsma is retiring following 17 seasons with the Bearcats.
Bostwick is the 18th head coach of a program that will enter its 96th season three wins shy of 500 (497-388-33).
The 2007 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year, Bostwick has been Tjeerdsma's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach since the duo's arrival in 1994. Together they won 12 MIAA championships, three NCAA championships and led the Bearcats to seven title game appearances in the last 13 seasons.
"I've been a coordinator for 26 years and if I was ever going to be a head coach, this is where I wanted to be," said Bostwick. "It would be a challenge for anyone to try to walk in Mel's shoes, but I'm excited for it. It's what I've wanted, it's why I've stayed here and here it is.
"The Bearcat Paw represents a lot to Northwest faculty, alumni and past players and I want to uphold the traditions of what it has stood for the last 15 years. Our work ethic, commitment and preparation will not change."
Year-in and year-out, Bostwick has continuously produced one of the top defenses in the nation. The Bearcats have the led the MIAA in scoring defense in each of the last five seasons and in total defense in two of the last three.
The Bearcats have finished in the top 10 nationally in stopping the run three times in the last five years, including 2006 when the team set a program record by allowing just 75 rushing yards per game. Only eight individuals have posted 100 yards rushing against Northwest in the last 77 games dating back to 2004.
"Scott Bostwick has been instrumental in the rise and continued success of Northwest football," said Northwest director of athletics Wren Baker. "He is just as committed to the personal development and academic success of his players as he is to winning football games. We are extremely proud to have Coach Bostwick be the next head coach of the Bearcats."
Along with team success has come numerous individual accolades for Northwest defenders. Bostwick has coached 20 defensive players who have combined to appear on numerous All-America teams. The 2010 team featured cornerback Ryan Jones who became the sixth Bearcat to be named MIAA Defensive Player of the Year under Bostwick.
Safety Myles Burnsides was named the 2009-10 Ken B. Jones Award Winner as the MIAA's top male student-athlete. Following his junior season in 2008, Burnsides became the first Bearcat to be named Division II National Defensive Player of the Year. He was named National Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2009-10.
In 2005, Dave Tollefson became the first defensive player under Bostwick to be drafted into the NFL when the Packers made him a seventh-round draft pick (253rd overall). Tollefson set a Northwest record by registering 12.5 sacks that year. He earned a championship ring as a member of the New York Giants at the conclusion of the 2007 season.
Bostwick mentored five first-team All-MIAA selections in 2010, the highest number in one season under his regime. He's had four first-teamers three other times since 2005. Bostwick has coached 54 Bearcats who have combined to earn 83 All-MIAA honors.
Prior to joining the staff at Northwest, Bostwick spent four years at Western Washington University in Mt. Vernon, Wash. He served as defensive coordinator at Nebraska Wesleyan, his alma mater, from 1986-1990.
Bostwick holds a bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan, where he was a four-year letterwinner and was named all-conference and all-district on the gridiron. He was inducted into the University's Athletic Hall of Fame in October of 2006 and is the program's third-leading tackler.
Bostwick and his wife, Sue, reside in Maryville and have two children, Leah and Eric.
Adam Dorrel
Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
Office: (660) 562-1310
E-mail: dorrela@nwmissouri.edu
Northwest Missouri State offensive coordinator Adam Dorrel has helped lead the Bearcats to an unprecedented five straight NCAA Division II championship appearances and the program’s third national title which came in 2009. In his six seasons as a full-time coach at his alma mater, Northwest is 75-12 (.862).
Dorrel’s 2009 offensive unit was arguably one of the best in the 90-plus year history of Northwest football. The Bearcats averaged more than 42 points and 474 yards per game and ranked in the top 10 nationally in four major offensive categories. Northwest was second in scoring, sixth in total offense, third in pass efficiency and eighth in passing.
Individually, the 2009 squad featured the nation’s leading receiver in Jake Soy, the nation’s fourth-leading passer in Blake Bolles and Division II’s fourth-leading rusher in LaRon Council. Soy was named national receiver of the year after hauling in 27 touchdowns – only the second player in Division II history to reach that number. Bolles set the MIAA’s single-season record for passing yards and passing touchdowns. Council was named the league’s most valuable offensive player.
Impressive team and individual accolades have become the norm rather than the exception under Dorrel. The Bearcats have averaged more than 40 points per game three times and more than 440 yards of offense four times in Dorrel’s six seasons. In addition, 13 offensive stars have been named All-Americans and the last three MIAA offensive MVPs have been Bearcats.
Dorrel himself is a former Northwest All-American. He was a three-year captain for the Bearcats during his collegiate career as an offensive lineman in Maryville from 1994-97.
After earning his degree from Northwest, Dorrel spent a year as a graduate assistant at Northeastern State in Oklahoma. He became a graduate assistant the following season back at Northwest in 1999 when the team won the second of back-to-back national titles.
Dorrel served coaching stints at Dakota State University in South Dakota and William Jewell College in Missouri before being appointed offensive line coach at Northwest in 2004. He was promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2007 season.
During the summer of 2008, Dorrel was one of six American football coaches to lead clinics overseas to further strengthen the sport beyond the United States. Three summers ago, he served as offensive line coach for Team USA as it competed and won the IFAF World Championships in Japan.
Charlie Flohr
Quarterbacks/Recruiting/Passing Game Coordinator
Office: (660) 562-1705
E-mail: cflohr@nwmissouri.edu
Charlie Flohr has been the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at Northwest Missouri State since 2006. He also serves as the recruiting coordinator for the Bearcats. In four seasons with Flohr on the coaching staff, Northwest is 36-0 with four MIAA titles in conference play and 53-6 overall with a national title and three second-place finishes.
Flohr was the leader of the nation’s top quarterback and wide receiver combination in 2009. Jake Soy was named national receiver of the year after hauling in 27 touchdowns and leading Division II with 1,559 yards receiving. Only one player in the history of Division II has caught more touchdowns in one season. Blake Bolles was an All-American quarterback who set conference records with 42 touchdown passes and 4,145 yards passing, numbers that ranked second and fourth in the nation, respectively.
Northwest ranked second nationally in scoring (42 ppg), third in pass efficiency (172.21), sixth in total offense (474.27 ypg) and eighth in passing (298.93 ypg) in 2009. Those are the highest marks in Flohr’s four seasons. Northwest has ranked 10th, 32nd, 17th and now third nationally in pass efficiency under Flohr.
The Bearcats have featured the first-team All-MIAA signal caller in back-to-back seasons. Before Bolles, it was Joel Osborn who earned the award. Osborn completed a program record 67 percent of his passes during his collegiate career.
Three Northwest receivers have earned All-America honors under Flohr in Soy, Kendall Wright and tight end Mike Petersen. Wright finished a brilliant four-year career with 243 catches for 3,253 yards and 21 touchdowns. Peterson (first team) and Josh Gannan (second team) accounted for both All-MIAA tight ends in 2007.
Flohr served as a graduate assistant with the Bearcats in 2002 and 2003 and was placed in charge of tight ends. After obtaining his master’s degree in health and physical education at Northwest, Flohr was hired at conference-rival Truman, where he served as the Bulldogs’ wide receivers and recruiting coach. Under the tutelage of Flohr, Truman receiver Jeff Amundson caught 76 passes in 2004, then the fourth-highest single-season total in program history.
Flohr is a 2002 graduate of Dakota State University in Madison, S.D., where he earned a degree in health and physical education. Flohr was a four-year letterwinner in football at his alma mater and was a two-time honorable mention all-conference selection at wide receiver. He graduated as the program’s all-time leader in punt returns.
Flohr and his wife, Amy, reside in Maryville and have two sons, Adam and Austin. Amy is a
2004 Northwest graduate.
Rich Wright
Special Teams/Defensive Line
Office: (660) 562-1696
E-mail: rwright@nwmissouri.edu
Richard Wright has served as Northwest Missouri State’s defensive line coach and coordinator of special teams since 2004. The Bearcats have featured at least one All-American defensive lineman in every season since.
Tyler Roach became the program’s ninth All-American defensive lineman to serve under Wright. Kendall Wright’s All-America honor as a return specialist in 2008 gives Wright an even 10. Likewise, 10 Bearcats have combined to earn 14 All-MIAA honors as either a lineman or return man with Wright on staff.
Two former players, Dave Tollefson ’05 (New York Giants) and Steve Williams ’04 (New England Patriots), are currently listed on NFL rosters. Tollefson earned a Super Bowl ring with the Giants following the 2007 season.
Northwest tied for the most pass sacks in the nation in 2009 after 19 Bearcats combined for 48 sacks. The Bearcats have finished in the top 10 nationally in quarterback sacks in three of the last four seasons.
Northwest’s advantage on special teams has become ever more noticeable under Wright. The Bearcats have blocked 43 kicks in Wright’s six seasons – an average of more than seven per year. Northwest blocked eight in 2009, including three in the postseason. The first was an extra point with six seconds left in a 21-20 win against top-ranked Central Washington in the quarterfinals. Northwest returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in its semifinal win against California (Pa.). Ryan Jones returned a blocked extra point for a two-point score in a 30-23 win against Grand Valley State in the national championship game.
In addition, Northwest ranked third in the nation in net punting and 11th in yards allowed per punt return in 2007. In 2009, freshmen Tyler Shaw and Jordan Simmons helped the Bearcats lead the nation in kick return yards for part of the season. The unit finished 17th overall including two touchdowns, one each by Shaw and Simmons, and an average of more than 23 yards per return.
Wright was a graduate assistant at Northwest in 1995 and 1996 when he was tight ends coach. Before coming back to Northwest in 2004, Wright was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at St. Ambrose (Iowa) University from 2000-04. During that time, the Fighting Bees won four straight conference titles and set the league record for consecutive wins. In his first season, Wright’s defense led the country with 32 interceptions.
Wright also made stops at William Penn (Iowa) College and Central Methodist College (now University) in 1999, Dakota State University in 1998, Dana College from 1993-94 and Cortland State in 1991.
Covering several facets of coaching, Wright has been an offensive coordinator, linebackers coach, wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator.
Wright is a 1995 graduate of Dana (Neb.) College with a degree in physical education. He earned his master’s degree in physical education from Northwest in 1996.
Wright and his wife, Sarah, reside in Maryville with their daughters Grace and Kate. Sarah is a 1998 Northwest graduate.
