Nebraska Wesleyan University Athletics

Brian Keller, the all-time winningest football coach in Nebraska Wesleyan history, will enter his 29th season at the helm of his alma mater in 2024. Keller has a career record of 129-134 in 28 seasons. His teams have put together winning records in 15 seasons under Keller.
           
Keller is the longest tenured coach in the American Rivers Conference.  Since joining the new NCAA III conference, Coach Keller has had 39 All-Conference performers in seven seasons, including 11 1^st-Team All-Conference selections.
           
In the 2021 season, the Prairie Wolves were competitive despite posting a 4-6 record. Keller’s offense set a new school record for total offense averaging 435.1 yards per game in 2017.  It was the top passing offense in school history, while also producing a 1,000 yard rusher. Over the past three seasons directing the NWU offense, Keller has coached the school's all-time leading passer and rusher.
           
During the last season competing in NAIA in 2015, Keller led the Prairie Wolves to a 4-6 overall record, including two victories over NAIA Top 25 nationally-ranked teams.  Three straight years Keller guided the Prairie Wolves to upsets of nationally-ranked opponents. 
           
In the previous season, Keller coached the State College Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year as well as the College Division CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year.  He also has 12 players named to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society, the second highest total of any school in the country.
           
Keller led the Prairie Wolves to a 6-4 overall record in 2013, including two victories over NAIA Top 25 nationally-ranked opponents.  NWU was 6-3 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference to finish fourth in the league standings with their best GPAC record since 2008.
           
In both 2011 and 2012, NWU led the entire nation in number of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans producing seven in 2011 and five in 2012.
           
From 2000-09, Keller coached the NWU football program to 10 consecutive seasons with a .500 or better record.
           
In 2008, Keller guided the Prairie Wolves to their third straight 7-3 record giving NWU three straight years with seven wins for the first time since 1989-91.
           
Keller’s career has produced 30 NAIA All-Americans and 33 Academic All-Americans in his tenure. In his 28 previous seasons, he has orchestrated seven of the top 10 most productive offenses in team history and coached NWU’s all-time leading rusher, leading passer, and the leading receiver.  He has coached the top two passers, top two rushers and top two receivers in program history. As an offensive line coach, Keller has tutored 12 All-Americans, as well as the National Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1998.
           
During his 28 years as head coach, Keller has had 72 players earn 1^st-Team All-Conference honors.  Ten players have been named NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients.
           
In 2000, Keller was named GPAC Co-Coach of the Year after he guided the Prairie Wolves to a share of the league title, the team’s first NAIA playoff berth since 1991 and an overall record of 8-3.
           
The Seward, Neb., native was a four-year letter winner for Nebraska Wesleyan as a defensive lineman and linebacker from 1979 to 1982. After graduating in 1983 with a B.S. in Business Administration, Keller began his coaching career at Seward High School, where he worked with receivers and outside linebackers.
           
In 1984, Keller joined the Nebraska Wesleyan coaching staff as an assistant to Orson Christensen. Keller coached the offensive line for three years as the team won six games each season, compiling an overall mark of 18-12.
           
Keller then followed Christensen to Eastern Oregon State College in LaGrande, Ore., where he began his preparation for a head coaching position. In nine seasons at Eastern Oregon State, Keller served as offensive line coach and coordinated the special teams, recruitment and strength training for the Mountaineers. He was promoted to assistant head coach before accepting the opening at Nebraska Wesleyan.  At Eastern Oregon State, Keller obtained his master’s degree in Education in 1991, compiling a 4.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).

Aside from his duties as head football coach, Keller is an instructor in the Department of Health and Human Performance. He and his wife, Jeanette, have three sons, Crew, Braly and Quinn, who are all former football team members and NWU graduates.