In just three seasons at Southern Illinois, Dale Lennon has become one of the most successful coaches in school history. His 25 victories in three years are five more wins than any other Saluki coach has had through their first three seasons at SIU and he is 25-11 (.694) overall at Southern.

Lennon was named Southern Illinois' 20th head coach in program history on Dec. 27, 2007.

He guided the Dawgs to back-to-back Missouri Valley Football Conference titles and into the FCS playoffs in each of his first two seasons at the helm. Lennon was tabbed as the MVFC and AFCA Region IV Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2009, joining six other previous league coaches to win Coach of the Year honors in consecutive seasons.

Deji Karim and Dale Lennon pose for a picture with the Walter Payton Award at the 2009 FCS Awards Banquet in Chattanooga, Tenn

Awards have also been plentiful for a number of Lennon's players. Running back Deji Karim was the 2009 MVFC Offensive Player of the Year and was one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the most outstanding player in the FCS. Karim was a sixth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2010.

In each of the past two seasons, linebacker Brandin Jordan (`09) and cornerback Korey Lindsey ('10) were finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award that goes to the FCS's most valuable defensive player.

In his three seasons, SIU has had six players named first team All-Americans and has had four Academic All-Americans. Before Lennon had arrived at Southern, the Salukis only had six Academic All-Americans in the previous 95 years. The coach has guided 18 players to the MVFC All-Academic team in three years, which is the second most honorees of any team in the league during that time.

Lindsey flourished under Lennon and his staff. He was named an All-American three-straight years from 2008-10, becoming just the second Saluki to ever gain All-America status in three separate seasons. He was also named a first team All-American in 2009 and 2010, becoming just the third Saluki to be a first-team honoree in back-to-back seasons. Lindsey received the 2010 Elite Defensive Back of the Year Award from the College Football Performance Awards for his career accomplishments.

The 2010 season was a challenging one, and it was one that saw Lennon have just his third losing season in 14 years as a head coach. It was an injury-ridden year - one where a combined 70 games were missed from players on the two-deep. The Salukis finished with a 5-6 record and a tie for third place in the MVFC with a 4-4 league mark.

His 2010 squad still found a way to knock off the top teams they faced. Southern was 3-1 against ranked teams and Lennon has an 8-4 record against the Top 25 (7-2 in regular season games) in his three seasons at SIU.

In 2009, Southern Illinois enjoyed a historic season in which it set a new MVFC record with its 14th-straight conference victory, registered the program's fourth 10-win season since 2003 and fifth overall, and won 11-straight games - the third longest winning streak in school history. SIU became the first team in league history to go 8-0 in conference play, doing so in convincing fashion as the Salukis won road games at No. 2 Northern Iowa and No. 9 South Dakota State. Southern Illinois finished the 2009 season with an 11-2 overall record, which is the third-most wins in a year in program history.

The Salukis were ranked No. 1 by The Sports Network for three weeks and entered the 2009 NCAA Division I playoffs - the schools seventh consecutive playoff appearance - as the No. 3 overall seed. Lennon guided SIU to the quarterfinals of the playoffs and the Salukis finished the year ranked No. 6.

In Lennon's first season in Carbondale, the coach guided SIU to a 9-3 record, a share of the MVFC title and into the playoffs.

Lennon had the difficult task of replacing the most successful coach in school history - Jerry Kill, who was the 2007 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year.

The challenge did not intimidate Lennon, who came to SIU with his own personal string of five-consecutive playoff appearances when he arrived in Carbondale. Lennon has now been to either the Division I or II playoffs in nine out of his last 12 seasons. He also owns a National Championship ring, which he captured in 2001 when he was the head coach at his alma mater, North Dakota. He is the all-time winningest coach at the University of North Dakota.

Lennon's success at SIU and North Dakota has made him as one of the winningest active coaches in the country. In 14 seasons as a head coach, Lennon has compiled a 127-44 (.743) record.

He stands as the winningest coach in UND history with a 90-24 record in nine seasons. In addition to leading North Dakota to a national championship, Lennon's teams made seven playoff appearances, played in two national championship games and won five North Central Conference Championships.

Lennon graduated from Rugby High School in Rugby, N.D., a town of less than 3,000 residents near the Canadian border. He went on to play running back at the University of North Dakota from 1979-83, where he was a team captain.

The first half of Lennon's coaching career was on the defensive side of the ball - he was North Dakota's defensive line coach (1988-89) and defensive coordinator (1990-96).

The Fighting Sioux made four-straight playoff appearances from 1992-95, which ultimately led to Lennon's hiring as head coach of the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. in 1997. He reversed the fortunes of that program and led it to an NAIA playoff appearance in 1998.

Lennon returned to his alma mater as head coach in 1999, and the program flourished underneath him.

He reached the pinnacle of success in 2001, when he guided his team to the NCAA Division II National Championship and earned AFCA Coach of the Year honors. He won the NCC Coach of the Year laurels three times.

Lennon and his wife, Chris, have three sons: Jared (22), Trevor (19) and Cody (17).

Dale Lennon's Record





Year
School
Assignment
Overall
Conference
Postseason


1986
Valley City State
Defensive Backs
7-3
---
---
1987 Dickinson State Linebackers 9-1 --- NAIA Playoffs
1988	 North Dakota Defensive Line 7-4 5-4 (t-4th) ---
1989 North Dakota Defensive Line 3-7-1 2-6-1 (9th) ---
1990 North Dakota Defensive Coordinator 7-3 7-2 (2nd) ---
1991 North Dakota Defensive Coordinator 7-2 6-2 (t-2nd) 
1992 North Dakota Defensive Coordinator 6-4-1 6-2-1 (2nd) NCAA Playoffs 1st Round
1993 North Dakota Defensive Coordinator 10-3 7-1 (t-1st) NCAA Semifinals
1994 North Dakota Defensive Coordinator 10-3 7-2 (t-1st) NCAA Semifinals
1995 North Dakota Defensive Coordinator 9-2 8-1 (1st) NCAA Playoffs 1st Round
1996 North Dakota Defensive Coordinator 7-3 6-3 (t-2nd) ---
1997 Mary Head Coach 4-6 1-5 (6th) ---
1998 Mary Head Coach 8-3 5-1 (t-1st) NAIA Playoffs
1999 North Dakota Head Coach 9-2 8-1 (t-1st) NCAA Playoffs 1st Round
2000 North Dakota Head Coach 8-3 6-3 (t-3rd) ---
2001 North Dakota Head Coach 14-1 7-1 (1st) NCAA DII National Champions
2002 North Dakota Head Coach 5-6 3-5 (7th) ---
2003 North Dakota Head Coach 12-2 7-0 (1st) NCAA DII Runner-Up
2004 North Dakota Head Coach 11-3 4-2 (t-2nd) NCAA Semifinals
2005 North Dakota Head Coach 10-3 4-2 (t-1st) NCAA Playoffs 2nd Round
2006 North Dakota Head Coach 11-2 7-1 (1st) NCAA Quarterfinals
2007 North Dakota Head Coach 10-2 7-1 (2nd) NCAA Playoffs 2nd Round
2008 Southern Illinois Head Coach 9-3 7-1 (t-1st) NCAA Playoffs 1st Round
2009 Southern Illinois Head Coach 11-2 8-0 (1st) NCAA Quarterfinals
2010 Southern Illinois Head Coach 5-6 4-4 (t-3rd) ---