DES MOINES, Iowa – Todd Stepsis, who recently finished his sixth year leading the Drake University football program, has been named the head coach at the University of Northern Iowa, UNI officials announced today.
 
At the helm of the Drake football team, Stepsis amassed a record of 29-31 leading the Bulldogs to a trio of winning seasons including consecutive 8-win campaigns in the last two years. 2023 and 2024 also included a pair of outright Pioneer Football League championships and the first berth into the FCS Playoffs in program history. In 2023, Stepsis was awarded the AFCA FCS Regional Coach of the Year and was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, annually given to the top coach in FCS. He followed that with his second straight Pioneer Football League Coach of the Year honor in 2024.
 
"We are so grateful for the 11 seasons Todd Stepsis gave to Drake's football program and our athletics department," Drake Athletics Director Brian Hardin said. "Todd guided a historic run in the Pioneer Football League over the last two years by developing young men on and off the field and part of his legacy will be the genuine relationships he developed with the people in our football program. Todd and his wife, Angie, have had an indelible impact on the Des Moines community and I have no doubt they will do the same in the Cedar Valley. We wish the Stepsis family all the best at UNI.."
 
Stepsis, who began his Drake tenure as an assistant in 2014, wraps his time as a Bulldogs with 15 First Team All-PFL players under his direction. Of those honorees, standouts like defensive lineman Finn Claypool and kicker/punter Shane Dunning collected All-America honors and Pioneer Football League individual accolades with the help of Stepsis' guidance.
 
Stepsis has been committed to shifting the competitive culture within the Bulldog program, and those efforts paid off with titles. His impact has also been felt outside of Drake Stadium as he and his family have been consistently active in the Des Moines community.
 
Drake will begin an immediate national search for the next Drake football head coach. Director of Athletics Brian Hardin and Associate Athletics Director Jay Brummel will lead the hunt for the Bulldogs' next head football coach.