Recruiting Areas: Eastern Iowa (Quad Cities, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids & Waterloo Area), & Florida
Jake Olsen, a native of Osage, Iowa, begins his 11th season as associate head coach with the Duhawk football program. Olsen will continue to coach the quarterbacks and handle play-calling duties as offensive coordinator. Additionally, Olsen serves as the recruiting coordinator for the football program.
The Duhawk offense has established itself as one of the top units in both the American Rivers Conference and the NCAA over the past six seasons. Over forty school records and three American Rivers Conference records have either been broken or tied in the nine seasons under Olsen’s control. In 2023, quarterback Evan England continued to show why he's one of the better quarterbacks in all of NCAA Division III, as the junior signal caller threw for 2,629 yards, 28 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. Wide receiver Da'Mani Brown finished with 20 receiving touchdowns, shattering the single season record at Loras and putting himself on the map. Brown finished the year with First Team All-Conference honors, in addition to having been named Third Team All-Region by D3football.com. Overall, the Loras offense scored 34.4 points per game, which ranked fourth in the conference.
In 2022, England led a Duhawk offense that ranked among the best of the best in the A-R-C. Loras was top three in the league in scoring with 34.8 points per game while England led the conference with 257 completions and 23 touchdown passes. England, who was named to the First Team All-Conference list at season’s end, broke school records for total yards (2,873), completions (257), and attempts (391) in a season as the sophomore was the only player to earn more than one A-R-C Offensive Player of the Week award in 2022, cementing himself as one of the breakout stars in the league.
England assumed the quarterback role with the departure of one of the program’s all-time greats in Noah Sigwarth as the 2018 & '19 seasons were highlighted by Sigwarth’s emergence into the Conference's elite. Sigwarth led the A-R-C in total offense which broke school records for both a single game (391) and season (2,872) which had been held for over 20 years. In his fifth year with the team, Sigwarth became the program’s all-time leader in passing yards and completions.
Twelve of the 28 school records were broken first in 2014 and then again 2015. The Duhawks finished second in the NCAA in passing yards per game (369.9) and ninth in total offense (507.5), both of which led the conference during the 2015 season. The 507.5 yards per game marked the first time in Loras Football history an offense has averaged over 500 yards per game for a season. In addition, the Loras offensive attack led the conference in total first downs. The 2016 season saw All-Conference running back Zach Minch reach the 1,000 yard mark (1,217) for the second consecutive year (1,043 yards in 2015) which hasn’t happened at Loras in over a decade.
Olsen began his coaching career in 2003 at (then) Rockford College as a graduate assistant. While at Rockford, he coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers, holding the title of Passing Game Coordinator. In 2005, the Regents rewrote 13 offensive school records. From 2006-10, Olsen was the offensive coordinator at Southern Oregon University (NAIA). While there, Olsen guided the Raider offense and produced three NAIA All-Americans including the NAIA Independent Offensive Player of the Year in 2009, 14 All-Independent NAIA performers and two 1,000-yard rushers in back-to-back seasons.
Olsen came to Loras from the University of Dubuque (2011-13) where he worked directly with four First Team All-Conference selections, including two different back-to-back Conference Offensive MVPs, as well as the Gagliardi Award winner, which honors the top NCAA Division III Player of the Year.
Olsen is a 2003 graduate of Wartburg College where he was a four-year letter winner in both football and basketball, earning All-Conference honors in both sports multiple times. He was a member of three conference championship teams, two for football and one for basketball. He is a member of both the Wartburg College and Osage (Iowa) High School Hall of Fame.
Olsen and his wife, Liz, reside in Dubuque with their three children, Liam, Noah and Cadence
