North Dakota State head football coach Craig Bohl directed the football program through the five-year obstacle course known as "reclassification", and is focused on building a solid and consistent NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program.

The tireless Bohl enters his eighth season with a 52-25 record including a 7-6 record against nationally-ranked FCS teams and 3-3 mark against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams.

With a season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the books, Bohl and the Bison will put the experience gained to good use in 2010. There were a number of lessons learned during NDSU's 3-8 season that included a 2-6 conference mark.

Since making the move to Division I FCS, the football program’s performance on the field with the West Coast offense and aggressive defense during that transition has rekindled the excitement in the Fargo-Moorhead community, state of North Dakota and the region.

NDSU’s average home attendance in the Fargodome has grown from 11,567 in 2003 to a school record 18,141 achieved in 2007. There have been seven sellouts between over the past four seasons. Capacity is listed at 18,700. The Bison are 30-9 at home over the past seven years.

North Dakota State has been ranked in The Sport Network or FCS Coaches Top 25 for 52 weeks since jumping to Division I in 2004. The Bison have held down the No. 1 ranking in the FCS Coaches Top 25 for eight weeks in 2007-08.

Since his arrival, North Dakota State has had eight players earn 11 ESPN The Magazine University Division Academic All-America team. Eight different players have received All-America honors. Seven straight years, a Bison student-athlete has been selected to the Allstate/AFCA Good Works team.

NDSU finished with a 10-1 record for the second straight season in 2007 including a 3-1 ledger in the Great West Football Conference. The Bison held down the No. 1 spot in the FCS Coaches Top 25 poll for seven weeks during the regular season. NDSU posted road wins over a pair of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly I-A) opponents -- Central Michigan, two-time champions of the Mid-American Conference, and Minnesota (27-21) of the Big Ten Conference before 63,088 fans at the Metrodome.

Bohl was again a finalist for The Sports Network’s Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year award. The Bison were No. 9 in the final Sports Network and FCS Coaches top 25 polls.

The 2006 season was magical. NDSU claimed its first league championship in 12 seasons and achieved a top five finish in the national rankings. The Bison were 10-1 overall, just a blocked field goal away from a perfect record.

North Dakota State went 4-0 to win the Great West Football Conference championship -- the program’s first since 1994 when NDSU was a member of the Division II North Central Conference.

The Bison charted an 8-0 record against FCS schools in 2006 including a 3-0 mark against nationally-ranked opponents.

North Dakota State was ranked No. 5 in The Sports Network and CSN Coaches final Top 25 polls. The Bison lost 10-9 to bowl-participant Minnesota of the Big Ten before 62,845 spectators at the Metrodome.

It didn’t go unnoticed. Bohl was selected the GWFC Coach of the Year by vote of the media and coaches. He received 29 first place votes and finished second in the balloting for The Sports Network’s Eddie Robinson Award that recognizes the FCS Coach of the Year. Bohl was selected the Football Gazette FCS National and Northwest Region Coach of the Year.

In 2005, he directed the Bison to a 7-4 record during the 2005 season. NDSU was ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches and The Sports Network Top 25 polls for 10-of-12 weeks during the regular season climbing as high as No. 8 in both polls on Sept. 19.

Charter members of the Great West, North Dakota State won its final three league games to finish with a 3-2 record and tie for third place in the standings.

Bohl started his NDSU career with back-to-back 8-3 seasons. The Bison closed out the 2004 campaign with three straight wins including victories over nationally-ranked Northwestern State (La.) and UC Davis.

North Dakota State was ranked No. 23 in the final 2004 ESPN/USA Today and The Sports Network Top 25 polls to highlight their first season at NCAA Division I-AA.

His first season was highlighted by North Dakota State's stunning 25-24 road win over perennial Division I-AA power Montana in just his second game at the helm.

Bohl fits the successful profile of Bison leaders of the past. He is articulate, high-energy, experienced, successful and charismatic.

His first full-time coaching position was as the defensive secondary coach for the Bison under Don Morton in 1984 when NDSU finished second in the nation with a 12-1 record.

Since then, Bohl has coached on the Division I level for 18 seasons including stops at five different universities. He was the linebackers coach at Tulsa for two seasons (1985-86), the linebackers coach at Wisconsin for two seasons (1987-88), the defensive coordinator at Rice for five seasons (1989-93), the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at Duke for one season (1994), and the linebackers coach at Nebraska for eight years. The final three seasons at Nebraska also included the defensive coordinator duties.

His seasons at Nebraska included a number of Top 10 defensive national rankings for a team that compiled an 85-18 record including national championships with a Fiesta Bowl win in 1995 and an Orange Bowl win 1997. At Duke, he helped mold one of the biggest turnarounds in college football, working with a program that posted an 8-4 record in 1994 after the Blue Devils had gone 3-8 the year before his arrival. A number of athletes who have played for Bohl while at Nebraska have played or been drafted in the National Football League.

A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, he was a reserve in the Cornhusker secondary from 1977 through 1979 under Tom Osborne and played on NU's 1979 Orange Bowl and 1980 Cotton Bowl teams. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Nebraska (1982).

Bohl and his wife, Leia, reside in Fargo. He has twin daughters, Mallory and Morgan, and a son, Aaron.