MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University Director of Athletics Andy Carter has announced Jerry Partridge, Mike Aldrich and Patrick Ross as finalists for the university's head football coaching position.

The three finalists will receive on-campus interviews beginning Monday, Jan. 23. The process will involve MSU faculty, staff, student-athletes, members of the media and the community during each day-long interview. Partridge will begin the on-campus interviews on Monday, Jan. 23, Aldrich is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 25 and Ross will be at Minot State Friday, Jan. 27.

Each candidate will have community meet & greet / media event starting at 4:30 p.m. in the Audubon Room on the third floor of the Minot State Student Center on their respective dates.

"This process started on Dec. 24 and it has been nonstop to find the next leader of our football program," Carter said. "I feel we have come a long way in a short amount of time. We started with a large applicant pool and in just 25 days, we have three very strong candidates. I'm very excited for the future of Beaver football."

Jerry Partridge
Partridge was the head football coach at Missouri Western State in St. Joseph, Mo., from 1997-2016. He recorded an impressive 149-83 overall record to become the all-time leader at the university. He had 11-straight winning regular seasons, four NCAA Division II playoff appearances (2006, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and six bowl game appearances. Partridge was twice named MIAA Coach of the Year (2000 and 2012).

His 2012 team finished the season 12-2 overall and earned a spot in the national quarterfinals.

It was his second stop at Missouri Western as he was the team's defensive coordinator / defensive backs coach from 1991-95. In between, Partridge was the defensive backs coach at NCAA Division I Murray State in 1996. He began his career at the University of Missouri, Columbia as a graduate assistant in 1986-87 and coached at Notre Dame (1988-89) and Austin Peay (1990).

Partridge played three seasons for Missouri Western where he earned his Bachelor's degree in physical education in 1986. He earned a Master's in physical education administration in 1988.

Mike Aldrich
Aldrich is in his second season as associate head coach at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn. He was named the 2016 AFCA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year. Aldrich was the head coach at NSIC school Augustana College from 2010-2012, spent three seasons as the team's defensive coordinator and coached at Augie for 11 years total. He was named the 2010 AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year and was a Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year finalist that same season.
He finished with a 22-13 overall record as head coach with the Vikings, making one NCAA Division II tournament appearance (2010).

In between his time at SMSU and Augie, Aldrich spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Wayne State College. He coached at the University of Louisville (2003-2004), the Sioux Falls Storm of the Professional Indoor Football League (2000-2002 & 2005-2009), California Lutheran (2000), College of the Sequoias (1999) and St. Olaf College (1995-1998).

Aldrich played collegiately for St. Olaf where he holds a bachelor's degree in economics and social studies. He earned his Master's degree in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota in 1999.

Patrick Ross
Ross was the head coach at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., from 2003 to 2016, helping the university transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II status. He guided LU a 7-3 record and a spot in the 2013 Mineral Water Bowl in the school's first full season at the DII level. In his coaching career, he has a 107-62 overall record, earning six NAIA playoff appearances including the 2009 NAIA National Championship and the one DII Bowl Game.

In 2016, Ross coached his second Cliff Harris Award winner in Connor Harris. Harris joined Pierre Desir who earned the award in 2013. The Cliff Harris Award is given to the nation's top defensive player among NCAA DII, DIII and NAIA programs.

Ross began his head coaching career at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan., helping the school to a 9-2 record in his second season, winning the KCAC and advancing to the NAIA national playoffs. He was the defensive coordinator at Kansas Wesleyan (1997-2001) and wide receivers coach at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. (1996-1997).

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.