Rob Schlaeger enters his second season as an assistant coach at Minot State in 2019.
Schlaeger, who will serve as the Beavers' defensive front coordinator and defensive line coach, comes to Minot State after spending the 2017 season at the University of Wyoming. Schlaeger has also previously coached at West Florida and Southwest Minnesota State.
Schlaeger served as a graduate assistant coach on the defensive side of the ball at Wyoming in 2017. The Cowboys finished the season with an 8-5 overall record and defeated Central Michigan 37-14 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Wyoming had one of the top defensive units in the country in 2017 as the Cowboys ranked ninth in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 17.5 points per game and were 23rd in the nation in total defense.
Schlaeger served as the outside linebackers coach at West Florida prior to joining the Cowboys' staff. During the program's inaugural season in 2016, Schlaeger developed practice plans for the outside linebackers, created scouting reports on opponents, and participated in constructing game plans. On game days, he communicated directly with the defensive coordinator from the coaching booth in the press box. Schlaeger recruited parts of Alabama, as well as recruiting the states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas junior colleges.
West Florida went 5-6 in its first season of college football, including recording two shutouts and defeating the 16th-ranked Florida Institute of Technology.
Prior to his one season at West Florida, Schlaeger was an undergraduate assistant at Southwest Minnesota State from December 2011 to June 2016. He assisted in coaching the linebackers for three seasons and spent one season working with the defensive secondary. His final season of 2015, he was promoted to a graduate assistant position responsible for coaching the outside linebackers.
In 2013, Southwest Minnesota State earned its first-ever Division-II bowl bid to the Mineral Water Bowl, and in 2015 it posted and 8-3 record, which is its best record at the Division-II level.
Schlaeger earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education and sport management from Southwest Minnesota State in 2015, and completed his master’s degree in coaching of sport, also from Southwest Minnesota State, in 2016.
