Entering his eighth season as the Tomcat's head coach, Jack Leipheimer has returned Thiel College football back to prominence. Thiel has amassed a 26-16 record over the past four years with its most successful season in school history coming in 2005.
After posting an undefeated regular-season record (10-0) and leading the Tomcats to their first NCAA Division III playoff birth in 2005, Leipheimer was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Coach of the Year, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Region II Coach of the Year and the Football Gazette’s South Region Coach of the Year.
He guided Thiel to an 11-1 overall record, the program's first PAC title since 1972, its first undefeated regular season since 1950, its first-ever playoff victory, and final season rankings of 15th in the Football Gazette’s Top 40, 16th in the AFCA Coaches Poll, and 17th in the D3foootball.com Top 25 poll.
Leipheimer has led the resurgence through a solid recruiting effort and a strong emphasis on academics. Last season 43 percent of the team attained a 3.0 or higher, with 13 players being named to the PAC Academic Honor Roll. Over the past eight semesters, Leipheimer's Tomcats have posted a higher combined GPA than the all-male average of the College.
Over the past seven seasons Thiel has had 114 all-Conference selections, 17 players named all-Region, 10 players named all-American and five players named ESPN The Magazine Academic all-American. Thiel has also had 26 players earn PAC Player of the Week honors and set or tied 60 school records.
A 1974 Thiel graduate, Leipheimer was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter at tight end, earning all-PAC accolades in 1973. He was a member of the 1972 squad that registered the college’s second PAC title with a 6-1 conference mark. He was also a three-year letter winner with the Tomcat baseball squad, playing both catcher and first base.
Leipheimer enters his 34th year of coaching and his 25th at the collegiate level. Before arriving at Thiel he served as an assistant coach at Allegheny College for 17 years, with the last 12 seasons as the defensive coordinator. He began his coaching career in 1975 as the offensive coordinator at the Bullis School, Potomac, Md. He then served as the defensive coordinator at Trinity High School, Garfield Heights, Ohio, from 1976-1978, and as head coach of the former Kennedy Christian High School, now Kennedy Catholic, Hermitage, Pa., from 1979-1984.
During his 12 seasons as Allegheny’s defensive play-caller (1989-2000), the Gators tallied an impressive overall record of 106-23-1, including 22 shutouts. Leipheimer’s defensive schemes helped the Gators win the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1990, and six North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships. At Allegheny Leipheimer coached 70 All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) defensive players, 43 of whom were named to the first team and 22 defensive All-Americans.
Jack and his wife, Patti, reside in Greenville. They have two daughters: Shanna Bossler, a 2002 Thiel graduate and Krista, a 2005 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.
