Thiel College Athletics

Mike Winslow was hired as the 27^th head football coach in Thiel College history in December of 2018. He is in his third year as head coach in 2021. A native of Hermitage, Pa., Winslow is an alumnus of Thiel College and Reynolds High School.

In his first season as head coach of the Tomcats in 2019, Winslow had four players earn All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) recognition, including junior free safety Trou Johnson, who was named to the Second Team. Earning Honorable Mention accolades were senior linebacker Matt Crawford, senior punter Dylan Kleckner and freshman wide receiver Caleb Shuler.
 
Johnson, who was an Honorable Mention selection as a freshman and sophomore, notched 78 tackles in 2019, tying him for the seventh most in the conference. He led the team with eight pass breakups, forced two fumbles, recovered two fumbles and recorded one interception.
 
Johnson scored two defensive touchdowns in 2019. His first was on Oct. 5 when he scored on an 86-yard fumble recovery against Waynesburg. His second was on Oct. 12 on a 17-yard interception return against Saint Vincent.
 
A three-time All-PAC Honorable Mention pick, Crawford tallied 254 career tackles, the eighth-most in program history. He led the PAC in 2019 with an average of 10.1 tackles per game. In his final game as a Tomcat, Crawford made 17 tackles, tying him for the fifth most in a single game in program history.
 
Crawford was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Second Team in 2019. He was a member of the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team. Crawford was also a four-time member of the PAC Academic Honor Roll.
 
Crawford was selected as a member of the 2020 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of football players from all divisions, who maintained a cumulative 3.2 grade-point average or better throughout their college careers.
 
A two-time All-PAC Honorable Mention pick, Kleckner punted 65 times in 2019 for 2,315 yards. He averaged 35.6 yards per boot, had three punts land inside the opponent 20-yard line and three punts of more than 50 yards.
 
Shuler led the Tomcats in receptions (26), receiving yards (373) and touchdown catches (5) in 2019.
 
Winslow returned to Thiel after spending 11 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Albright College in Reading, Pa. A member of the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) and NCAA Division III, the Lions compiled a record of 78-44 over the last 11 seasons, made nine postseason appearances, won two conference championships (2008, 2015) and twice qualified for the NCAA playoffs (2009, 2015).
 
Prior to the 2012 season, Winslow was promoted to associate head coach at Albright while also serving as the program’s academic coordinator. Over the last 11 seasons, he coached 45 All-MAC players and four All-American picks. He also mentored 16 offensive linemen who earned all-conference accolades.
 
Winslow began his coaching career at Thiel College as an assistant under head coach Jack Leipheimer ’74. He coached Thiel’s wide receivers, served as the team’s video coordinator and was the program's junior varsity head coach for four seasons, including in 2005 when the Tomcats won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) title for the first time since 1972 with a perfect 10-0 regular season record and went on to host two NCAA Division III playoff games at Alumni Stadium. The team set 24 school records in 2005 and earned multiple top-20 rankings by various media outlets.
 
As wide receivers coach at Thiel, Winslow was instrumental in the development of Brandon Chambers, a Farrell, Pa., native who in 2005 earned a pair of All-American selections, two regional first-team nods and was D3football.com’s South Region Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Chambers still holds Thiel career records for receptions (203), receiving yards (3,111) and touchdown receptions (34).
 
After beginning his coaching career at Thiel, Winslow spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Maine, which competes at the Division I (FCS) level and is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Serving as a defensive backs coach in 2006, Winslow helped the Black Bears finish the regular season ranked No. 24 in the country, according to The Sports Network. Maine’s defense ranked No. 1 in the country in rush defense in 2006 and ranked second in the conference in pass defense.
 
R.Y.F.P.