Steve Johnson, right, congratulates Wartburg coach Chris Winter after their teams played this September. Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com

In his 34th season as head coach of the Bethel University football program, head coach Steve Johnson announced Monday afternoon he will retire at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

An informal celebration for Johnson will take place inside the Sports and Recreation Center following the Royals’ home game this Saturday, Nov. 4 against Concordia-Moorhead. Johnson and the Royals are set to host Concordia at Royal Stadium with a 1 p.m. kickoff. A win for Bethel lands them in the MIAC Championship game, to be played in Arden Hills, for the third consecutive season where the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs is on the line.

Johnson’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant at St. Cloud State in 1980. From there he was the head football coach at St. Cloud Cathedral High School from 1982-85 before becoming a graduate assistant at the University of Minnesota in 1986. Prior to his time at Bethel, he served as an offensive assistant coach at Montana State for two years.

A 1979 graduate of Bethel, Johnson took over the reins of the program in 1989 and since then has produced 250 career wins where he is currently the all-time wins leader among active Division III coaches. Johnson sits at 29nd for all-time wins across all NCAA divisions. With 29 winnings seasons in a row, he guided the Royals to 11 NCAA playoff appearances, two national semifinals appearances, four national quarterfinal appearances and five MIAC championships.

Coaching Accolades

• 2022 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III National Coach of the Year
• 2007, 2010, 2022 D3football.com Regional Coach of the Year
• Six-time MIAC Coach of the Year (1989,1996, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2013)
• 2016 Inductee into the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame
• Minnesota Football Coaches Association 2011 Man of the Year

"I have had the honor of working with Coach J in some capacity since the fall of 1989...student-athlete, various assistant coach roles, and now as the athletic director. There are not adequate words to describe Coach J's impact on the student-athletes he has coached, the football program, the athletic department, and all of Bethel University,” says athletic director Greg Peterson, a former assistant under Johnson. “What he did with the football program is indescribable. Going from a program that won a total of 14 games in the entire decade prior to him coming, to one that is annually among the top in the country. As astounding as his on-field success is, it pales in comparison to the transformational life impact he has had on the young men he has coached. I am privileged to have been one of those young men and there is no one that has taught me what it means to follow Jesus more than him. I am so grateful for the opportunity to journey with him for the last 35 years."

He and his wife Susan have three children, Cornell (Mattie Hill), Maddie (Tony Lerud) and Katie (Harry Merickel). His 5 grandchildren, William, Emersyn, Jackson, Lincoln and Sullivan have his heart.

A national search for the next head football coach will begin after the end of the season.