Cornell College Football Camps
Head Coach Vince Brautigam
Brautigam (pronounced BRAUGH-tee-gum) was introduced as Cornell College's head football coach on Dec. 7, 2009.
Brautigam, a native of Covington, Ky., enters his second year on the Hilltop and 10th season in the Iowa Conference, which includes a successful eight-year run at the University of Dubuque from 2001-08. While at Dubuque, Brautigam guided the Spartans to their first back-to-back winning seasons in nearly three decades and an NCAA Division III national ranking in 2007.
Cornell fielded a young team dominated by underclassmen in Brautigam's initial season in 2010. The team landed three all-Iowa Conference performers and a pair of honorable mention picks. Cornell finished the campaign 0-10 overall, 0-8 in league play.
Brautigam has 22 years of coaching experience at the NAIA, NCAA Division II and Division III levels, including 20 seasons as a head coach. He held head positions at Dubuque (2001-08) and NAIA's Mount Senario College (1990-2000) and was an assistant at Division II's St. Cloud State University (1988-89).
Brautigam's teams have claimed nine conference championships, eight of them at Mount Senario. In all three of his previous stops, Brautigam's squads reached top-25 status nationally in their respective polls.
"We entered this process searching for an individual who could sell, motivate and lead," Cornell Director of Athletics John Cochrane said. "Vince Brautigam brings 20 years of collegiate head coaching experience and demonstrated consistent success in his ability to effectively recruit and retain student-athletes at the levels necessary to build and sustain quality programs. He is passionately committed to the individual development of young men and understands what it takes to compete and win in the Iowa Conference.
"I am excited to bring Vince's energy, expertise and work ethic to our football program. I believe he is exactly the right person to lead us forward."
Brautigam revamped a struggling Dubuque program, where he inherited 21 student-athletes in his initial year. With an emphasis on recruiting numbers, the Spartans' roster grew exponentially with 110-plus players in each of his final six seasons. Brautigam started the program's first junior varsity program and also organized the team's first strength and conditioning program.
Brautigam's 2006 squad finished 6-4 and snapped a 19-year losing streak. The Spartans followed that up with a 7-3 record in 2007. It marked the program's first consecutive winning seasons since 1979-80. Dubuque established 47 school records and fielded 36 all-conference players, nine all-region selections, two all-Americans and two Aztec Bowl participants under Brautigam. He mentored 15 academic all-conference players and four ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District performers.
"I had an opportunity to rebuild the football program at Dubuque, become competitive in the Iowa Conference and compete for league titles," Brautigam said. "Our goal at Cornell is to get to 75-plus student-athletes in a short amount of time and be able to add a junior varsity program. Our expectation is to win and to win right away."
Brautigam rebuilt a Mount Senario program that had only 19 players on the team upon his arrival. His roster quickly expanded to more than 100 players in each of his last eight seasons in Ladysmith, Wis. Brautigam, who also served as Mount Senario's director of athletics, left the program as its winningest football coach with a 68-47 mark. He led the Fighting Saints to a school-record eight conference championships in 11 seasons.
Brautigam, a four-time Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year (1993, 1994, 1996, 1999), led Mount Senario to an NAIA top-25 national ranking in 1999 and 2000. He was twice a finalist for NAIA Coach of the Year and was head coach of the National All-Star Football Classic. Brautigam coached a school-best 84 first team all-conference selections, 24 all-Americans and six NAIA Scholar Athletes.
Brautigam began his coaching career at St. Cloud State, where he coached wide receivers and outside linebackers for two seasons. In 1989, he helped lead the Huskies to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs and a North Central Conference championship.
Brautigam graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1988 with a bachelor's of science degree in physical education. He earned a master's of science degree in athletic administration from St. Cloud State in 1990.
Brautigam and his wife Allison reside in Dubuque and have two sons, Nick, 20, and Zack, 17. Nick is a sophomore safety on Cornell's football team. Zack is a senior at Dubuque Wahlert High School.
