Steve Bell was introduced as the 19th head coach in the storied history of Augustana football at a press conference in the Ken Anderson Academic All-America Club on Friday, January 9, 2015. Bell fashioned a 112-44 (.718) overall record as the head football coach at Monmouth College from 2000-2014 and his Vikings have gone 24-39 overall and 18-32 in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin during his first six seasons at Augustana. His 2019 squad posted the program’s best record since 2010, going 6-4 and his 2020 outfit finished 1-2 in a pandemic-shortened season.
Bell’s work at Monmouth was the model of consistency and excellence. When he took over the Scots prior to the 2000 season, he inherited a program that had compiled a record of 8-39 overall and 5-25 in the Midwest Conference over the previous five campaigns. After a 3-7 record in his initial year of 2000, Bell led Monmouth to an 8-2 mark in 2001. That was the best record since the Scots were 8-2 in 1989.
During his tenure at Monmouth Bell’s teams won four Midwest Conference championships (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011) and finished second six times. The Scots were an impressive 100-30 (.769) in league play.
Bell was a five-time Midwest Conference Coach of the Year and he led Monmouth into the NCAA Division III playoffs four times (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011). During his tenure he helped produce a Melberger Award (NCAA Division III “Player of the Year”) winner in 2009, two Gagliardi Award (Division III Heisman) finalists, one Academic All-American and four Academic All-District selections as chosen by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). He coached the NCAA Division III career leader in passing yardage (14,249) and the all-divisions touchdown leader (157). He left Monmouth as the winningest coach in school history.
Prior to taking the Monmouth job in 2000 he served as the offensive coordinator at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois from 1995-99 and was an assistant coach at Bemidji State (Minnesota) from 1992-94.
A native of Virginia, Minnesota, Bell is a 1992 graduate of Bemidji State University with a degree in physical education. He also has graduate credits toward his M.S. in physical education from Bemidji State. A member of the American Football Coaches Association since 1995, Bell has been a highly sought-after clinic speaker in the Midwest.
Bell and his wife Robin have three children: Carter, Chloe and Claire.
BELL’S YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD
|
Overall |
|
Conference |
|
| Year |
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L |
Pct. |
Finish |
School |
| 2000 |
3 |
7 |
.300 |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
8th-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2001 |
8 |
2 |
.800 |
6 |
2 |
.750 |
3rd-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2002 |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
5 |
4 |
.556 |
4th-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2003 |
8 |
2 |
.800 |
8 |
1 |
.889 |
2nd-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2004 |
9 |
1 |
.900 |
8 |
1 |
.889 |
2nd-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2005 |
10 |
1 |
.909 |
9 |
0 |
1.000 |
1st-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2006 |
7 |
3 |
.700 |
7 |
2 |
.778 |
2nd-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2007 |
7 |
3 |
.700 |
7 |
2 |
.778 |
2nd-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2008 |
11 |
1 |
.917 |
9 |
0 |
1.000 |
1st-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2009 |
10 |
1 |
.909 |
9 |
0 |
1.000 |
1st-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2010 |
6 |
4 |
.600 |
6 |
3 |
.667 |
2nd-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2011 |
10 |
2 |
.833 |
9 |
0 |
1.000 |
1st-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2012 |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
5 |
4 |
.556 |
5th-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2013 |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
5 |
4 |
.556 |
6th-MWC |
Monmouth |
| 2014 |
8 |
2 |
.800 |
4 |
1 |
.800 |
2nd-MWC South |
Monmouth |
| 2015 |
4 |
6 |
.400 |
3 |
4 |
.429 |
5th-CCIW |
Augustana |
| 2016 |
3 |
7 |
.300 |
2 |
6 |
.250 |
7th-CCIW |
Augustana |
| 2017 |
1 |
9 |
.100 |
1 |
7 |
.125 |
8th-CCIW |
Augustana |
| 2018 |
4 |
6 |
.400 |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
7th-CCIW |
Augustana |
| 2019 |
6 |
4 |
.600 |
5 |
4 |
.556 |
5th-CCIW |
Augustana |
| 2020 |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
|
|
|
|
Augustana |
| 2021 |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
4 |
5 |
.444 |
5th-CCIW |
Augustana |
| 2022 |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
4 |
5 |
.444 |
6th-CCIW |
Augustana |
| Augustana Totals |
29 |
44 |
.397 |
22 |
37 |
.373 |
|
|
| Career Totals |
141 |
88 |
.616 |
122 |
67 |
.646 |
|
|
