Now in his 31st year of coaching, Tom Journell is in his sixth season as Head Football Coach at UW-Stevens Point.
Through five seasons as head coach, Journell has a 25-25 overall record. After UWSP was 2-8 in his first season, his Pointers have been .500 or better in the last four seasons.
His Pointers began 2016 with four-straight wins. Prior to the season-ending loss, his squad was 6-3 with all three losses to the hands of top-10 foes.
In 2014, the Pointers opened the season with five consecutive wins, including a victory over No. 5 North Central (Ill.) in the team's Homecoming and Pink Game. After the 5-0 start, UW-Stevens Point was ranked as high as No. 13 in the country, the team's highest ranking since early 2009.
Under Journell's guidance, 14 UW-Stevens Point players were named All-WIAC first teamers and he has had a player earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in each of the last three seasons.
Journell spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Pointers, helping lead the team to a 19-9 record in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. During his tenure, the Pointers' defense finished amongst the leaders in the league in almost every statistical category.
In 2008, UWSP finished the season 9-2 overall and earned the program’s first playoff appearance since 2001. That year, Journell was honored by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association as the organization’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
Prior to UWSP, Journell spent four seasons as the head coach at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill. He compiled a 22-18 overall record in his four seasons with the Bluejays and ranks fifth all-time in Elmhurst history for career wins. In his final three seasons at Elmhurst, the Bluejays posted back-to-back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 25 years.
Previously, Journell spent 15 seasons at UW-River Falls, serving primarily as the defensive coordinator. He started with the Falcons in 1989 as the team’s secondary coach and after one season was promoted to defensive coordinator. In 1995, he was again promoted to assistant head coach, a position he held for the next eight seasons.
Journell helped lead the Falcons to NCAA Division III playoff appearances in both 1995 and 1996 and aided UW-River Falls to its last WIAC title in 1998.
Previous to coaching at UW-River Falls, Journell spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Miami University (Ohio) where he was an assistant defensive secondary and linebackers coach. He studied the game from legendary coaches Dave Anderson, now executive director of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, and Terry Hoeppner, former Indiana University head coach.
Journell attended NCAA Division III Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, graduating in 1987, where he participated on the football and baseball teams.
A native of Eaton, Ohio, Journell and his wife Betsy have two sons, Mack and Tate.
