Excerpts Courtesy of Concordia University Chicago

RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Lonnie Pries has resigned his position as head coach of the Concordia University Chicago football team. According to sources, the seven-year head coach of the program will leave to become athletic director and head football coach at Concordia Ann Arbor.

Pries led the Cougars to a 42-29 record, two Northern Athletics Conference championships and a 2012 NCAA III playoff appearance during his tenure. He returned to his alma mater in 2006 as the program was coming off two consecutive winless seasons. After leading the team to seasons of two, three and three wins from 2006-08, Pries' team recorded three consecutive 8-2 seasons and a share of the 2011 conference title.

This past season, Pries led the team to a perfect 10-0 regular season. The Cougars' 62-26 win over Maranatha Baptist Bible College on Nov. 10 was the team's 16th consecutive win dating back to October of 2011 and was the longest winning streak at any of the three levels of NCAA football at that time. Concordia earned the automatic berth to the NCAA III playoffs, and a number two ranking in the North Region allowed the Cougars to host the game. However, Bethel University of Minnesota edged Concordia 24-23 in an exciting game that was not decided until the final seconds.

Other highlights of Pries' tenure at Concordia include a 2012 NAC Coach of the Year honor and NAC Co-Coach of the Year honors in 2009 and 2011. Two of Pries' players – quarterback Mike Marotta (2009) and running back Khyree Copeland (2010) were named Conference Offensive Players of the Year. A total of 46 single-game, season and career records have been broken or tied during Pries' seven years as head coach.

Pries is a 1993 Concordia-Chicago alumnus and a 2011 inductee into the Cougar Athletics Hall of Fame. He played defensive end for the Cougars from 1989 to 1992, recording 192 solo tackles and 256 tackle assists. Pries earned second‐team all‐conference honors his first three years before winning the Illini-Badger Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year and honorable mention Champion All‐American honors in 1992. Pries was also a second‐team national CoSIDA Academic All‐American that same year, one of eight in Concordia's history to earn national honors.

"It is extremely difficult for me to leave Concordia Chicago," said Pries. "The last seven years have been very special, not because of the wins but because of the coaches and players with whom I've had the privilege to work and interact on a daily basis. I will look back on these years at my alma mater as a blessing from the Lord."

                             New Athletic Director to also Lead CUAA's Football Program

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Excerpt Courtesy of Concordia Ann Arbor

University officials have just announced that effective immediately, Lonnie Pries will take over as the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at CUAA. Since 2006, Pries had been head coach of his alma mater, Concordia University Chicago.

"We are delighted that Coach Pries has accepted our invitation to be CUAA's Head Football Coach and Athletic Director," said Randall Luecke, acting president at CUAA. "We look forward to the impact that Lonnie is going to make on our football team, our athletic program, and on our campus as a whole," Luecke added.

Pries' coaching career, which includes two Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) Co-Coach of the Year awards in 2009 and 2011 and Coach of the Year in 2012, has been marked by challenges he has overcome. Early on, Pries coached a combined 13 years at St. John Lutheran High School in Ocala, Florida and Milwaukee Lutheran High School in Wisconsin. He was given the task of rebuilding both of the school's programs. Among his former players is Nick Roach, currently a starting linebacker for the Chicago Bears.

Pries earned his B.A. in Secondary Education/English from Concordia University Chicago and his M.S. in Education-Counseling from Concordia University Wisconsin in 2001. He and his wife Jennie are the parents of Kaylie, Aliyah, and Layne.