Dale Lennon was named SIU's 20th head coach in program history on Dec. 27, 2007. He guided the Salukis to back-to-back Missouri Valley Football Conference titles in 2008 and 2009 and was named the MVFC and AFCA Region IV Coach of the Year in both seasons. During that stretch, the Salukis won 14-consecutive conference games, which was then the longest conference winning streak in MVFC history.
Lennon is the fourth-winningest coach in SIU history with 48 career wins in seven years as the head coach. One of the most respected coaches in the country, Lennon was named to the American Football Coaches Association Board of Trustees in 2014.
Lennon also guided SIU to back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, Southern won 11-straight games and became the first team in league history to go 8-0 in conference play, doing so in convincing fashion by winning road games at No. 2 Northern Iowa and at No. 9 South Dakota State.
The Salukis finished the 2009 campaign with an 11-2 record and climbed to a No. 1 national ranking for the first time since Oct. 10, 2005. The Sports Network had SIU ranked as the No. 1 team for the last three weeks of the regular season. Southern was the No. 3 overall seed in the FCS Playoffs, and Lennon guided the team to the quarterfinals of the playoffs by posting a win over No. 17 Eastern Illinois, before falling to No. 6 William & Mary.
Running back Deji Karim was the 2009 MVFC Offensive Player of the Year and one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the most outstanding player in the FCS each year. Karim was a sixth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2010. Running back Larry Warner was also a finalist for the Walter Payton Award in 2008, finishing 10th in the balloting, and tight end MyCole Pruitt was a finalist in 2014. Linebacker Brandin Jordan (2009) and cornerback Korey Lindsey (2010) were finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award that goes to the FCS's most valuable defensive player. In 2010, Lindsey won the College Football Performance Awards' Elite Defensive Back Award. Lindsey was drafted in the seventh round by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2010 NFL Draft. In 2011, Bryan Boemer won the Rimington Award as the nation's top FCS center.
In Lennon's eight seasons, Southern had eight First-Team All-Americans, plus eight CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. Before Lennon arrived at SIU, the Salukis had only six Academic All-Americans since the honor began in 1952. Ten of Lennon's former Saluki players (Ken Boatright, Jayson DiManche, Stephen Franklin, Jewel Hampton, Deji Karim, Korey Lindsey, Ray Agnew, Kory Faulkner, MyCole Pruitt and Malcolm Agnew) signed NFL contracts.
Lennon came to SIU from North Dakota, where he had a string of five-consecutive playoff appearances.His success at both schools have made him one of the winningest active coaches in the country. In 16 seasons as a head coach, Lennon has compiled a 144-61 (.702) record. He has been to either the Division I or II playoffs in 10 seasons. Lennon also owns a national championship ring, which he captured in 2001 when he was the head coach at his alma mater, North Dakota.
Lennon stands as the winningest coach in UND history with a 90-24 record in nine seasons. In addition to leading North Dakota to a national championship, Lennon's teams made seven playoff appearances, played in two national championship games and won five North Central Conference Championships.
Lennon graduated from Rugby High School in Rugby, N.D., a town of less than 3,000 residents near the Canadian border. He went on to play fullback from 1979-83 for the University of North Dakota and was a team captain.
Lennon's coaching tenure with the Fighting Sioux began on the defensive side of the ball. He was UND's defensive line coach for two seasons (1988-89) before being promoted to defensive coordinator (1990-96). The Fighting Sioux made four-straight playoff appearances from 1992-95, which led to Lennon's hiring as head coach of the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. in 1997. There he reversed the fortunes of the program and led it to an NAIA playoff appearance in 1998.
Lennon returned to his alma mater as head coach in 1999, and he reached the pinnacle of success in 2001 by guiding his team to the NCAA Division II National Championship and earning AFCA Coach of the Year honors. He won NCC Coach of the Year laurels three times.
Dale Lennon's Record
| Year |
School |
Assignment |
Overall |
Conference |
Postseason |
| 1986 |
Valley City State |
Defensive Backs |
7-3 |
--- |
--- |
| 1987 |
Dickinson State |
Linebackers |
9-1 |
--- |
NAIA Playoffs |
| 1988 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Line |
7-4 |
5-4 (t-4th) |
--- |
| 1989 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Line |
3-7-1 |
2-6-1 (9th) |
--- |
| 1990 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
7-3 |
7-2 (2nd) |
--- |
| 1991 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
7-2 |
6-2 (t-2nd) |
|
| 1992 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
6-4-1 |
6-2-1 (2nd) |
NCAA Playoffs 1st Round |
| 1993 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
10-3 |
7-1 (t-1st) |
NCAA Semifinals |
| 1994 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
10-3 |
7-2 (t-1st) |
NCAA Semifinals |
| 1995 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
9-2 |
8-1 (1st) |
NCAA Playoffs 1st Round |
| 1996 |
North Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
7-3 |
6-3 (t-2nd) |
--- |
| 1997 |
Mary |
Head Coach |
4-6 |
1-5 (6th) |
--- |
| 1998 |
Mary |
Head Coach |
8-3 |
5-1 (t-1st) |
NAIA Playoffs |
| 1999 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
9-2 |
8-1 (t-1st) |
NCAA Playoffs 1st Round |
| 2000 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
8-3 |
6-3 (t-3rd) |
--- |
| 2001 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
14-1 |
7-1 (1st) |
NCAA DII National Champions |
| 2002 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
5-6 |
3-5 (7th) |
--- |
| 2003 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
12-2 |
7-0 (1st) |
NCAA DII Runner-Up |
| 2004 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
11-3 |
4-2 (t-2nd) |
NCAA Semifinals |
| 2005 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
10-3 |
4-2 (t-1st) |
NCAA Playoffs 2nd Round |
| 2006 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
11-2 |
7-1 (1st) |
NCAA Quarterfinals |
| 2007 |
North Dakota |
Head Coach |
10-2 |
7-1 (2nd) |
NCAA Playoffs 2nd Round |
| 2008 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
9-3 |
7-1 (t-1st) |
NCAA Playoffs 1st Round |
| 2009 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
11-2 |
8-0 (1st) |
NCAA Quarterfinals |
| 2010 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
5-6 |
4-4 (t-3rd) |
--- |
| 2011 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
4-7 |
2-6 (t-7th) |
--- |
| 2012 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
6-5 |
5-3 (t-3rd) |
--- |
| 2013 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
7-5 |
5-3 (t-2nd) |
--- |
| 2014 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
6-6 |
3-5 (t-7th) |
--- |
| 2015 |
Southern Illinois |
Head Coach |
3-8 |
2-6 (9th) |
--- |
|
AT SIU |
Head Coach |
51-42 |
36-28 |
|
|
OVERALL |
Head Coach |
153-75 |
|
|
Updated Nov. 30, 2015 
