Ed Meierkort is an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He was head football coach at the University of South Dakota

University of South Dakota

The University of South Dakota ', the state’s oldest university, was founded in 1862 and classes began in 1882. Located in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, USD is home to South Dakota's only medical school and law school. USD is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents, and its current...

, a position he held since the 2004 season. Meierkort served as the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin–Stout from 1993 to 2003.

Biography

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Meierkort is a graduate of South Dakota State University

South Dakota State University

South Dakota State University is the largest university in the U.S. state of South Dakota, located in Brookings. A public land-grant university and sun grant college, founded under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act, SDSU offers programs of study required by, or harmonious to, this Act...

 and Dakota Wesleyan University

Dakota Wesleyan University

Dakota Wesleyan University is a four-year university located in Mitchell, South Dakota, founded in 1885, that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly less than 800 students...

. He is married with two children.

Career

Meierkort began his coaching career at Dakota Wesleyan, where he also served as head baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 coach. From there he served as a graduate assistant at South Dakota State before moving on to Southwest Minnesota State University

Southwest Minnesota State University

Southwest Minnesota State University is a public, four-year university that is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It is located in Marshall, Minnesota, United States, a city of 13,000 people. The school has a full-time enrollment of approximately 3,500 students and...

, where he held various positions from 1983 to 1993.

He began his head football coaching career at the University of Wisconsin–Stout in 1993. During his tenure there, he coached 16 All-Americans and two future NFL

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 players. In 2000, the team achieved a #5 national ranking. That year, Meierkort was named Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member teams are located in the state of Wisconsin, although there are three associate members from Minnesota and one from Michigan...

 and AFCA

American Football Coaches Association

The American Football Coaches Association is an association of over 11,000 football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "maintain the highest possible standards in football and the profession of...

 Region 5 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for AFCA National Coach of the Year.

Meierkort was named head coach of the Coyotes in 2004. He has overseen the program's elevation from the NCAA Division II rank to Division I. The team's first victory against a Division I opponent came against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds

Southern Utah University

Southern Utah University, or SUU, is located in Cedar City, Utah. It was founded in 1897 as an extension of the Agricultural College of Utah, by the citizens of Cedar City.During its history, the school has been known as:...

 of the FCS on November 15, 2008. In 2010, the program achieved its first win against an FBS opponent with a victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota Golden Gophers football

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...

. In his last game as South Dakota's coach his team blew a 20 point halftime lead against the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.