Pete Stanton
American football coach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pete Stanton is an American college football coach and athletic director. He is the head football coach and athletic director for Dickinson State University, holding the position of head coach since 2014 and athletic director since 2017.[1][2][3]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Athletic director & head coach |
| Team | Dickinson State |
| Conference | Frontier |
| Record | 98–36 |
| Biographical details | |
| Alma mater | Dickinson State University (BA) Montana State University (MA) |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1984–1987 | Dickinson State |
| Position | Safety |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1989-1998 | Terry HS (MT) |
| 1998-2000 | Belgrade HS (MT) |
| 2000–2013 | Dickinson State (assistant) |
| 2014–present | Dickinson State |
| Track and field | |
| 2000–2013 | Dickinson State |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2017–2019 | Dickinson State (interim AD) |
| 2019–present | Dickinson State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 98–36 (college football) |
| Tournaments | Football 3–10 (NAIA playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 10 NSAA (2015–2024) Track and field 3 NAIA men's outdoor (2004–2006) | |
| Awards | |
| Football NAIA All-American (1987) NAIA Academic All-American (1987) 2× All-NDCAC 9× NSAA Coach of the Year (2015–2017, 2019–2024) Track and field 4× NAIA Men's Outdoor Coach of the Year (2003–2006) | |
Playing career
A native of Baker, Montana, Stanton played college football as a safety at Dickinson State University in the mid-1980s.[3][4] While there he helped the Blue Hawks win two North Dakota College Athletic Conference (NDCAC) championships and make two appearances in the NAIA Division II football national championship playoffs.[1][3] Stanton was named to the All-NDCAC team twice. He named a first-team NAIA All-American and a NAIA Academic All-American in 1987.[3][4]
Coaching career
Early coaching career
Following his graduation from Dickinson State in 1987, Stanton spent nine seasons as the head football coach at Terry High School in Terry, Montana.[5] While there he accumulated a 70–20 overall record and appeared in three state title games.[3] He then served two seasons as the head football coach at Belgrade High School in Belgrade, Montana.[5]
Dickinson State
Football
In 2000, Stanton was hired as an assistant coach for the Dickinson State football team. As an assistant, he helped lead the Blue Hawks to seven conference championships and seven appearances in the NAIA football national championship playoffs.[1] In December 2013, Stanton named Dickinson State's head football coach, replacing NAIA Hall of Famer Hank Biesiot.[1] In his time as the head coach of the Blue Hawks, Stanton has accumulated an overall record of 98-36 and has led the team to ten NSAA championships and ten NAIA playoff appearances.[3] Stanton has also been named as the NSAA Coach of the Year nine times.[3]
Track and field
From 2003 until 2013, Stanton was the head coach of both the men's and women's track and field teams at Dickinson State.[3][6] His men's outdoor track and field team won three straight NAIA national championships from 2004 to 2006, as well as finishing runner-up five times in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.[7][3] Stanton was named as the NAIA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year four consecutive times, from 2003 to 2006.[3] From 2003 until 2012, the men's team also won ten straight conference championships, and Stanton was named as the conference's coach of the year ten times.[3]
Administration
Stanton was named as the interim athletic director for Dickinson State in 2017, then was named officially as the athletic director in 2019.[2][5] He was named as the NSAA athletic director of the year in 2023, 2024, and 2025.[8]
Personal life
Stanton has a wife named Candance and two children.[3] He received a master's degree in education from Montana State University.[4]
Head coaching record
College football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | NAIA Coaches'# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dickinson State Blue Hawks (North Star Athletic Association) (2014–2024) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Dickinson State | 7–4 | 5–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 2015 | Dickinson State | 8–3 | 5–1 | 1st | L NAIA First Round | 18 | |||
| 2016 | Dickinson State | 9–3 | 6–0 | 1st | L NAIA First Round | 14 | |||
| 2017 | Dickinson State | 9–2 | 8–0 | 1st | L NAIA First Round | 13 | |||
| 2018 | Dickinson State | 9–3 | 6–1 | 1st | L NAIA Quarterfinal | 8 | |||
| 2019 | Dickinson State | 8–3 | 6–1 | 1st | L NAIA First Round | 17 | |||
| 2020–21 | Dickinson State | 9–1 | 9–0 | 1st | L NAIA First Round | 11 | |||
| 2021 | Dickinson State | 8–3 | 8–0 | 1st | L NAIA First Round | 15 | |||
| 2022 | Dickinson State | 8–3 | 6–0 | 1st | L NAIA First Round | 17 | |||
| 2023 | Dickinson State | 10–2 | 8–0 | 1st | L NAIA Second Round | 16 | |||
| 2024 | Dickinson State | 10–2 | 8–0 | 1st | L NAIA Second Round | 14 | |||
| Dickinson State Blue Hawks (Frontier Conference) (2025–present) | |||||||||
| 2025 | Dickinson State | 3–7 | 1–5 | 6th (East) | |||||
| 2026 | Dickinson State | 0–0 | 0–0 | (East) | |||||
| Dickinson State: | 98–36 | 76–9 | |||||||
| Total: | 98–36 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||