Nate Dreiling was named NM State’s defensive coordinator on Dec. 2, 2021. A high-level recruiter with a track record of implementing new - and efficient - defensive game plans, Dreiling parlayed a star-studded NCAA Division II playing career into a coaching career which has so far spanned seven years and four collegiate institutions.
In Dreiling’s first season in Las Cruces, the NM State defense turned heads across the nation. Dreiling inherited a defense that ranked 127th in total defense among FBS schools. The ‘22 Aggies were the most improved defensive unit in college football, climbing 98 spots to 29th in the nation.
The first Aggie team that Dreiling coaching had three players - Chris Ojoh, Trevor Brohard, and Lazarus Williams - earn invitations to NFL Rookie Mini Camps.
Most recently, Dreiling called Cape Girardeau, Mo., home while serving as the defensive run game coordinator and inside linebackers coach for FCS program Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks collected a top-ten victory to cap off their 2021 campaign (a 31-14 home triumph over eighth-ranked UT Martin) to finish 4-2 in Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) action. With Dreiling on the sidelines, Southeast Missouri State held UT Martin to just 14 points - its lowest offensive output in over a year.
Under the direction of Dreiling, the Redhawks witnessed two members of their linebacking corps earn some gaudy accolades. Bryce Norman was one of 22 players among the FCS ranks placed on the 2021 Stats Perform FCS Jerry Rice Award which is presented on an annual basis to the National Freshman of the Year in college football’s FCS ranks. Norman latched on to All-OVC Second Team accolades following the conclusion of his debut collegiate campaign while teammate Brandon Mincey - also developed by Dreiling - received All-OVC First Team laurels.
Dreiling arrived in Missouri directly after a one-and-a-half-year stint on head coach Mario Cristobal’s staff at Oregon from January of 2020 through June of 2021. With Dreiling on staff, the Ducks were able to rope in the nation’s sixth-best recruiting class for 2021 - a group of players who were named the Pac-12’s best recruiting class that season. As a defensive analyst for Cristobal, Dreiling helped Oregon capture the 2020 Pac-12 title before it took part in the Fiesta Bowl.
Returning to the program that he helped lead as a player, Dreiling’s first full-time coaching stop came at NCAA Division II Pittsburg State in Pittsburg, Kan. For three seasons, Dreiling served on the Gorillas’ coaching staff first as a safeties coach (2017) prior to his elevation to the program’s defensive coordinator (2018-19).
Through his first season back in Pittsburg, Kan., he helped the Gorillas force a total of 25 turnovers while ranking second in the land in fourth-down conversion percentage (.200) and 19th in fumble recoveries.
In the two seasons after Dreiling was elevated to the Gorillas’ defensive coordinator, 17 players got their hands on All-MIAA honors while safety Morgan Selenaea earned honorable mention All-America honors in 2018. All told, Dreiling’s defensive schemes allowed Pittsburg State to rank among the top two in the MIAA in 11 different statistical categories in 2018 and 2019.
His first coaching gig came in the Jayhawk State, too, as he signed on with Kansas as a graduate assistant from 2015-16. Helping oversee the Jayhawks’ defensive line (2016) and linebackers (2015), Dreiling assisted in the development of three All-Big 12 performers including Dorance Armstrong - a fourth-round NFL Draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2018.
One of the best NCAA Division II football players in the nation on either side of the ball, Dreiling terrorized opposing offenses through his four-year career (2010-13) at Pittsburg State. A four-time All-American, Dreiling led the Gorillas to the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2011 - a year in which he was named the NCAA Division II National Defensive Player of the Year by the Don Hansen Football Committee.
The 2011 MIAA Defensive Player of the Year amassed a trio of All-MIAA awards and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2013, too. His 491 career tackles top both the Pittsburg State and MIAA all-time charts.
Dreiling’s success on the field caught the eye of numerous NFL teams once his collegiate career was a matter of record. The linebacker signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Green Bay Packers ahead of the 2014 season and also spent time on the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad that same year. He wrapped up his playing career by signing on with the Omaha Mammoths of the now-defunct Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) for the remainder of 2014.
Dreiling and his wife, Alexa, have a two daughters, Baylor and Baisley, and a son, Baker.
