Peter Jennings enters his third as the head coach of the UW-Oshkosh Titans in 2024 with a 12-8 overall record and a 8-6 record in WIAC contests.
Jennings is the 23rd head coach in the 129-year history of the UW-Oshkosh football program that has produced 11 WIAC titles and five NCAA Division III Championship appearances, including a trip to the 2016 national title game.
In 2023, Jennings led the Titans to a 6-4 (4-3 WIAC) mark, concluding with an upset win over then-ranked No. 11 UW-River Falls at home. UW-Oshkosh scored 37.20 points per game while throwing for a combined 3,181 yards, both the most since the 2017 season. Four members of the team were named All-WIAC First Team at the conclusion of the season, while Kobe Berghammer, Carson Raddatz and Clayton Schwalbe all earned All-Region honors.
In Jennings’ first year at the helm, the Titans allowed only 14.6 points per game, operated a red zone defense that only allowed opponents to score 58.8 percent of the time, and ran a red zone offense that scored in 90 percent of their possessions, leading the league in both metrics. UW-Oshkosh also allowed only 12 sacks on the year, tied for least in the league with UW-La Crosse. The red zone offense ranked fifth in NCAA Division III and the red zone defense ranked 12th. UW-Oshkosh was ranked N0. 19 in the nation in D3football.com's preseason poll and climbed as high as No. 15, receiving at least 17 votes each week. Eleven Titans earned All-WIAC laurels in 2022, with four on the first team. Four also earned All-Region nods.
Jennings was most recently the offensive coordinator for four seasons at UW-Whitewater from 2018-21, helping the Warhawks to a 39-4 record and three WIAC championships.
With Jennings directing the offense, UW-Whitewater advanced to the 2019 NCAA Division III championship game and reached the national semifinals in 2018 and 2021. The Warhawks compiled records of 13-1 in both 2018 and 2021, and 13-2 in 2019. The 2020 season was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
During his four years on the UW-Whitewater sidelines, Jennings' offenses averaged 41.6 points and 444.3 yards per game in 2018, 30.1 points and 376.7 yards per contest in 2019, and 40.9 points and 447.1 yards in 2021.
Jennings mentored two UW-Whitewater quarterbacks who were voted WIAC Offensive Player of the Year in addition to 10 Division III All-Americans and one recipient Division III's Rimington Award.
Prior to his tenure at UW-Whitewater, Jennings was the offensive coordinator and associate head coach at Rhodes College (Tenn.) from 2016-18, the offensive coordinator at Carroll University from 2012-16, and the offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan University from 2008-11. Jennings, who served as Iowa Wesleyan University's interim head football coach during the 2009 offseason, also had stints as the Carroll University passing game coordinator in 2011 and the interim head baseball coach at Carroll University in 2013.
Jennings' offenses at Rhodes College set program season records in total touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, total yards and passing yards. At Carroll University, Jennings helped the offense to its two highest scoring seasons in school history.
Jennings, a Fort Madison (Iowa) High School graduate, earned his bachelor's degree in psychology and exercise science from Illinois College in 2007. Jennings, who went on to receive his master's degree in psychology from Walden University (Minn.) in 2009, was the Illinois College starting quarterback for four years from 2004-07 after transferring from Bemidji State University (Minn.).
Jennings and his wife, Kim, are the parents of son, Ben, and daughter, Mara.
The UW-Oshkosh football program, which began in 1893, had just six different head coaches between 1946-2021. The Titans, who have clinched at least a share of four of the past 10 conference titles, won their 11 league championships in 1920, 1923, 1928, 1935, 1968, 1972, 1976, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019. UW-Oshkosh reached the 2016 national championship game, the semifinal round in both 2012 and 2017, the quarterfinals in 2015, and the first round of the 2019 NCAA postseason.
UW-Oshkosh's current string of 12 consecutive winning seasons is the longest in program history. Last season the Titans had a 6-4 overall record, including a fourth-place 4-3 mark in the WIAC. UW-Oshkosh produced recent records of 7-3 in 2011, 13-1 in 2012, 8-2 in 2013, 6-4 in 2014, 11-2 in 2015, 13-2 in 2016, 12-1 in 2017, 6-4 in 2018, 8-3 in 2019, 6-3 in 2021, 6-4 in 2022 an 6-4 in 2023.
(10/10/2024)
