Career Highlights
- Entering his sixth season at the helm of Capital football in 2025
- Has coached 15 All-OAC and 26 Academic All-OAC student-athletes at Capital
Capital University football will have a new leader at the front of the charge heading into the Spring 2021 season. President Dave Kaufman and former Interim Director of Athletics Dixie Jeffers have announced that Brian Foos will become the 13th head coach in the football program’s history.
Foos, a native of Tiffin, Ohio, will return to Central Ohio and the Ohio Athletic Conference for a second time after spending the last two years building the football program at Madonna University (Mich.). Since 2019, Foos has built the Madonna Crusaders football roster to more than 120 student-athletes and was prepared to take the field for the first time in school history prior to the impacts of COVID-19.
“I have had my eye on this job, so to see it come to fruition is a dream come true,” said Foos. “The Columbus area was home to me for a long time and I'm so glad to be coming home.”
“The OAC is the best conference in NCAA Division III and creates a challenge that I am ready for,” said Foos. “We have work to do and it will take the entire Capital Family to get it done. I look forward to bringing pride back to Capital Football.”
Since taking over the Capital program, Foos immediately was impacted by the effects of COVID-19. His first season took place on short notice and was shortened to just four games in the spring of 2021, a year where the team went 0-4.
Foos didn't waste any time in making improvements to the program at that point. The following season, in the fall of 2021, Capital opened the season with non-conference foe Defiance College. There, Capital defeated the Yellow Jackets 41-7 for their first win since November of 2018 (a total of 1,027 days). Throughout the year, Capital maintained their challenges, but stayed the course, eventually taking down Ohio Northern by a score of 35-28 on the road.
To this point, Foos has mentored 10 All-OAC award winners and 17 Academic All-OAC honorees. On a greater scale, Capital football saw Kameron Lee earn Academic All-American honors in 2021 under the leadership of Foos.
Foos is a proven winner at previous institutions where he has coached, including the resurrection of Baldwin Wallace Football under current head coach, Jim Hilvert. In just two seasons as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, Foos helped take a team that had finished 3-7 in 2016 to a three-game improvement in his first year. BW’s offensive numbers rose each season Foos called the plays and led the offensive line, and the Yellow Jackets saw their per game points (38.8), total yards (456.6), passing yards (277.9), and rushing yards (178.7) numbers hit heights not seen since 2011.
In 2018, the Yellow Jackets were receiving votes in the D3Football.com Top 25 Poll and finished with its first eight-win season in seven years. That season, Foos guided Jake Hudson to a record-setting year and a Second Team All-OAC accolade after setting the program’s single-season passing and total offensive yards gained records.
Prior to his time at Baldwin Wallace, Foos spent 13 years of his career building two different football programs from the ground, up. Following a stint at Ohio Wesleyan as its defensive line coach in 2003, Foos made waves in Columbus by helping create the Ohio Dominican University football program, which debuted in 2004. In five seasons, the Panthers went from a start-up, winless team to being ranked nationally behind a 12-1 overall record and competing in the 2007 NAIA playoffs. He began as the team’s tight end coach in 2004 and ascended to become its offensive coordinator by 2008. Combined, the Panthers went 28-25 over its first five seasons and 26-7 (.787) in three seasons between 2006 and 2008.
Foos then moved on to his next challenge prior the 2009 season: building another program, this time at Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.). As the Blue Raiders’ offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator under head coach Chris Oliver, Foos built another championship team within five years of the program’s inception. In year one (2010), Lindsey Wilson won five games and the following season had a winning record. In 2013, Foos and the Blue Raiders earned its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent, a 35-26 victory over then-No. 25 University of Pikeville. The 2014 season was magical after Foos and the Blue Raiders won the Mid-South Conference Championship, marking the first of three consecutive seasons in which Lindsey Wilson qualified for the NAIA Football Championship Series. The Blue Raiders went on to defeat No. 11 Faulkner University for its first postseason win during that season’s run. Over his seven seasons at Lindsey Wilson, Foos helped recruit and coach 36 all-conference players and 58 academic all-conference players on the offensive side of the ball. Between 2013 and 2016, the Blue Raiders finished with 37 wins, the most in the Mid-South Conference.
Foos’ college football origins began in the OAC. He calls Otterbein University his alma mater, a place he started 39 of 40 games on the offensive line during years the Cardinals were coached by the late A. Wallace (Wally) Hood. From 1998 to 2001, the Cardinals accumulated 19 wins, including a 7-3 campaign in 1999 in which Foos blocked for All-American quarterback Matt D’Orazio and three-time all-conference running back Shane Rannebarger.
Foos stayed on with Otterbein to coach the offensive line in 2002 while finishing his degree and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in sport management. He earned a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Ohio Dominican University in 2007. He and his wife, Sara, have four children -- Leah, Harper, Austin and Kelsey.
“I want to thank President Dave Kaufman, Dixie Jeffers, Jody Fournier, and the Capital Family for this amazing opportunity,” said Foos. “I knew when I set foot on campus that it is a special place and when you meet the people, you fall in love. I was so impressed with everyone's welcoming, though masked, faces. I also want to thank my wife and family. I've put them through a lot and am looking forward to settling down in the Columbus area.”
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT BRIAN FOOS
"I am very excited to have Brian Foos join the Capital Family as our head football coach. He is a proven leader and knows how to build a winning culture. His positive energy, integrity, and commitment will ensure our student-athletes achieve their potential both on and off the football field."
- Dave Kaufman, Capital University interim president
“We were looking for our next coach to be a relationship builder, hardworking, well organized, and have great communication skills. Brian meets all of our needs to take Capital Football back to being a very competitive program. He is totally invested in our student-athletes and in addition to being a fantastic leader of our young men, he is going to be a great supporter of our entire athletic department. Needless to say, we are very excited for Brian to come in and get started.”
- Dixie Jeffers, Capital University interim director of athletics and recreation
"Brian Foos is an outstanding football coach and an even better person. He is a family man, and he'll bring that same family atmosphere to the Crusader football program. Coach Foos has strong ties throughout the state of Ohio and he understands what OAC football is about. His student-athletes have enjoyed great success everywhere he's been and I expect that to continue. I believe this is a great fit for Capital University and the Foos family."
- Chris Oliver, Lindsey Wilson University head football coach
“When you coach, you build a special connection with some kids, and Brian was one of them. Brian is one of those people that enjoyed everything about football – the practices, games, off-season workouts, all of it … He is a great relationship builder. He’s very honest in his approach to football and he will tell players what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. He understands the entirety of a program and he knows what is necessary to go into building a top-level program.”
- Steve Gilbert
2011 Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame Inductee
2020 Tiffin Columbian High School Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee
“I am very excited for Brian and his family! Capital is getting a great coach who has had success everywhere he has ever been. He will immediately bring hard work, passion, and excitement into the program, which will carry over into wins on the field.”
- Gary Goff, Valdosta State University head football coach
