Franklin College alumnus Alan Hensell was appointed as the 18th head football coach in school history on Dec. 23, 2019 and is entering his fourth season at the helm of the program.Â
A 2005 graduate, Hensell returns to campus after spending the last five seasons on staff at the University at Buffalo. Since graduating from Franklin the New Carlisle, Indiana-native’s 15-year journey to the head position at his alma mater has included successful stints across Divisions I and III.
In his first fall season, Hensell guided the Grizzlies to a 6-4 record and a third-place finish in the HCAC. The Grizzlies claimed the Victory Bell for the first time since 2017, closing out the year with a 27-16 win over defending league champion Hanover on the road. A total of 15 Grizzlies were named to one of the three all-conference teams in the fall of 2021, highlighted by running back Garrett Cora becoming the fourth Grizzly ever and first since 2012 to be named the league's Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, defensive end Jireh Ojata was named Third Team All-Region by D3football.com after setting a single season program record with 14 sacks.
His first season on the sideline was the abbreviated 2021 spring season that saw the Grizzlies finish with a 4-3 record. A total of 13 Grizzlies picked up all-conference honors at the end of the year, with four players picking up First Team All-HCAC honors for the first time in their playing careers.Â
Hensell joined head coach Lance Leipold’s Buffalo coaching staff in 2015 as its tight ends coach, assistant recruiting coordinator and NFL liaison. Since landing in western New York, he assisted in turning around the Buffalo football program by helping guide the Bulls to three straight bowl appearances from 2017 to 2019, the first three-year stretch of bowl games since their move to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The best of those seasons came in 2018, when the Bulls won a program record 10 games and advanced to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) MAC title game for the second time since joining the league.
Before jumping to Buffalo, Hensell was brought on to Leipold’s staff at Division III powerhouse University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2013 as the wide receivers coach. In his two years spent in Whitewater, the Warhawks won all 30 games en route to back-to-back national championships. In 2014, he helped guide the Warhawks to the top passing offense in the highly-competitive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Four pass-catchers earned All-WIAC honors with Jake Kumerow going on to be Division III Offensive Player of the Year.
The 2012 season saw Hensell take over as the offensive line coach at Gardner-Webb University where he coached one All-American and three linemen to the FCS Senior Bowl. Prior to that, he spent five years coaching in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) that included two stints at the University of Mississippi (2007-09, 2011) and one at the University of Tennessee (2010).
Hensell began his collegiate coaching career while still enrolled at Franklin, joining former head coach Mike Leonard’s staff in 2004 as an outside linebackers coach and video coordinator. In addition to helping out on the football staff, he was also a two-year student coach for the Grizzly baseball team. After leaving Franklin, he headed to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where he was the quarterbacks coach from 2005-06.
He lettered in both football and baseball as a student-athlete at Franklin before an injury early in his sophomore year ended his playing career. His entry into the coaching profession came in 2003, when he was an assistant coach at Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis.
Hensell earned a Bachelor of Arts in physical education (K-12) with a minor in health education from Franklin. He would go on to earn a master’s degree in science and education from UW-Whitewater in 2015.
