Northwest turns to McMenamin to guide Bearcat football program

Northwest Missouri State University Director of Athletics Dr. Andy Peterson has appointed John McMenamin as the new head coach of the Bearcat football program.

McMenamin, a Bearcat alum, becomes the 21st head coach in school history.

“I feel so fortunate and grateful for the opportunity that Dr. Lance Tatum and Athletic Director Andy Peterson have extended to lead this storied Bearcat football program,” McMenamin said. “There is no other football program like this in the country. It’s the university, the students, the community and especially the alums throughout the country that really make this such a special place to be. Until you’ve been a part of it, I don’t think you can fully appreciate what it means to be a part of Bearcat football and this community. Once a Bearcat, Always a Bearcat truly hits home.”

“I am thrilled to be able to bring Coach McMenamin back to lead our football program,” Peterson said. “His energy and passion for coaching and leading young men through the game of football just consumes you when you talk to him. I cannot wait to get him in front of our athletes, recruits, and all our stakeholders to cast his vision for the next iteration of Bearcat football. I know Coach McMenamin is focused and eager to quickly get connected to build meaningful relationships on behalf of Bearcat football.”

McMenamin played football at Northwest from 1998 to 2002 and was a part of two national championship squads in 1998 and 1999. He was a member of four MIAA championship squads and was voted a team captain in 2002.

He was a first-team all-MIAA quarterback in 2002. McMenamin set 27 Northwest and MIAA passing records during his playing days. He still holds the Northwest school records for passing yards in a game, 473 vs. Central Missouri and total offense in a game, 475 vs. Central Missouri. McMenamin passed for 6,225 yards on 488-of-811 attempts and 48 career touchdown tosses.

McMenamin, a native of Omaha, NE, served as the offensive co-coordinator/pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, from December 2021 to July 2023. He helped orchestrate the biggest one-year turnaround in NCAA history as the Green Wave went from 2-10 to 10-2. Tulane scored a 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic victory over USC, 46-45. The Green Wave ranked No. 9 in the nation in team passing efficiency, 160.48; No. 18 in scoring, 36.0 points/game and No. 20 in red-zone offense, 86.8 scoring percentage.

Northwest will be McMenamin’s second head coaching job. He was the head coach at Wayne State College in Wayne, NE, from December 2019 to December 2021 when he left to go to Tulane. McMenamin delivered the program’s first seven-win seasons in 11 years with a 7-4 record that included victories over nationally-ranked foes in Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota State. In his previous stint at Wayne State, McMenamin was the offensive coordinator from April 2011 to December 2014.

McMenamin was the offensive coordinator at the University of Central Missouri from January 2015 to December 2019. Prior to that, he served as offensive coordinator at Midland University in Fremont, NE, in 2009-2010 where he helped turn around a Warrior program that went 8-3 in 2010 while finishing No. 22 nationally in NAIA.

McMenamin gained his bachelor of science degree in geography from Northwest in 2002. He obtained his master’s degree in urban studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2008.

He and his wife, Andrea, have two children, Jackson and Jessa.