| Teamname: | Luther Norse football |
| Athleticdirector: | Renae Hartl |
| Headcoach: | Joe Troche |
| Headcoachyear: | 3rd |
| Hcwins: | 3 |
| Hclosses: | 25 |
| Stadium: | Carlson Stadium |
| Fieldname: | Legacy Field |
| Stadcapacity: | 5,000 |
| Stadsurface: | FieldTurf |
| Location: | Decorah, Iowa |
| Ncaadivision: | III |
| Conference: | A-R-C |
| Pastaffiliations: | Independent |
| Atwins: | 447 |
| Atlosses: | 444 |
| Atties: | 21 |
| Conftitles: | 11 |
| Mascotdisplay: | Norse |
| Websitename: | luthernorse.com |
| Websiteurl: | https://luthernorse.com/sports/football |
The Luther Norse football team represents Luther College in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Norse are members of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C), fielding its team in the A-R-C since 1922 when it was the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). The Norse play their home games at Carlson Stadium in Decorah, Iowa.[1]
The team's head coach is Joe Troche, who took over the position for the 2022 season.
Luther claims 11 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 1978.
| 1932 | 6–2 | 4–1 | Hamlet Peterson | |
| 1935 | 7–1 | 4–0 | ||
| 1938 | 5–2–1 | 4–0–1 | ||
| 1941 | 6–1–1 | 4–0–1 | ||
| 9–0 | 6–0 | Edsel Schweizer | ||
| 1957 | 8–1 | 7–1 | ||
| 1960† | 8–1 | 7–1 | ||
| 9–0 | 8–0 | |||
| 1970 | 8–2 | 6–1 | ||
| 1971 | 8–1 | 6–1 | ||
| 1978† | 6–3 | 5–2 | Bob Naslund |
Luther has participated in two bowl games, and has a record of 1–1.
| 1955 | W 24–21 | |||
| 1970 | L 21–34 |
| Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Jewell[3] | 1919 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2 | Oscar Solem[4] | 1920 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 3 | Ivan Doseff | 1921 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 4 | Franklin Cappon[5] | 1922–1924 | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 5 | Hamlet Peterson[6] | 1925–1945 | 156 | 80 | 67 | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 6 | Robert Bungum | 1946–1949 | 34 | 9 | 23 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 7 | Wally Johnson[7] | 1950–1951 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 8 | Edsel Schweizer[8] | 1952–1977 | 234 | 150 | 78 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 9 | Bob Nashlund[9] | 1978–1995 | 169 | 90 | 79 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 10 | Brad Pole[10] | 1996–2001 | 60 | 20 | 40 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 11 | Paul Hefty[11] | 2002–2007 | 60 | 29 | 31 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 12 | Mike Durnin[12] | 2008–2012 | 50 | 18 | 32 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 13 | Aaron Hafber[13] | 2013–2017 | 50 | 20 | 30 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 14 | Caleb Padilla[14] | 2018–2021 | 31 | 2 | 29 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 15 | Joe Troche[15] | 2022–present | 20 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| National Champions | Conference Champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head Coach | Association | Division | Conference | Record | Postseason | Final ranking | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | ||||||||
| Luther Norse[16] | ||||||||||||||
| 1892 | 1892 | Club team | ||||||||||||
| 1893 | 1893 | |||||||||||||
| 1894 | 1894 | |||||||||||||
| No team in 1895 | ||||||||||||||
| 1896 | 1896 | Club team | ||||||||||||
| No team from 1897 to 1917 | ||||||||||||||
| Army training corps 1918 | ||||||||||||||
| 1919 | 1919 | Walter Jewell | NCAA | Independent | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1920 | 1920 | Oscar Solem | 5 | 1 | 1 | — | — | |||||||
| 1921 | 1921 | Ivan Doseff | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1922 | 1922 | Franklin Cappon | IIAC | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| 1923 | 1923 | 4 | 1 | 2 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1924 | 1924 | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1925 | 1925 | Hamlet Peterson | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1926 | 1926 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1927 | 1927 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1928 | 1928 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1929 | 1929 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1930 | 1930 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1931 | 1931 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1932 | 1932 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1933 | 1933 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1934 | 1934 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1935 | 1935 | 7 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1936 | 1936 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1937 | 1937 | 4 | 1 | 3 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1938 | 1938 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1939 | 1939 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1940 | 1940 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1941 | 1941 | 6 | 1 | 1 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1942 | 1942 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1943 | 1943 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1944 | 1944 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1945 | 1945 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1946 | 1946 | Robert Bungum | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1947 | 1947 | 1 | 7 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1948 | 1948 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1949 | 1949 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1950 | 1950 | Wally Johnson | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1951 | 1951 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1952 | 1952 | Edsel Schweizer | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1953 | 1953 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1954 | 1954 | 9 | 0 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1955 | 1955 | 9 | 0 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1956 | 1956 | College Division | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — | |||||||
| 1957 | 1957 | 8 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1958 | 1958 | 7 | 1 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1959 | 1959 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1960 | 1960 | 8 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1961 | 1961 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1962 | 1962 | 6 | 2 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1963 | 1963 | 9 | 0 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1964 | 1964 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1965 | 1965 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1966 | 1966 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1967 | 1967 | 4 | 4 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1968 | 1968 | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1969 | 1969 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1970 | 1970 | 8 | 2 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1971 | 1971 | 8 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||||||
| 1972 | 1972 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1973 | 1973 | Division III | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | — | |||||||
| 1974 | 1974 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1975 | 1975 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1976 | 1976 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1977 | 1977 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1978 | 1978 | Bob Naslund | 6 | 3 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | |||||||
| 1979 | 1979 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1980 | 1980 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1981 | 1981 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1982 | 1982 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1983 | 1983 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1984 | 1984 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1985 | 1985 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1986 | 1986 | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1987 | 1987 | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1988 | 1988 | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1990 | 1990 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1991 | 1991 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1992 | 1992 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1993 | 1993 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1994 | 1994 | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1995 | 1995 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1996 | 1996 | Brad Pole | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1997 | 1997 | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1998 | 1998 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1999 | 1999 | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2000 | 2000 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2002 | 2002 | Paul Hefty | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2005 | 2005 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2008 | 2008 | Mike Durnin | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 2009 | 2009 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2010 | 2010 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2011 | 2011 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2012 | 2012 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2013 | 2013 | Aaron Hafner | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 2014 | 2014 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2015 | 2015 | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2016 | 2016 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2017 | 2017 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2018 | 2018 | Caleb Padilla | A-R-C | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| 2019 | 2019 | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2020–21 | 2020–21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2022 | 2022 | Joe Troche | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 2023 | 2023 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||