Trinity University

Paul Michalak will begin his 17th season with the Trinity football coaching staff in 2024, serving as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Tigers. Coach Michalak is also the coordinator of the Trinity football youth and prospect camps.

Under his direction, the defense has developed into one of the finest in the nation - particularly over the last three years during which the Tigers have lost just one regular season game. Coach Michalak’s defense has been in the top 10 nationally in both scoring defense and total defense two of the past three seasons, and Trinity has been a top-25 rushing defense all three years.

Coach Michalak has coached the Conference Defensive Player of the Year five times during his tenure with the program - including Caleb Harmel in 2021 and 2023. Harmel is one of just six players in Trinity football history to win five different All-American awards in his career. Other defensive players to earn All-America honors during his tenure are Luke Packard (2016), Jeremy Irving (2021), Jacob Munoz (2023), and Cade Rabson (2024). Rabson’s selection in 2024 marked the fourth consecutive season that a member of Trinity’s defense was selected as an All-American. Harmel (2021, 2023) and Campbell Miller (Spring 2021) were both awarded the SAA Defensive Player of the Year award, while Julian Turner (2014, 2015) was the SCAC Defensive Player of the Year prior to Trinity moving to the SAA in 2017.

In 2021, Coach Michalak was named the AFCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year after the Tigers made a return to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2011. Prior to joining Trinity’s coaching staff, Coach Michalak worked for three seasons at his alma mater, Carthage (WI) College. He was the defensive line coach and graduate assistant coach.

During his playing days at Carthage, Coach Michalak lettered for four years from 2002-2006. He was a member of the 2004 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship team which was ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III. The Red Men were also the top-ranked defense in the nation that season.Coach Michalak earned his undergraduate degree with a double-major in business administration and marketing. He received a master’s degree from Carthage in 2009. 

Coach Michalak and his wife, Janna, are the parents of four young sons: Liam, Ethan, Owen, and Wyatt.