The 2013 season will mark the 16th for Trent Poelker as an assistant coach at McKendree University. For the second consecutive year, Poelker will serve as the Bearcats’ offensive coordinator. He will also tutor the team’s quarterbacks.
Under Poelker’s leadership, the McKendree offensive unit improved its season average by nearly 40 yards per game from the previous year, and also posted more than eight more points per outing. In its first year as a Great Lakes Valley Conference member in 2012, The Bearcats finished second in the league in rushing offense, gaining 181 yards per contest on the ground.
Poelker, who is the son of former McKendree head coach Carl Poelker, first joined the Bearcats’ staff back in 1998 as a defensive backs coach. He was named as the Bearcats’ assistant defensive coordinator in 2001 and was elevated to the defensive coordinator role a year later. Poelker called the defensive signals for a decade before taking over as the Bearcats’ offensive coordinator for the 2012 campaign.
During his time coaching on the defensive side of the ball, Poelker guided some of the Bearcats’ top units. In 2002 McKendree ranked second in the nation in rushing defense and was ninth in total defense as the Bearcats won a school-record 11 games and reached the semifinal round of the NAIA Football Championship Series. During a four-year span from 2002 through 2005, McKendree never finished lower than 11th in the nation in total defense. The 2005 McKendree team was second in the NAIA in total defense, allowing its opponents just 261 yards per game. For his efforts, Poelker was named the 2005 Mid-States Football Association-Midwest League Assistant Coach of the Year.
In 2009 and 2010, the McKendree defensive unit enjoyed a resurgence that resulted in the Bearcats’ final two national playoff appearances. The Bearcats were ranked in the top 15 in the nation in both total defense and scoring defense in each of those seasons. In 2009, McKendree allowed just 15 points per contest to rank third in the NAIA.
Poelker began his coaching career as an assistant defensive backs and outside linebackers coach at Western Illinois University. As a player, Poelker lettered in football and baseball at Illinois College before earning two letters as a defensive back at Millikin. Prior to his collegiate days, Poelker was a three-sport star at Warrensburg-Latham High School, and earned All-Area honors in each sport.
In addition to his football duties, Poelker is the director of the McKendree University men’s and women’s golf programs. Poelker and his wife Jennifer reside in Lebanon. Poelker has three children: Jackson, Reese and Blake.
