The Malone Pioneers program was a college football team that represented Malone University. The team had 7 head coaches since its first recorded football game in 1993 until the program was discontinued after the 2018 season. The final head coach was Fred Thomas who took the position beginning with the 2015 season after serving as the assistant coach for the program in 2014. The university announced in February 2019 that it had voted to cancel the program after 26 seasons as a cost-cutting measure. [1]
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason [A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches [A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties [A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
 | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage [A 4] | ||||
| No. | Name | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | CCs | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Palmisano | 1993–1994 | 19 | 9 | 9 | 1 | .500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | Mike Gravier | 1995–1998 | 43 | 30 | 12 | 1 | .709 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | — |
| 3 | Steve Saulnier | 1999–2001 | 31 | 10 | 21 | 0 | .323 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Dan Hanson | 2002–2005 | 40 | 13 | 27 | 0 | .325 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Mike Gardner | 2006–2009 | 43 | 25 | 18 | 0 | .581 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | — | KCAC Coach of the Year [5] (2005) AFCA NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year (2003) AFLAC Assistant Coach of the Year (2003) |
| 6 | Eric Hehman | 2010–2015 | 63 | 11 | 52 | 0 | .175 | 5 | 41 | — | .109 | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Fred Thomas | 2016–2018 | 29 | 4 | 25 | 0 | .138 | 2 | 15 | — | .118 | — | — | — | — |
Hanson first served as defensive coordinator at Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, Illinois. He later moved to Canton, Ohio to be the defensive coordinator at Malone College. [6]
Hanson was promoted to become the fourth head coach for Malone. He held that position for four seasons, from 2002 [7] until 2005, when he resigned for personal reasons. [8] His career coaching record at Malone was 13 wins, 27 losses, and 0 ties. [9] This ranks him third at Malone in total wins and fourth at Malone in winning percentage. [10] His conference record in the Mid-States Football Association was 5 wins and 21 losses during his tenure. [11]
Hanson's inaugural 2002 season started out with three consecutive wins [12] and a national ranking [13] but was answered with 3 consecutive losses. The team would win one more before finishing 2002 with a 4-6 record. Despite the losing record, Malone outscored their opponents 245 to 196. [14]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | NAIA Coach's Poll# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malone Pioneers (NAIA)(Mid-States Football Association)(2002–2005) | |||||||||
| 2002 | Malone | 4-6 | |||||||
| 2003 | Malone | 2-8 | |||||||
| 2004 | Malone | 4-6 | |||||||
| 2005 | Malone | 3-7 | |||||||
| Malone College: | 13-27 | 5-21 | |||||||
| Total: | 13-27 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Before taking an assistant coach position at Olivet Nazarene University, Hanson played football for the school as an undergraduate while working on his bachelor's degree. [15]
After leaving coaching, Hanson took a position as the Administrative Pastor at Canton First Church of the Nazarene, where he now serves as lead pastor. Hanson earned his Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Olivet Nazarene University and also holds two master's degrees in religion and teaching. [16] Hanson has also continued to be involved in the sport of American football through camps and youth involvement. [17]
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