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| UW-Stevens Point athletics |
UW-Stevens Point athletic director Brad Duckworth announced the hiring of Luke Venne as the 33rd head football coach in program history on Monday, April 25.
"From a football standpoint, he's been at a place that's done what we want to do," said Duckworth. "Final fours, national championships, conference championships, that's what Point athletics is about. He is the fourth coach in the last 34 years. To be able to hold the title of head football coach at UW-Stevens Point, it's a hard job to get in the best league in the country at a place that is designed to win championships."
Venne replaces Greg Breitbach, who spent three seasons as head coach of the Pointers and compiled a 9-21 record. UWSP was 2-8 last season, 0-7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Venne (pronounced vah-NAY) comes to UWSP after a 19-year stint at UW-Oshkosh. He spent the last 14 years as a full-time assistant and the last six as the Titans' offensive coordinator. He began his coaching career as the offensive line coach at UWO in 2002 after his playing career with the Titans.
"There's a lot of pride to me in this conference," stated Venne. "and to be able to have the chance to be the head of football coach of one of the schools in this conference. There's only eight people in the nation who can say that. I don't take that lightly. I'm very honored to have the ability to lead a group of men into a great sport of football and a great conference in the nation. Something that I'm extremely excited about."
Under Venne's watch, the UWO offense set school records in scoring, rushing, passing and total offense. In 2015, he coached the WIAC Offensive Player of the Year as the Titans produced a school record of 550 points. In 2016, he led the Titans to their first appearance in the Division III championship game as UWO set a school record for rushing yards. Since taking the reins of the UWO offense, Venne's teams have produced the three highest scoring seasons in school history.
UWO won four WIAC championships, made five postseason appearances and competed at the Stagg Bowl once. Venne was twice bestowed the WIAC Assistant Coach of the Year award.
Venne coached a Gagliardi Trophy winner, a Gagliardi finalist and a Rimington Award winner while at UWO. Two times a player was named the Division III Offensive Player of the Year under Venne. He also coached three WIAC Offensive Players of the Year, 22 All-Americans, 25 all-region and 54 All-WIAC selections.
As a player, Venne was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner as an offensive lineman for UW-Oshkosh from 1998 to 2001. He appeared in 35 games and made 27 starts as an offensive tackle.
Venne earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from UW-Oshkosh. He graduated from Oconomowoc High School. He and his wife, Brooke, have two daughters, Allicyn and Whytni.