Bemidji High School seeks new football coach after Stoffel resignation
Bemidji High School is searching for a football coach with summer prep looming, after Bryan Stoffel resigned amid personal attacks and a lack of support.
Bemidji High School is looking for a new head football coach at a critical point in the offseason, with the opening posted just as summer workouts and fall planning approach. The district listed the job on May 6, two days after Bryan Stoffel resigned effective immediately, and the posting says the new coach is expected to start Aug. 17, with a salary range of $5,411 to $8,359.
Stoffel stepped down after six seasons, saying in a Facebook post that “ongoing personal attacks, including those affecting my family, along with a lack of support” led him to put his family first. Bemidji Area Schools later said the attacks were tied to a former student, not parents, and noted that Jackie Stoffel resigned from her extracurricular role as Unified Coordinator less than two hours later.
The vacancy leaves one of Bemidji’s most visible school programs in a transitional moment. Bemidji football is classified by the Minnesota State High School League in Class 8AAAAA, Region 8AA, with an enrollment of 1,331, and the school’s athletics page lists an established coaching staff that included Jeff Ostrom, Carey Woods, Byron Willard, Eric Medberry and Chad Stay. The program also has played on a big stage locally, including a 2025 season opener against reigning AAAAA state champion Elk River at Chet Anderson Stadium on the Bemidji State University campus.
Stoffel was hired in 2020 to replace longtime coach and former activities director Troy Hendricks, and Bemidji went 29-27 during his tenure. The Lumberjacks were 7-3 in 2024 and reached the Section 8AAAAA semifinals for a second straight year, then finished 5-5 in 2025. That fall included a 34-0 section playoff win over Sartell before a loss to Alexandria, results that show the next coach will inherit a program that has remained competitive even while the head job turned over.
For Bemidji, the timing matters as much as the record. A head coach shapes summer development, August installation and the tone of the season, and this search now sits at the center of a program that has been a regular part of the local sports conversation and one of the most closely watched posts in Bemidji Area Schools.
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