When you celebrate 100 seasons of Dragon football, there have been prominent head coaches who have led Minnesota State University Moorhead to prominence.

Ross Fortier is the all-time leader in wins at MSUM with 152, followed by Alex "Sliv" Nemzek at 67. Both are in the MSUM Athletics Hall of Fame.

Here are some highlights of head coaches in the program:

During Nemzek's 19 years as the Minnesota State Unversity Moorhead football head coach he established a record of 67-49-17. The most successful season for the Dragons during the Nemzek era came in 1934 where the team boasted a 6-0-1 record.  Nemzek, pictured above at right, led the Dragons to the first conference titles in school history in 1932 and 1935, and the stadium and field house at MSUM were later named for him.

Dwaine Hoberg was the program's head coach for 10 seasons in the 1960s and stepped down in 1969 with a career record of 41-45-2 with the Dragons. His most successful season came in 1966 where his team went 6-3 overall and won the NIC title. Under the helm of Hoberg, running back Mike Quirk received NAIA Honorable Mention All-American in 1967. In 1968 Quirk was selected as a NAIA First Team All-American, an Associated Press Second Team All-American and finished second in NCAA Division II in scoring with 20 touchdowns and 120 total points. Quirk went on to sign with Saskatchewan (CFL) as a free agent in 1971.

In 1970, Fortier, pictured above, became the 13th head coach for MSUM and would dedicate 23 years to the program and build it into a power. Fortier established a record of 152-80-4 which included nine NIC titles and seven trips to postseason play. In 1981 the Dragons would have their most successful season to date by going 10-1-1 in what is considered one of the best teams in school history. The team ranked first in NCAA II in scoring defense (5.0), fifth in total defense (190.9), and ninth in total offense (388.2). Fortier would lead several teams to NAIA playoff games including a 1988 team that won the NAIA First Round game 26-16 against Mesa (Colo.). In 1991 the team would win the NAIA Quarterfinal matchup versus Iowa Wesleyan by a score of 47-14. During his time with MSUM, 13 of his athletes signed professional football contracts.

Ralph Micheli took over the program in 1993 and put together a record of 56-67-2 before stepping down in 2004. In 1995, he coached the Dragons to a share of the NSIC title — which was the most recent conference title for the program — and was named conference coach of the year in 1994, leading the Dragons to the NAIA playoffs. The 1994 Dragons were ranked first in NCAA II in rushing offense (375.0). In 1996 his team went 7-3 and was ranked second in NCAA II in rushing offense (304.5).  

Steve Laqua took over a struggling Dragon program in 2011 and has helped the program progress during his tenure. He guided MSUM to a 6-5 record in 2015 and a 7-4 record in 2016, giving MSUM back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1995-96. The seven wins in 2016 was the most for MSUM since 1999.