Evangel University head football coach and athletic director Chuck Hepola announced Monday that he will step down from coaching at the conclusion of the 2026 season while remaining as the school’s athletic director.
Hepola, the winningest coach in program history, will finish the current season. His final regular-season game is scheduled for Nov. 14 at Bethany College. A national search for his successor as head coach will begin, according to interim president Michael Kolstad.
Hepola returns to the sideline for the remainder of 2026 with a 75-39 record over 11 seasons, including a 32-18 mark in divisional play. He has guided Evangel to three conference championships, two NAIA playoff appearances, and four conference Coach of the Year awards. In 2023 he was named AFCA NAIA Region 3 Coach of the Year after leading the Valor to their first undefeated regular season since 2001 (11-0) and their first postseason berth since 2005.
Other highlights of his tenure include a share of the Heart South Division title in 2017, back-to-back Heart South Coach of the Year honors in 2017 and 2018, and multiple top-10 national rankings. In 2025 the Valor went 9-3, won the KCAC’s Kessinger Division, returned to the NAIA playoffs, and Hepola again earned conference Coach of the Year recognition.
Known for strong defenses, Hepola’s teams have produced multiple conference Defensive Players of the Year and a long list of All-Americans. Off the field, the program has emphasized academics and spiritual development: 142 players have been named NAIA Scholar-Athletes under Hepola, and 98 players and coaches have been baptized since an annual tradition began in 2023.
Before returning to his alma mater in 2015, Hepola spent time at the high school level in southwest Missouri and had a nine-year run in NCAA Division I, including five seasons at Nicholls State as associate head coach, special teams coordinator, and running backs coach. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Evangel in 1991 and a master’s from Drury University in 2002. He and his wife, Kirstin, have two children and a granddaughter.
Hepola has served as Evangel’s athletic director since January 2025 in addition to his coaching duties.
“After 35 years of coaching, including the last 11 as Head Football Coach, I can honestly say these have been the best years of my career,” Hepola said in the school’s release. “I am deeply grateful, thankful, and blessed for every player, coach, family, and opportunity God placed in my path. Solely, stepping into the Athletic Director role allows me to serve Evangel Athletics in a broader way while giving Evangel Football a new voice and a new chapter. I will leave the sideline with a full heart, hoping we made an impact that will last far beyond the scoreboard. That would be the greatest measure of success.”
Kolstad praised Hepola’s leadership and impact on both the football program and its student-athletes.