 Christensen in 2013 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | (1961-01-17)January 17, 1961 (age 64) Everett, Washington, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| College: | Washington (1980–1982) |
| Position: | Head coach |
| Undrafted: | 1983 |
| Career history | |
As a coach: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season: | 27–35 (.435) |
| Postseason: | 1–1 (.500) (bowls) |
| Career: | 27–35 (.435) |
David Joe Christensen (born January 17, 1961) is anAmerican football coach and former player. He was assistant coach atArizona State. He previously worked as theoffensive line coach and run-game coordinator for theTexas A&M Aggies. He previously served as theoffensive coordinator for theUniversity of Utah. He was previously thehead coach at theUniversity of Wyoming from2009 to2013, where he compiled a record of 27 wins and 35 losses (.435). Prior to Wyoming, Christensen was the offensive coordinator for theUniversity of Missouri and theUniversity of Toledo.
A native ofEverett, Washington, Christensen attended theUniversity of Washington inSeattle, where he played under head coachDon James on theHuskies football team from 1980 to 1982. He earned aB.A. degree insociology fromWestern Washington University in 1985 and aM.S. degree insports science fromEastern Washington University in 1988.[1]
Christensen was formerly the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for theUniversity of Missouri. He served as an offensive assistant underGary Pinkel for 19 years, including the last 16 as his offensive coordinator. He first joined Pinkel at theUniversity of Toledo in 1990 asoffensive line coach, and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1992. Pinkel left for Missouri in 2001, and brought Christensen along as his offensive coordinator. From 2005 to 2008, Christensen employed a passing-oriented version of the no-huddlespread offense.[2]
In the 2007 season, Christensen's offense used this scheme to good effect by scoring a school record 558 points. Additionally, Missouri ranked fifth in total offensive yards (490.29 per game), eighth in scoring offense (39.86 points per game), and ninth in passing yards (314.07 per game). The same season propelledChase Daniel toHeisman finalist status.Martin Rucker andJeremy Maclin were named consensus All-Americans, making it the first time two Tigers were named as such in the same season. Christensen himself was a finalist for theBroyles Award andRivals.com named him as the Offensive Coordinator of the Year.[2]
Christensen's name had been mentioned with respect to the head coaching position of several ailing programs, namely,New Mexico,[3]Washington,[4]Washington State,[5] andWyoming.[6] He ultimately accepted the head coaching job atWyoming.[7] Christensen led the Cowboys to a2009 New Mexico Bowl win in 2009 against theFresno State.
On October 13, 2012; Christensen confrontedAir Force coachTroy Calhoun after the Cowboys' narrow 28–27 loss to the Falcons. Believing Calhoun had told Air Force quarterback Connor Dietz to fake an injury in order to buy more time before the game-winning touchdown, Christensen launched a profanity-laced tirade at Calhoun, calling him a "fly boy." Christensen apologized the next night and was reprimanded by theMountain West Conference for his actions. On October 22, Wyoming athletic directorTom Burman suspended Christensen for the Cowboys' game against Boise State and fined him $50,000. Assistant head coachPete Kaligis coached the team in that game.[8]
On December 21, 2020, Christensen announced his retirement from college coaching after 38 years.[9]
On November 18, 2022, it was announced Christensen would take over as head coach forPanthers Wrocław in theEuropean League of Football.[10] On July 4, 2024, Christensen was fired by Panthers midway through the season with 2-4 record.[11]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming Cowboys(Mountain West Conference)(2009–2013) | |||||||||
| 2009 | Wyoming | 7–6 | 4–4 | 5th | WNew Mexico | ||||
| 2010 | Wyoming | 3–9 | 1–7 | T–8th | |||||
| 2011 | Wyoming | 8–5 | 5–2 | 3rd | LNew Mexico | ||||
| 2012 | Wyoming | 4–8 | 3–5 | T–6th | |||||
| 2013 | Wyoming | 5–7 | 3–5 | 4th(Mountain) | |||||
| Wyoming: | 27–35 | 16–23 | |||||||
| Total: | 27–35 | ||||||||