Head Coach Tom Journell
Email: tjournell@carleton.edu
Recruiting areas: Southwest Twin Cities; Alaska; Arizona; California; Colorado; Hawaii; Idaho; Montana; Nevada; New Mexico; Oklahoma; Oregon; Utah; Washington; Wisconsin; and Wyoming.
Tom Journell was hired as head football coach on April 23, 2018. The Knights had gone 2-28 in the three years prior to his arrival but have put together a 28-22 ledger since then, including Carleton's first back-to-back-to-back 7+win seasons (2021, 2022, and 2023) in program history.
He is the 18th head coach in the 116-year history of Carleton football and brought with him 32 years of coaching experience, including two previous stops as a head coach. He guided the UW-Stevens Point (UWSP) program during the 2012-2017 seasons and was at the helm of the Elmhurst College program for the 2004-2007 campaigns.
Journell owned a 29-31 overall record in his six seasons at UWSP as the Pointers played in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), a conference that produced a pair of NCAA Division III team champions during that time. In his final season there, the WIAC featured five teams ranked among the nation's top-25 squads. His 2016 squad went 6-4, with three of those losses coming against top-10 foes. In 2014, UW-Stevens Point ranked as high as No. 13 in the country as the Pointers opened the season with five consecutive wins, including a victory over No. 5 North Central (Ill.).
Journell was defensive coordinator at UWSP for four seasons beginning in 2008, helping lead the team to a 19-9 record in WIAC play and a 27-14 overall mark. During his tenure, the Pointers' defense finished amongst the league leaders in almost every statistical category.
In 2008, UWSP finished the season 9-2 overall and earned the program's first NCAA Championships appearance since 2001. That season, Journell was honored as the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association's assistant coach-of-the-year.
Prior to joining the UW-Stevens Point staff, Journell spent four seasons as the head coach at Elmhurst College (Ill.). He closed his time with the Bluejays by becoming the program's first coach in 24 years to lead his team to back-to-back-to-back winning seasons.
Previously, Journell spent 15 seasons at UW-River Falls, closing that stint as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He started with the Falcons in 1989 as the team's secondary coach and after one season was promoted to defensive coordinator. In 1995, he was again promoted to assistant head coach, a position he held for the next eight seasons. Journell helped lead the Falcons to NCAA Division III playoff appearances in both 1995 and 1996 and aided UW-River Falls to its last WIAC title in 1998.
Previous to coaching at UW-River Falls, Journell spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Miami University (Ohio) where he was an assistant defensive secondary and linebackers coach. A graduate of Wittenberg University (Ohio), Journell was a dual-sport athlete, participating in football and baseball.
A native of Eaton, Ohio, Journell and his wife Betsy have two sons, Mack '20 and Tate.
Assistant Head Coach Sam Kent (Defensive Coordinator)
Email: skent@carleton.edu
Recruiting areas: Southeast Twin Cities; Alabama; Florida; Georgia; Indiana; Louisiana; Mississippi; South Carolina; Tennessee; and Texas.
Sam Kent joined the Knights in June 2019 as defensive coordinator, bringing with him more than a decade of experience coaching at the NCAA Division III level. He was promoted to assistant head coach prior to the 2024 campaign. He came to Carleton from Elmhurst College where he served as strength & conditioning coordinator and linebackers coach during the 2018 season. Kent spent the previous two seasons at UW-Stevens Point as defensive line coach and run game coordinator in addition to holding strength & conditioning coordinator duties for the athletic department. A 2008 graduate of Manchester University, Kent was a four-time All-HCAC performer on the gridiron. He received his Master's Degree in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention from California University of Pennsylvania in 2011. After a two-year stint as defensive line coach and film coordinator for MacMurray College, he returned to his alma mater and spent six seasons as Manchester's defensive line coach and strength & conditioning coordinator. He and his wife Lisa reside in the area.
Assistant Coach Alex Balogh (Offensive Coordinator)
Email: abalogh@carleton.edu
Recruiting Areas: Northwest Twin Cities; Connecticut; Delaware; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; Vermont; and Virginia.
Alex Balogh joined the Carleton football coach staff in March 2024, taking over duties as the Knights' offensive coordinator. He spent the previous two seasons as wide receivers coach, recruiting coordinator, and special teams assistant coach at Amherst College. Balogh played football for four years at Denison University, helping the Big Red earn two conference championships before graduating in 2020 with a degree in economics. He coached linebackers one year at University School in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, before heading to Case Western Reserve University, where he earned a master's degree in organizational behavior and spent one season a graduate assistant coach, working with the Spartans' running backs and tight ends while also serving as the strength and conditioning coach.
Assistant Coach Dennis Lee (Recruiting Coordinator / Defensive Line)
Email: dlee3@carleton.edu
Recruiting areas: Northeast Twin Cities; Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and International
Dennis Lee joined the Knights in the spring of 2020 to assist with the defensive line bringing with him experience from multiple levels of coaching. Prior to joining the Carleton staff, he spent the 2019 season as a defensive intern with the University of Minnesota (D-I), where he assisted with the defensive line. Lee was part of a defensive staff that finished that year ranked 10th among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in total defense. Previously, he spent the 2016 season as a volunteer assistant coach at Concordia-St Paul (D-II) where he helped the linebackers and handled duties as a defensive line coach in spring of 2017. Lee was a defensive line graduate assistant at Abilene Christian University (Division I FCS) from 2017-18. Prior to transitioning to the college game, he spent 11 years as a high school coach in Minnesota. Lee earned both his undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and master's degree in Sports Management from the University of Minnesota.
Assistant Coach Scott Van Epps (Offensive Line)
Recruiting areas: Minnesota
Scott Van Epps was hired onto the Carleton staff in June 2018. He is a graduate of nearby Kenyon-Wanamingo (Minn.) High School where he teaches mathematics. His coaching history includes head coaching and defensive coordinator positions at Kenyon-Wanamingo and Prescott (Wis.) High School. As a 2000 graduate of UW-River Falls, he also played and coached defensive line for the Falcons. Van Epps resides in Kenyon, Minn., with his wife Sarah and their three children.
Assistant Coach Matt Norstad (Defensive Backs)
Matt Norstad was added to the coaching staff before the 2023 season. A linebacker at UW-River Falls from 1997-2000, he previously served as an assistant coach at Cannon Falls (Minn.) High School.
Assistant Coach Brayden Supensky (Linebackers)
