Bauer Tabbed as Hastings' Offensive Coordinator

(Hastings, NE) – Hastings College Athletic Director Chris Clements announced today that James Bauer has been named as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Hastings College Broncos football program. Bauer spent the last three years as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Kansas Wesleyan University.

"We are very excited to have James join the Hastings athletics family. James brings plenty of collegiate experience and has had great success at the NAIA level," Clements said. "He is a great fit for our team and we're looking forward to him arriving in Hastings to build this program for years to come."

Broncos Head Coach Matt Franzen shared a similar message based upon Bauer's experience and track record.

"We're excited to bring coach Bauer on board with the Bronco football program. He has successfully coordinated offenses for two recent NAIA playoff teams and is a proven winner. James, his spouse Makenzie, and their family will be a great addition to the Hastings community," Franzen said.

Bauer is coming off a successful tenure at Kansas Wesleyan, where the team went 8-3 in 2022 and led the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) in points per game (39.8), total touchdowns (57) and total offense yards per game (404.2). They went 8-3 in 2023 and 4-1 in conference, which gave them a share of the conference title. 

For the 2024 season, Bauer took them a step further by going 5-0 in conference play with the highest scoring offense (26.8 points per game) in the KCAC Bissell Division to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament.

In addition to his coaching duties at Kansas Wesleyan, he was also the recruiting coordinator, specializing in the Kansas and California junior colleges areas, while coordinating the recruiting areas with other members of the staff.

Prior to Kansas Wesleyan, Bauer coached at Southwestern College. He started out in 2017 and 2018 as the co-offensive and special teams coordinator, as well as the wide receivers coach. He was then promoted to offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and was responsible for football operations beginning in 2019. 

During his last three years at Southwestern, Bauers' teams consistently improved. In 2019, they were 5-6, which was followed by a 7-2 season in 2020. He concluded his Moundbuilder tenure with a NAIA National Tournament appearance and a 9-2 record in 2021. The nine wins were the most in school history and Bauer was named the KCAC Assistant Coach of the Year. 

Some of his notable recent coaching accomplishments also include coaching four AFCA/USA Today NAIA All-Americans, two all-conference wide receivers and three all-conference offensive linemen. 

A graduate of Friends University, Bauer began his coaching tenure at William Penn University and Rocky Mountain College before coming back to Kansas to coach at Southwestern in 2017.

Hastings College is a four-year residential college that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Discover more at hastings.edu.