Bio

Franzen becomes the 23rd Head Coach in School History. Last season the Broncos went 5-6 with six all-conference honorees while Harrison Udeh garnered CoSIDA Academic All-American Honors. The Broncos started the season with the third largest comeback in school history by coming from 17 points down to knock off Peru St. Hastings then came right back and erased a 14-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Dakota Wesleyan 24-17.

In just his second season as the Head Coach for the Broncos, he took the team to a record of 7-4 which is the most wins since 2009. He had two first team all-conference members along with three second team members. His record as a head coach is now 78-67.

Franzen was named Doane's athletic director in July 2018, and prior to that he was the head coach of the Tiger's football program from 2007 to 2017 where he compiled a 65-49 record. He was an assistant coach at Hastings College for more than a decade before moving to Doane.

In 2007, Franzen took over a Doane program that was 1-9 in the season prior to his arrival which improved to four wins in his first season. Under his leadership the Tigers made steady progress and in 2011 the team was ranked in the NAIA top 25 poll. He earned GPAC Coach of the Year in 2014 and also took Doane to the NAIA playoffs in 2015 and 2016. He was also named the Omaha World-Herald Midlands Coach of the year for 2015-16.

Prior to taking over at Doane, Franzen spent 11 years as an assistant coach at Hastings College. He was part of a coaching staff that coached an undefeated 1998 and 1999 regular season while the Broncos picked up its second playoff victory in 1999 by defeating Bethany 45-23. During his time at Hastings, the Broncos had just two losing seasons.

Originally from Lincoln, Franzen was an offensive lineman during his playing days at Doane earning First Team All-NAIA honors his senior year (1993). Franzen earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Doane in 1994 and master of arts in teaching and physical education from Hastings College in 1999.

Along with his degree and history at Hastings College, Franzen's wife Lacey (Beemer) graduated from Hastings College in 2003 with bachelor of music performance and in 2005 with a master of arts in teaching. The Franzens have two daughters, Anna and Cora. Lacey currently is the vocal music teacher at Hastings Middle School.