Photo by Jan Bahlmann: Marshall head football coach Terry Bahlmann poses with his plaque after being inducted into the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Saturday in Minneapolis.

MINNEAPOLIS — Marshall head football coach Terry Bahlmann was inducted into the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s very humbling. You feel honored to be in the same group as the legendary coaches of Minnesota. I think there’s only 318 football coaches in it over 100 years of Minnesota football, so I feel very honored,” Bahlmann said.

Bahlmann has coached football for 38 seasons and compiled a career record of 260-16, putting him fifth among active Minnesota coaches in career wins.

The last 18 years of Bahlmann’s coaching career have been spent in Marshall, where he has coached the Tigers to a 136-41 record during his time with the team. He has led the Tigers to four section titles.

In 2016, the Tigers made their furthest run under Bahlmann when they reached the state semifinals after an 11-0 start to the season.

Bahlmann has coached a number of players who went on to play college football and two, Trey Lance and Blaise Andries, who got an opportunity to play in the National Football League.

“It’s always fun to watch guys like Blaise and Trey that got shots in the NFL and all the players succeed, but you also feel great about the players who came back and that are great fathers and have children of their own end up very successful in the community,” Bahlmann said. “We’re proud of all those guys and I see this honor as a program honor of Marshall football. I’ve worked with a lot of great assistants over the years and obviously had a lot of great players to coach.”

When asked about the key to the team’s success, Bahlmann cited the players’ work ethic.

“It’s about building relationships and getting the kids to come in and work hard,” Bahlmann said. “They believe in what we do and we do work hard. If you work hard, you’re going to have some success, so that’s been a lot of fun.”

Before coming to Marshall, Bahlmann coached a trio of schools in Iowa. He coached Willow for three years, Schleswig for another three and Carroll for 14 before he started at Marshall in 2004.

Schleswig won the Iowa Class A championship in 1988 a year after finishing as runner-up under Bahlmann. The Hawks went 29-4 during his time with the team. He also coached Carroll to five state tournament appearances.

Marshall has experienced consistent success during Bahlmann’s tenure, but two games in particular stood out when asked about the highlights of his coaching career.

In 2006, Marshall rented out the Metrodome for a game against Pewaukee Wisconsin. At the time, J.J. Watt was the star player for the Pirates at the time, but the Tigers came away with a 35-15 win.

The other memory that stood out for Bahlmann was his clinching his first state tournament with the team. After coming close but not being able to get over the hump in previous section championship battles against Hutchinson, Marshall stopped Hutchinson at the one-yard line to secure a 31-28 win and advance to the 2015 state tournament.

Bahlmann also wanted to thank his family for putting him in a position to succeed with the team.

“A lot of this comes from sacrifices my family’s made, especially my wife, Jan, and all her support throughout [38] seasons as a head football coach.”

In 2022, the Tigers completed a perfect regular season before falling short in the section championship game.