Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Scott Bostwick, the 2007 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year, is entering his 15th season at Northwest Missouri State University. Since his arrival in 1994, the Bearcats have won two national titles, appeared in three consecutive championship games and featured 14 All-Americans on the defensive side of the ball.

Northwest had three defensive All-Americans in 2007, including MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Jared Erspamer, the fourth Bearcat to earn the honor under Bostwick.

Year-in and year-out, Bostwick continuously produces one of the top defenses in the nation and 2007 was no exception. Northwest ranked ninth nationally against the run and finished 20th in scoring defense. The Bearcats led the MIAA with 39 sacks and against Southwest Baptist, set a conference record by holding SBU to minus-74 yards rushing.

In 2005, Dave Tollefson became the first defensive player under Bostwick to be drafted into the NFL when the Packers made him a seventh-round draft pick (253rd overall). Tollefson set a Northwest record by registering 12.5 sacks that year. He earned a championship ring as a member of the New York Giants this past season.

In 2004, Tollefson and the Bearcats set a program record for fewest rushing yards allowed (94.0 per game) and ranked 10th in the country in rushing defense. Bostwick mentored four first-team All-MIAA selections in 2005, the highest number in one season under his regime. He matched that total in 2007.

Bostwick’s defenses dominated during the Bearcats’ championship seasons of 1998 and 1999 - the momentum gained in 1997, when Northwest led virtually every conference defensive category.
Prior to joining the staff at Northwest, Bostwick spent four years at Western Washington University in Mt. Vernon, Wash. He served as defensive coordinator at Nebraska Wesleyan, his alma mater, from 1986-1990.

Bostwick holds a bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan, where he was a four-year letterwinner and was named all-conference and all-district on the gridiron. He was inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in October of 2006 and is the program’s third-leading tackler of all-time.