Dion Meneley was named the 17th head coach for the Friends University Football team on March 23rd after a brief stint as the Falcon’s defensive coordinator when he was originally hired by the university in February.
Prior to coming to Friends, Coach Meneley was in his fifth season at Hutchinson Community College as the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In his first four seasons at Hutchinson, Meneley’s defenses produced six NJCAA All-Americans and 31 all-Jayhawk Conference performers. In 2012, the Blue Dragons led the Jayhawk conference in pass defense scoring, they were second in total defense and second in rush defense.
In 2014, Meneley’s defense was one of the best in the Jayhawk Conference. The 2014 Blue Dragons captured the program’s first conference title and had its highest final national ranking of No. 4 after a record 11-1 season.
A native of Topeka, Meneley came to Hutchinson with experience at the NAIA and NCAA Division ll levels. Before Hutchinson, Meneley was an assistant coach at Fort Hays State University where he was the defensive coordinator for the Tigers in 2011. He also coached the defensive line. Before that, he spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Southwestern College in Winfield.
Meneley was a two-time All-MIAA selection at outside linebacker and one-time All-MIAA selection at defensive end for Pittsburg State. During his playing career, he was a part of three MIAA championships and the 1995 team that finished as the NCAA Division ll runner-up. He was a team captain for the Gorillas in 1999.
Meneley received his bachelor’s degree in general studies from Pittsburg State University and his master’s degree in leadership from Southwestern College.
