AJ Blazek joined the North Dakota State University football staff in January 2019 as the offensive line coach. He was with the Bison for the 2019 national championship season and the team's only game of the fall 2020 season before accepting a job at Wyoming in January 2021.
NDSU rushed for a school-record 4,601 yards in Blazek's first season as the Bison went 16-0 and won their ninth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and eighth NCAA national title in nine years.
With three new starters on the offensive line and another moving from tackle to guard, the Bison were still dominant up front in 2019. North Dakota State ranked fourth in the FCS in rushing offense (287.6 ypg) and fifth in fewest sacks allowed (0.81/game) while leading the FCS in tackles for loss allowed (3.56/game).
Blazek came to NDSU after three seasons in the Big Ten as the offensive line coach at Rutgers, where he was the assistant head coach his final two seasons.
Blazek is no stranger to the Missouri Valley Football Conference, either. He was the offensive line coach from 2013 to 2015 and run game coordinator his final two years at Western Illinois, where NDSU head coach Matt Entz was the defensive line coach in 2013.
He and Entz were also colleagues for one year at Winona State, where Blazek spent four seasons as the offensive line coach (2009-10) and the co-offensive coordinator (2011-12) coaching the offensive line and tight ends.
Blazek was selected by the American Football Coaches Association as the 2012 Division II Assistant Coach of the Year after being named a finalist for the same award in 2011.
Prior to coaching at Winona State, he was the offensive line coach and strength and conditioning coordinator at Fort Hays State from 2005 to 2008 and served as the offensive coordinator his final three seasons.
Blazek was an All-American at Butler Community College before finishing his collegiate career at Iowa. He was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and was a team captain and All-Big Ten center his senior year.
He began his coaching career at Iowa as a offensive student assistant in 2001, defensive graduate assistant in 2002, and offensive graduate assistant in 2003 and 2004.
A native of Wichita, Kan., he graduated from Iowa with a bachelor's degree in health, leisure and sport studies in 2002 and earned a master's degree in recreation and sport administration from Iowa in 2004.
He and his wife, Kyla, have four children: Cooper, Macey, Reece and Quincy.
| AJ Blazek Year-by-Year Coaching History |
| Year |
School |
Position |
| 2002 |
Iowa |
Graduate Assistant |
| 2003 |
Iowa |
Graduate Assistant |
| 2004 |
Iowa |
Graduate Assistant |
| 2005 |
Fort Hays State |
Offensive Line |
| 2006 |
Fort Hays State |
Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line |
| 2007 |
Fort Hays State |
Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line |
| 2008 |
Fort Hays State |
Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line |
| 2009 |
Winona State |
Offensive Line |
| 2010 |
Winona State |
Offensive Line |
| 2011 |
Winona State |
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line/Tight Ends |
| 2012 |
Winona State |
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line/Tight Ends |
| 2013 |
Western Illinois |
Offensive Line |
| 2014 |
Western Illinois |
Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line |
| 2015 |
Western Illinois |
Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line |
| 2016 |
Rutgers |
Offensive Line |
| 2017 |
Rutgers |
Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line |
| 2018 |
Rutgers |
Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line |
| 2019 |
North Dakota State |
Offensive Line |
| 2020 |
North Dakota State |
Offensive Line |
