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  Mike Denney
Head Coach

Phone: 402-554-3384
Email: mdenney@unomaha.edu
Fresh off leading his team to a 2009 national championship and a 13-0 undefeated 2008-09 dual season, Mike Denney enters his 31st season as the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s head wrestling coach. Denney’s goal remains the same, to produce a quality program. One of the most respected wrestling coaches in the nation, regardless of division, Denney’s Mavericks have won five national titles, including three in a row from 2004-06. He has established a premier program that is respected for its achievements both on and off the mat.

Denney has been named the NCAA II Coach of the Year three times. The first time came in 1981 after a third-place finish, which began a string of 29 consecutive top 10 finishes. The second time came after the Mavericks won the 1991 national championship and the third came last year after his second undefeated season and fifth national championship.
Denney was selected the Amateur Wrestling News “Man of the Year” for 2006 and was also named the 2006 Win Magazine Dan Gable Coach of the Year. He was also inducted into the Omaha Public School’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

UNO’s 29 top 10 finishes are more than any other Division II school. Included in that string are 21 top-three finishes and 25 top-five outings.

The Dakota Wesleyan graduate brings a 289-109-5 dual meet record into the new season. He has coached 166 Division II All-Americans and 29 national champions in addition to four who went on to claim Division I All-American honors.

Denney came to UNO from Omaha Bryan in 1979 and took over an already tradition-rich program. After a 12th-place national finish in 1980, he built a squad that moved to third in the nation earning him NCAA Division II Coach of the Year honors.
His secrets to coaching success are a simple case of having a passion for his work, a positive approach and perseverance.

Denney was a four-year starter and letterwinner in football and wrestling at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D. He was an all-conference and all-district performer in both sports. After his senior year he was selected as one of the outstanding college athletes of America.

On Sept. 30, 1988 he was inducted into the Dakota Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame. He is also in the NCAA Division II Hall of Fame, Nebraska Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Metro Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame.

Following graduation, he received his master’s degree in physical education and an Education Administrative Endorsement from Nebraska-Omaha.

A versatile sportsman, Denney played seven years of semi-pro football for the Omaha Mustangs and currently holds a third-degree black belt in Judo and Jujitsu. He has placed many years in the National Master Judo Championships, and in 1982 won the National Masters Judo Championship at 209 pounds.

Denney served on the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee for six years and also is a past president of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association, and past chairman of the Division II Wrestling Championships Committee.

Respected as a fine speaker and motivator of youth, Denney is often on the road speaking at banquets or to groups of young people.

Teaching and coaching are what Coach Denney describes as his passion as he has been in the coaching ranks for 40 years, including 10 years at the high school level. In fact, he considers his mission in life to “help teach and build good people.”

Coach Denney also received the Chancellor’s Medal to honor him for making significant contributions to the university.

Mike and his wife Bonnie have been married 40 years. Bonnie is very involved with the UNO wrestling program helping in numerous areas. Mike and Bonnie have three children: Rocky, Mikki, and Luke. Rocky and wife Shannon both received their undergraduate degrees and played collegiate soccer at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo. They have given Mike and Bonnie three grandchildren, Brock Maher Denney, born Feb. 10, 2001, Cael Alexander, born Sept. 24, 2002 and Olivia Lynne, born Oct. 10, 2003. Mikki completed her undergraduate and soccer-playing career at the University of Minnesota. She is currently the Golden Gophers’ head soccer coach and was named the 2008 Big 10 Coach of the Year after winning the Big 10 title. Mikki is married to Shane Wright. The two had their first child, Forrest Denney Wright, born April 25, 2009. Luke finished his collegiate soccer career at Rockhurst and is currently working in Kansas City and training and competing in mixed martial arts.
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