University of the Incarnate Word Athletics

Ben Olson is entering his second season on the UIW coaching staff in 2024 and will handle the duties of defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator.

Olson made a major impact on the Cardinals defensive line during his first season in 2023.  His inaugural season at UIW saw Olson mentor Steven Parker to First Team All-Southland and PFF’s No. 1 graded FCS Edge Defender.  Parker also earned Phil Steele’s Southland Defensive Player of the Year honors. Under Olson’s tutelage, Ayodele Adeoye would also garner First Team All-Southland honors and Chase Carter was named to the Freshman All-American team by Phil Steele. 

The 2023 Cardinals defense finished Top 5 in the FCS (according to PFF) in Passing Yards Allowed, QB Hit percentage, Defensive Points Scored, and Conversion percentage Allowed. They also finished Top 10 in Offense Points Allowed, Yards Per Play Allowed, Rushing TDs Allowed, and Pressure percentage.

Olson came to UIW after a successful three-year stint as a defensive line coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  In 2022, Pete Robertson and Anthony Lanier both finished in the top 5 in the CFL in Sacks.  The 2021 season was another successful one for the Roughriders and saw Olson coach the top two sack getters in the CFL.  That season saw AC Leonard finish as the league leader in Sacks, while Jonathan Woodard finished as the league runner up in Sacks.  The success of the 2021 season also included Micah Johnson leading the CFL in Tackles for Loss and saw him earn a CFL All-Star nomination.  The Saskatchewan Roughriders saw their 2021 season end in the CFL Western Conference Championship Game.

Before his stint in the CFL, Olson was a successful college coach.  He spent the 2019 season as the defensive line coach with McNeese State University.  There he coached Chris Livings to the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year and All-American honors.  He also coached Cody Roscoe to All-Conference honors.  The 2019 McNeese Defense finished their season ranked 8^th in the FCS in Rush Yards Allowed, ranked 10^th in Takeaways and ranked 18^th in Team Sacks.

Olson spent the 2018 season as the defensive line coach at Yale where the Bulldogs ranked 17^th in the FCS in 1^st Down Defense and saw them sign the No. 5 ranked Recruiting Class.

Before his time at Yale, Olson coached the outside linebackers at Colgate University.  The 2017 Colgate football team shared in the Patriot League championship.  The 2017 Colgate defense finished their season ranked Top 20 in Scoring Defense, Total Defense, Team Sacks, and Rush Yards Allowed.

Division III Rose-Hulman in Indiana hired Olson to coach linebackers for the 2013 campaign. The Engineers went 7-3 and won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Olson then joined Dino Babers for two successful seasons at Bowling Green in 2014 and 2015 before following his head coach to Syracuse for the 2016 season.

The Morris, Illinois native earned his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Sports Studies from Eastern Illinois University where Olson played defensive line.

Olson resides in San Antonio with his wife Shannon and their son Emmett.