, who made a name for himself as one of the most decorated players in the storied history of University of Minnesota Duluth football, has been hired as the Bulldogs' new offensive line coach.Â
staff," said Heikkinen. "Football and the coaching profession have always been passions of mine. When the opportunity arose to coach at the collegiate level -- and at my alma mater of all places -- it didn't take long for me to make my decision. I had a tremendous experience as a student-athlete at UMD and I've always been proud to be a Bulldog."
A Duluth Central High School alumnus,
Heikkinen capped off his remarkable collegiate career in 2012 by winning the the Gene
Upshaw National Division II Lineman of the Year Award. In January 2013, he also became just the second Bulldog ever to play in the East-West Shrine Game, joining future New England Patriot and Green Bay Packer offensive lineman Dave
Viaene (1988) in that exclusive group. As a senior co-captain,
Heikkinen was chosen to a then-Bulldog record six different All-American teams -- Associated Press (Little All-American first team), American Football Coaches Association (first team), d2football.com (first team),
Daktronics (first team), Don Hansen (first team) and Beyond Sports College Network (second team) All-American teams after starting a program-best 54 consecutive games over four seasons.
UMD's first four-time All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honoree (North Division first team in 2010-12 and honorable mention in 2009), he also anchored an offensive line that paved the way for the third highest-scoring offense in NCAA II football (a school-record 46.5 Â points per game). In 2011,
Heikkinen attained All-American status from five different groups including the
AFCA (first team), D2Football.com (first team),
Daktronics (first team), Associated Press (Little All-American second team), and Beyond Sports College Network (honorable mention). Since
Heikkinen took over a starting role in the 2009 opener, the Bulldogs went 47-7, captured one NCAA II national championship (2010), four overall
NSIC titles and four
NSIC North Division crowns, qualified for the NCAA II playoffs four times, and cracked the top 15 in every
AFCA II weekly poll. He was chosen
UMD's Outstanding Male Senior Athlete for 2012-13 and took part in the Minnesota Vikings' 2013 Rookie Training Camp.
Heikkinen served as a graduate assistant coach with the Bulldogs from 2013-15 before working for Universal Athletic (sales representative) and Ameriprise (customer service representative) in Duluth. He graduated from UMD in 2012 with a B.S. Degree in criminology.
"Garth will be a great addition to our football staff ," said Wiese, who was
UMD's offensive coordinator during
Heikkinen's playing days with the Bulldogs. "He's an outstanding person who has an enormous amount of pride in UMD and the Duluth community. His football knowledge, which he built through both playing the game and coaching, made him easy choice for this position. We look forward to watching our student-athletes grow under him as a coach."
Heikkinen replaces Peter Lue, who stepped down after 13 seasons with the Bulldogs to pursue a position helping youth in the Twin Ports.
