Jason Petrino was defensive coordinator at North Dakota State University for the 2023 season. Petrino spent the previous four years as defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Southern Illinois, where he coached second-round draft pick Jeremy Chinn and transformed SIU into one of the toughest defenses in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
In Petrino’s first year, SIU improved in scoring defense from 40.7 to 23.0 points per game and rushing defense from 221.3 to 154.0 yards per game. The Salukis in 2022 ranked sixth in FCS rushing defense allowing just 105.4 yards per game.
Prior to SIU, Petrino spent three years as head coach of NAIA Rocky Mountain College in Montana, where he led the program to a conference championship and playoff berth in 2018. Known throughout his coaching career as a defensive tactician, Petrino took on the added responsibility of offensive coordinator in 2018, and the Battlin' Bears led the Frontier Conference in several categories, including points per game (35.0), total offense and passing yards.
Petrino coached four seasons at South Dakota from 2012 to 2015 as the team's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. In his final season at USD, the Coyotes had the fourth-ranked defense in the conference and beat NDSU in Fargo, 24-21.
NDSU was Petrino’s second coaching job in the state of North Dakota. He was the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at the University of Mary from 2005 to 2007, helping the Marauders transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. UMary led the Northern Sun Conference in total defense, passing defense and red-zone defense in 2007 and tied for second place in its first year of conference play.
Petrino spent four years at the FBS level with Wyoming as a graduate assistant in 2003 and 2004 and director of operations in 2008 and 2009. He coached at Winona State in 2010 as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, and he was the defensive backs coach at Nebraska-Omaha in 2011.
Petrino played collegiately at Carroll College in Montana from 1996 to 1999 and was a team captain and second team all-conference defensive back for the Saints. He started his coaching career at Carroll as defensive backs coach from 2000 to 2002 and was part of an NAIA national championship in 2002.
He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Carroll in 2000 and completed a master's in business management at UMary in 2009. He and his wife, Heather, are the parents of Jason, Mikaylah, Patrick and one niece, Danika.
| Jason Petrino Year-by-Year Coaching History |
| Year |
School |
Position |
Record |
| 2000 |
Carroll College |
Defensive Backs |
|
| 2001 |
Carroll College |
Defensive Backs |
|
| 2002 |
Carroll College |
Defensive Backs |
|
| 2003 |
Wyoming |
Graduate Assistant/Safeties |
|
| 2004 |
Wyoming |
Graduate Assistant/Safeties |
|
| 2005 |
UMary |
Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs |
|
| 2006 |
UMary |
Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs |
|
| 2007 |
UMary |
Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs |
|
| 2008 |
Wyoming |
Director of Operations |
|
| 2009 |
Wyoming |
Director of Operations |
|
| 2010 |
Winona State |
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers |
|
| 2011 |
Nebraska-Omaha |
Defensive Backs |
|
| 2012 |
South Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
|
| 2013 |
South Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
|
| 2014 |
South Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
|
| 2015 |
South Dakota |
Defensive Coordinator |
|
| 2016 |
Rocky Mountain |
Head Coach |
4-7 |
| 2017 |
Rocky Mountain |
Head Coach |
6-5 |
| 2018 |
Rocky Mountain |
Head Coach |
8-4 |
| 2019 |
Southern Illinois |
Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
|
| 2020-21 |
Southern Illinois |
Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
|
| 2021 |
Southern Illinois |
Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
|
| 2022 |
Southern Illinois |
Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
|
| 2023 |
North Dakota State |
Defensive Coordinator/Safeties |
|
