Jon Anderson is entering his second season at North Dakota in 2026 and will coach the edges on defense.
In his first season with UND, Anderson played a significant role in developing one of the most productive pass-rushing units in the FCS. His unit was led by juniors Lance Rucker and Kaden Vig, who combined for 17.0 sacks and 21.0 TFLs in 2025. Rucker's 11.5 sacks led the MVFC and established a new program single-season record, which broke the previous mark of 11 held by current head coach Eric Schmidt. Rucker, who had three strip sacks in UND's opening-round FCS playoff win at Tennessee Tech, would earn Stats Perform Second Team All-America honors along with All-MVFC first team accolades in 2025 under Anderson's guidance.
Anderson arrived in Grand Forks after spending the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Old Dominion as the defensive line coach and senior defensive analyst. With the help of his coaching, the Monarchs ranked in the top-half of the Sun Belt in both tackles-for-loss per game (6.3) and sacks per game (2.2) in 2024. He also assisted with all special teams units in both his seasons at Old Dominion.
Before coaching at ODU, Anderson compiled a record of 40-17 as the head coach at Sioux Falls from December of 2016 until 2022. Over his six seasons, he led the Cougars to a pair of NCAA Division II playoff appearances (2017, 2019) and coached 45 All-NSIC players and six All-Americans. He also coached Trey Pipkins and Dennis Gardeck, who both reached the NFL.
He began his coaching career at Buena Vista in 1999-2000 as the secondary coach. In 2001, he coached the linebackers at Dakota State before moving to Sioux Falls in 2002. He then coached in Sioux Falls for over a decade, serving as the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator (2002-09) before being elevated to defensive coordinator (2010-12). He then spent the 2013-16 seasons as the head coach at West Virginia State before moving back to Sioux Falls as the head coach in 2016.
Prior to coaching, he played college football for four years at Buena Vista, where he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education in 2000. He also graduated with a master's degree in sports pedagogy at South Dakota State in 2003.
