The Bethel Royals football program represents Bethel University of Arden Hills, Minnesota in college football. Bethel competes at the NCAA Division III level as members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). The head coach of the Royals is Mike McElroy, who has held the position since 2024.
Bethel plays its home games at Royal Stadium, located on the campus in Arden Hills, Minnesota. Royal Stadium was built in 1995 and renovated in 2001 and 2021.
History Bethel has had 15 head coaches since organized football started in 1947 adopting the nickname "Royals". The winningest coach in program history was Steve Johnson with a 252–110–1 career record. He is ranked No. 33 in all time wins as a head coach in NCAA college football. On April 2, 2016, he was inducted into the Minnesota Football Coaches Hall of Fame. He retired after the 2023 season.
Mike McElroy was named the head football coach for the 2024 season. McElroy served as the Royals’ defensive coordinator for the previous seven years after joining the program in 2017.
Bethel's biggest conference rival is Saint John's University. Bethel defeated the No. 4 ranked St. John's 17-10 in 2025 in Arden Hills. Bethel defeated No. 2 ranked Saint John's 28–24 on September 24, 2022 in Arden Hills. Bethel finished the 2022 season ranked No. 5 in the country. Bethel won 7 of the 8 meetings against Saint John's between 2006 and 2013.
Bethel has won 7 MIAC conference championships (2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2023, 2025). Bethel has appeared in 14 NCAA playoff appearances (2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). Bethel's deepest playoff run was appearing in the NCAA Division III playoff semifinals (2007, 2010).
Postseason appearances NCAA Division III playoffs The Royals have made fifteen appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs, with a combined record of 20–15.
2000 First Round Pacific Lutheran L, 13–41 2001 First Round Wisconsin–Stevens Point L, 27–37 2003 First Round Wartburg L, 7–21 2006 First Round Wisconsin–La Crosse L, 21–28 2007 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals Concordia WisconsinWisconsin–Eau ClaireCentral (IA)Mount Union W, 28–0W, 21–12W, 27–13L, 14–62 2010 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals WartburgWheaton (IL)St. Thomas (MN)Mount Union W, 28–20W, 15–0W, 12–7L, 14–34 2012 First RoundSecond Round Concordia ChicagoWisconsin–Oshkosh W, 24–23L, 14–37 2013 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals St. ScholasticaWartburgNorth Central (IL) W, 70–13W, 34–27L, 17–41 2018 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals WartburgNorth Central (IL)Wisconsin–Whitewater W, 41–14W, 27–24L, 12–26 2021 First Round Central (IA) L, 35–61 2022 First RoundSecond Round Wheaton (IL)LinfieldMary Hardin–Baylor W, 34–32W, 30–13L, 28–41 2023 First Round Wisconsin–Whitewater L, 14–42 2024 First RoundSecond RoundThird RoundQuarterfinals CoeLake ForestWartburgSusquehanna W, 31–26W, 48–21W, 24–14L, 21–24 2025 Second RoundThird RoundQuarterfinals CoeWisconsin–PlattevilleNorth Central (IL) W, 51–26W, 35–24L, 21–35
First-team All-Americans Jim Nelson 1963 Running Back Rey Sheperd 1963 Lineman Kevin Hallstrom 1976 Defensive Back Trent Anderson 1990 Quarterback Jack Negren 1990 Wide Receiver Vincent Hooper 1993 Wide Receiver Jeremy Tvedt 1996 Running Back Chico Rowland 1999 Offensive Tackle Ben Matthews 2000 Cornerback Mike Johnson 2001 Running Back Phil Porta 2006 Running Back Brandon Carr 2007 Defensive Back Seth Mathis 2012, 2013 Linebacker Dawson Brown 2018 Defensive Back Kyle Kilgore 2018 Defensive End Nate Farm 2021 Defensive Back Travis Sinclair 2022 Offensive Line Matt Jung 2024 Defensive Back Caden DeWall 2024 Edge Rusher Albert Rundell 2025 Wide Receiver Devin Williams 2025 Defensive Back
Allstate and AFCA good works team Eric Runyan 1998 Wide Receiver Chico Rowland 1999 Outside Linebacker Josh Gingerich 2002 Outside Linebacker Matt Wassink 2004 Linebacker A.J. Parnell 2005 Quarterback Reid Velo 2009 Wide Receiver J.D. Mehlhorn 2013 Safety Joshua Perkins 2014 Offensive Tackle Matt Mehlhorn 2015 Defensive Back Drew Neuville 2016 Tight End Josh Dalki 2017 Inside Linebacker Kyle Kilgore 2018 Defensive End Danny Muñoz 2019 Offensive Line Mike Delich 2020 Linebacker/Running Back Jaran Roste 2021 Quarterback Matthew Feldick 2022 Defensive Back Evan Ginter 2023 Offensive Line Aaron Ellingson 2024 Running Back Devin Williams 2025 Defensive Back
Hall of Fame Rey Sheperd 1962 Offensive Tackle Jim Nelson 1964 Running Back Duane Gibson 1966 Linebacker Don Land 1966 Running Back Al Selander 1967 Quarterback Terry Karlsgodt 1975 Linebacker Willie Gardner 1976 Running Back Craig Hansen 1976 Offensive Tackle Kevin Hallstrom 1977 Defensive Back John Holine 1977 Quarterback Kim Walker 1977 Wide Receiver Mike Anderson 1978 Linebacker Ken Cooper 1982 Wide Receiver Jimmy Miller 1983 Defensive Back Bryan Johnson 1984 Wide Receiver Trent Anderson 1991 Quarterback Chub Reynolds Head coach
Coaching staff Head Coach: Mike McElroy Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Collin Duling Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs: Mike McElroy Linebackers/Recruiting Coordinator: Kyle Kilgore Defensive Backs/Special Teams: Tavian Swanson Offensive Line: Mathias Durie Outside Linebackers: Tyler Krebs Defensive Line: Brady Bomsta Running Backs: Jaran Roste Cornerbacks: Brooks Byrd Wide Receivers: Matt Houston Tight Ends: Tim Carlson Offensive Assistant: Eric Tulberg
NFL players Matt Eller, Defensive Line (2002) – Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers Cory Svihla, Linebacker (2010) – Minnesota Vikings Mitch Elliot, Offensive Tackle (2011) – Minnesota Vikings Seth Mathis, Linebacker (2013) – Minnesota Vikings Mitch Hallstrom, Wide receiver (2013) – Minnesota Vikings Dawson Brown, Defensive Back (2019) - Atlanta Falcons Kyle Kilgore, Defensive Line (2019) – Minnesota Vikings Travis Sinclair, Offensive Line (2022) - Minnesota Vikings
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