Noah Kerns is entering his seventh season with the Denison University football team in 2025. The Big Red have had a winning season and have finished in the top-four of the North Coast Athletic Conference in each of Coach Kerns' years in Granville, Ohio.
In the 2024 season, Denison went 6-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play to finish third in the NCAC standings, their third-consecutive top three finish. Michael Ballenger (senior defensive lineman) earned his second All-NCAC honor after being named First Team All-NCAC for the first time in his career. He ranked fifth in the NCAC in sacks (7.5) and 15th in tackles for loss (10). He had a career-high of 10 tackles in one against DePauw (10/19), and also had two pass breakups and three quarterback hurries. The Denison defense ranked third in the conference in scoring (21 ppg), held opponents to under 100 rushing yards per game (97.2), and had three shutouts in a season for the first time since 1986.
In 2023, the Big Red won their final four games to finish the season 7-3 overall and tie for second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings (6-2) for the second year in a row. Clay Denstorff (fifth-year defensive lineman) was named First-Team All-NCAC for the second year in a row after leading the NCAC with 15.5 tackles for loss and tying for the conference lead with a career-high 10 sacks. In all of NCAA Division III, Denstorff was tied for 14th in sacks per game (1.00) and was tied for 37th in tackles for loss per game (1.6). On the defensive side of the ball, Denison had the No. 2-rated overall defense in the NCAC (44th nationally), the top passing defense in the NCAC (181.8 yards per game), the second-best rushing defense in the NCAC, and the No. 2-ranked third-down conversion percentage defense in the NCAC (20th nationally).
Denison finished its 2022 season 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, which was good for a tie for second place, while senior defensive end Clay Denstorff was named First-Team All-NCAC and D3football.com Second-Team All-Region after leading the Big Red with 16.5 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks and four forced fumbles. In addition to trying for fourth in all of NCAA Division III in forced fumbles and trying for 30th in the country in tackles for loss, Denstorff led the NCAC in sacks and forced fumbles, and was second in tackles for loss.
In 2021, Denison finished 6-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference, which was tied for fourth place, which Kerns helped coach defensive linemen Clay Denstorff (junior) and Joey Muncie (senior) to Second-Team All-NCAC honors.
In 2019, the Big Red finished with an overall record of 8-2, marking the program's third, eight-win season since 2016. The Big Red also captured a share of the conference championship for the second year in a row.
A 2013 graduate of Fisher Catholic in Lancaster, Ohio, Kerns was a four-year member of the varsity football team. Following high school, Kerns went on to play at Wittenberg University as a four-year member of the football team, where he was a part of three NCAC championship teams. After leaving Wittenberg, Kerns returned to his Alma Mater as the Offensive/Defensive line coach for two years before joining the Big Red staff in 2019.
Kerns lives in Lancaster, with his wife Ria, and their son, John.
