Luke Sommerlot enters year three as the Defensive Coordinator on the University of Northwestern Football staff in 2025.
Coach Sommerlot is no stranger to Eagle football; he played on the UNW defense for four seasons and is a 2015 graduate of Northwestern. Sommerlot was a dominant, disruptive force in his time as an Eagle linebacker. When his impressive career on the field finally came to an end, Sommerlot had been named an All-Conference linebacker a remarkable four times. He also received national recognition for his play as he was named an NCCAA All-American twice. Coach Sommerlot was a key piece to an Eagle team that went on an impressive four-year run from 2012-2015. When Sommerlot was on the team, the Eagles had a combined record of 30-12 and qualified for two NCCAA Victory Bowls.
As a coach, Sommerlot helped guide Northwestern to an undefeated conference season (7-0) and a UMAC Championship in 2024. His defense led the conference in interceptions that season (15) and qualified for the NCAA Division III Playoffs for just the third time in program history.
As a graduate and former student athlete at UNW, Coach Sommerlot understands and believes in UNW's devotion to the integration of faith and athletics. He credits an ACL injury during his sophomore year of high school as a defining moment in his faith journey. He says that the Lord worked on his heart throughout the recovery and completely changed the direction of his life by inspiring him to pour into his personal relationship with Jesus.
Following his playing career, Sommerlot immediately joined the Eagle coaching staff as a position coach for the Eagles during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He was part of the coaching staff for the 2016 Eagles team that went 9-2 and qualified for the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Before returning to the UNW coaching staff in 2023, Coach Sommerlot had been teaching and coaching football in Iowa.
