Elmhurst University Athletics

Mike Heffernan '07 was named the 22nd head coach in the history of the Elmhurst football program on February 14, 2025.

Heffernan, a 2007 graduate of Elmhurst with a degree in kinesiology, returns to his alma mater to lead the Bluejay football program after spending the past six seasons as the head coach at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. Heffernan began his collegiate career at Illinois State University before transferring to Elmhurst in 2004. A standout defensive lineman and two-year starter for the Bluejays, Heffernan was a 2006 Second Team All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) selection. 

As the head coach at St. Scholastica, Heffernan helped transition the program to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in 2020 after previously competing in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC). He mentored 10 All-MIAC players and four All-UMAC players during his time as the head coach in Duluth. 

Before being named head coach at St. Scholastica in 2019, Heffernan served as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in 2018, coaching five First Team All-UMAC offensive players that season. He also held the same positions at Saint Anselm College, an NCAA Division II institution, during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. 

Heffernan returned to the sidelines at Langhorst Field in 2013, taking on various roles, including offensive coordinator (2015), offensive line coach (2013-15), recruiting coordinator (2014), academic coordinator (2015), and camp coordinator (2013-14). During his time at Elmhurst, he helped mentor All-Americans Josh Williams and Garrett Claxon, as well as an All-CCIW offensive lineman in each of his three seasons. 

In his first stint at St. Scholastica, Heffernan served as the team's assistant head coach and offensive line coach from 2009-13, helping to build the football program after its inaugural season in 2008. During that time, he helped guide the Saints to three consecutive UMAC championships (2011-13) and three trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Heffernan coached seven UMAC Players of the Year and 34 All-UMAC honorees during that stretch. 

After graduating from Elmhurst in 2007, Heffernan worked as a graduate assistant coach at Northern State University before becoming the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2008. That season, the team won a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and earned a spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs. 

A native of Lake Zurich, Ill., Heffernan and his wife, Johanna, have three children, Thor, Moira, and Virgil.