Bethel University athletic director to retire, taking on advisory role
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Bethel University Athletic Director Tony Natali will retire from his full‑time role on August 1, the university announced Thursday. He will remain on staff as a consultant and advisor through the 2025–26 academic year to facilitate the leadership transition.
First hired to build and lead the university’s track & field program in 1998, Natali went on to spend over two decades with Bethel in different capacities before becoming athletic director in 2019. Natali simultaneously served as a men’s basketball assistant coach from 1998 to 2017.
“I’d like to start off by saying my 26 years at Bethel University were a special time for me and my family,” Natali said. “I am so blessed to have gone through life with so many amazing administrators, leaders, supervisors, co-workers, coaches and athletes.”
During his tenure as coach, Natali’s teams won 15 NCCAA national championships and 14 Crossroads League titles. He received 12 NCCAA Track & Field Coaching Staff of the Year awards, 11 Crossroads League Coach of the Year honors. He was inducted into the NCCAA Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Dr. Albert J. Beutler Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020.
Bethel said Natali played a central role in securing the university as a host site for NAIA national tournaments in men’s soccer and men’s basketball, as well as the NAIA Swimming & Diving National Championship. He collaborated on fundraising and planning for the Lehman Family Training Center and oversaw renovations to the Wiekamp Center lobby and coaches’ hallway.
Under Natali’s direction, Bethel added six new athletic programs, including swimming, bowling, esports and men’s volleyball—bringing more than 200 students the Mishawaka campus.
“Tony Natali’s decades of coaching and mentoring have left an indelible mark on Bethel student‑athletes,” Bethel Vice President for Spiritual Life and University Affairs Shawn Holtgren said. “A highly successful coach and athletic director, Tony’s priority has always been to keep Christ at the center of Bethel athletics and to make students a priority. His legacy will be felt for decades to come.”
Bethel did not provide details on a search for Natali’s successor.