Nathan Freese joined the Trine football coaching staff in 2018 and will work with the wide receivers.

In his first season as a member of the Trine coaching staff, the Trine wide receivers caught 87 passes for 1,425 yards and 18 touchdowns.  Jeffery Barnett '19 was the team's leading receiver with 35 catches for 719 yards (20.5 yards per catch and four TD.  After his final season in 2018, Barnett ended his career as the program's all-time leading receiver with 2,907 yards and is second in receiving TD with 22.  Overall, the Trine offense ranked as one of the top in NCAA Division III and ranked in the top-50 in total offense (42nd).  

In 2019, Trine's receivers caught 97 passes for 1,333 yards and had nine TD receptions.  The Thunder averaged 13.7 yards per completion which ranked as the second highest in the conference.  As a whole, Trine averaged 321.9 yards of offense and racked up 300 or more yards of offense in five games, including two games of over 400 yards with a season-high 477-yard performance in a win against Finlandia (Mich.) University.

Freese came to Trine after a two-year stay at Defiance College as a graduate assistant for the Yellow Jackets.  While at Defiance, Freese had a variety of responsibilities, but focused primarily on the defensive side of the ball helping with the linebackers and defensive backs.  Besides coaching, Freese also served as the Director of Football Operations and Film Coordinator during his tenure.

As a linebackers coach, Freese helped mentor a first-team All-HCAC player and was part of a defensive coaching staff that saw its squad record 19 sacks, 61 tackles for loss, 14 forced fumbles, 14 fumble recoveries and 19 interceptions.

In 2016, Freese had two players from the defensive backfield named first-team All-HCAC.  The defensive secondary led the nation during the regular season with 25 interceptions and finished ranked in the top-five at the conclusion of the 2016 campaign.  

Freese is a 2016 graduate of Hanover College and was a four-year member of the Panther football team.  He started at defensive back both as a junior and senior.  He graduated from Hanover with a Bachelor's degree in history and then went on to earn his Master's in business administration with a concentration in coaching at Defiance in May of 2018.