University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2024
- Class:
- 1992
With an impressive leg that rewrote the record books at the institutional, conference and national levels, Brian Mitchell set himself apart as one of college football's best placekickers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A three-year player for the Panthers from 1989 to 1991, Mitchell came to Cedar Falls after one season at Marshall and made an immediate impact for the UNI football team, recording notable benchmark moments along the way. Mitchell scored a then-program and conference record 297 points in his three years at Northern Iowa with 63 made field goals and 108 made PATs. His 322 career points from his combined time at UNI and Marshall made him the second-highest scoring kicker in all of Division I-AA football by the end of his collegiate career. He also led UNI and the Gateway Football Conference (now the Missouri Valley Football Conference) in scoring twice (1990, 1991).
Known for his accuracy, Mitchell converted on a then-school record 84% of his field goal attempts and became just the third kicker in UNI history to finish his career perfect in PATs, setting program and conference records in the process. Mitchell broke the all-time NCAA single season field goal record for all divisions by going 26 for 27 in 1990 that stands to this day. He made 21 straight field goals during the 1990 season, as well as 26 in a row during his junior and senior campaigns, which are both UNI, conference and FCS records that stand to this day. Notably, Mitchell was also the first kicker in Panther history to make five field goals in a single game, a feat he accomplished in 1991 against Idaho. His career-long field goal of 57 yards in 1991 against Illinois State is currently tied for the third-longest kick in conference history.
Mitchell's kicking ability helped the Panthers to a pair of Gateway Football Conference championships in 1990 and 1991 as well as subsequent postseason berths, including an appearance in the 1991 quarterfinal round. He was named First Team All-Gateway in all three of his seasons on the UNI roster and became a two-time First Team All-American as named by the Associated Press in 1990 and 1991. In 2009, he was selected to the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Silver Anniversary Team as one of the top-four kickers in the league's first 25 years of play.
After graduating from UNI in 1992, Mitchell played two years of professional football in the Arena Football League with the Cleveland Thunderbolts (1994) and St. Louis Stampede (1995). Mitchell holds every drop kicking record in the AFL including most four-point dropkicks in a season and career (6) and most two-point dropkicks in a season (18) and career (28).
He currently resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland with his wife Tathiana and two kids, Thomas and Grace. Â
