Bowling Green State University Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Special Teams Coordinator (Tight Ends)
- Email:
- falconrecruit@bgsu.edu
- Phone:
- 419-372-7083
| Coach Bayer | |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Pickerington, Ohio |
| College | Bowling Green (2013) |
| Family | Wife, Molly, sons, Briggs and Brody |
| Coaching History | |
| 2016-18 | Otterbein, Graduate Assistant |
| 2019-20 | Wake Forest, Special Teams Analyst |
| 2021 | Valparaiso, Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends |
| 2022 | Bowling Green, Special Teams Coordinator |
| 2023-24 | Bowling Green, Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends |
| 2025-pres. | Bowling Green, Special Teams Coordinator |
Alex Bayer joined Scot Loeffler’s staff at Bowling Green on Jan. 13, 2022, serving as the Falcons’ special teams coordinator. Eddie George later named Bayer to his first BGSU staff in 2025 in the same role.Â
A 2013 BGSU alumnus, Bayer returned to his alma mater after spending the 2021 season at Valparaiso, where he coached special teams and tight ends. From 2023-24, Bayer added tight ends to his responsibilities at Bowling Green while continuing to oversee special teams.
Bayer’s impact was immediate. In his first season coaching tight ends in 2023, Harold Fannin Jr. earned first-team All-MAC honors, CFN third-team All-America recognition, and Hero Sports first-team Group of Five All-America accolades. Fannin ranked sixth nationally and first in the MAC among tight ends with 623 receiving yards and added six touchdowns. His 44 receptions led the MAC and ranked 12th nationally among tight ends, while his 406 yards after catch ranked second in the FBS, trailing only John Mackey Award winner Brock Bowers of Georgia.
The 2024 season marked a historic year for both Bayer and the program. Bayer was a nominee for the Broyles Award after coaching Fannin to one of the greatest seasons by a tight end in FBS history. Fannin became Bowling Green’s first consensus All-American, earning first-team recognition from four of the five consensus selectors. He shattered FBS single-season records for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, led all FBS players in both categories, and became the first tight end in FBS history to be named a conference’s overall MVP when he received the MAC’s top honor. All in all, Fannin set 10 FBS records in 2024 and led the nation's tight ends in over 105 categories, as well as all FBS players in over 20 categories. Fannin was selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. During the same season, punter John Henderson was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award.
Under Bayer’s leadership in 2025, Bowling Green continued to excel on special teams. Cameron Pettaway earned FWAA Freshman All-America honors as an all-purpose player after leading the nation with a 33.0-yard kick return average, setting a BGSU single-season record. Kicker Jackson Kleather was named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. The Falcons also made FBS history by becoming the first program to open back-to-back seasons by returning the opening kickoff of the year for a touchdown, accomplishing the feat in both 2024 and 2025. Both seasons BGSU received the opening kick of the season.
In his first season overseeing the Falcons’ special teams in 2022, Bayer made an immediate national impact as Bowling Green emerged as one of the most disruptive special teams units in the country. BGSU ranked No. 2 nationally with five blocked punts, a hallmark of Bayer’s aggressive, detail-driven approach. The unit was spearheaded by PaSean Wimberly, who led the nation with three blocked punts and was honored as the National Special Teams Player of the Year, reflecting both his individual excellence and Bayer’s ability to develop game-changing performers in high-leverage moments.
Bayer guided the special teams unit to numerous accomplishments in the fall of 2021, including leading the nation in blocked kicks with nine, the second-most in program history and most since 1991. Valpo was the only team in all of Division-I college football (both FCS and FBS) to block nine kicks during the season. During a game at San Diego, Valpo tied a PFL record for blocked kicks in a single game with three. Brett Bittner blocked three kicks during the season, finishing as one of just six players in the FCS nation with three or more. Elsewhere on special teams, Valpo made 12 field goals, tied for the fifth-most in program history.
Under Bayer’s tutelage in 2021, punter Ben Niesner averaged 43.2 yards per punt, which ranked third in program history. He finished the season 16th nationally in punting average while leading the PFL. Niesner was selected to the FCS Bowl, Tropical Bowl USA and received FCS Bowl Special Teams MVP honors.
A loaded Fall 2021 specialist group also featured Brian Bartholomew, who finished the season tied for second in single-season program history with 12 made field goals. He also cracked the program record book by finishing with 32 made PATs, a total that ranked fifth all-time. He led the PFL in both field-goal percentages and made field goals per game.
Bartholomew and Niesner represented Bayer’s unit on the 2021 All-PFL First Team, while return specialist Chuck Maxwell received second-team All-PFL honors and long snapper Doug Haugh was named All-PFL honorable mention. In addition, Connor Hebbeler represented the tight end group with All-PFL honorable mention status.Â
Bayer arrived at Valpo after serving as a special teams analyst at Wake Forest during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. During Bayer’s time at Wake Forest, placekicker Nick Sciba earned first-team All-America honors (ESPN, 2019) and was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award (2019, 2020). Sciba left Wake Forest (2018-21) as the NCAA, ACC and Wake Forest record holder with 34 consecutive made field goals.
Bayer also previously spent time as an offensive graduate assistant at Otterbein University from July 2016 to April 2019.
A former tight end at Bowling Green, Bayer was a two-time All-MAC selection and finished his career with 115 receptions for 1,543 yards and 10 touchdowns. He owned the BGSU school record for career receptions by a tight end until Fannin smashed all tight end career receiving records.
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Bayer was a member of the Falcons’ 2013 MAC Championship team playing for Clawson, then the BGSU head coach. Bayer hauled in a season-high seven catches for 124 yards in the MAC title game to help defeat No. 14 Northern Illinois. He later went on to play in the East-West Shrine Game. Bayer was a member of the St. Louis Rams active roster from May 2014 to August 2015 and the San Diego Chargers practice squad from September 2015 to January 2016.
A native of Pickerington, Ohio, Bayer was a first-team all-conference, first-team all-district and honorable mention All-Ohio selection for Pickerington North High School. He graduated with six school records and was ranked among ESPN.com’s Top-75 tight ends in the class of 2009.
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Bayer and his wife, Molly, have two sons, Briggs and Brody.
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