VERMILLION, S.D. (KELO) -- The USD football team has a new head coach in Travis Johansen, who was formally introduced Friday afternoon. It took less than 24 hours from the announcement of Bob Nielson's retirement to introducing Johansen -- the former defensive coordinator -- as the 31st coach in program history. "With the direction and the momentum that our program has, I think stability and continuity is really valuable," Nielson said. "That's the one thing that in addition to the talents that he has as a coach that he brings to our program." Nielson hinted to the university throughout this season, that it could be his last leading the Coyotes. He spoke throughout the year with Johansen about a possible succession plan, which culminated Friday. "It's really bittersweet conversations, right," Johansen said. "This is a guy you look up to and certainly have a ton of respect for and thinking about how to do this the right way and honor him in a way that allows him to conclude his career exactly like you want it to." Johansen has served on the coaching staff in Vermillion since 2019 and led the defense, which ranked in the top 10 nationally the last two seasons. "He's incredibly process driven," USD Athletic Director Jon Schemmel said. "He is incredibly detailed. He is very, very intense when it comes to that. But he is one that's going to find a solution to a problem regardless of the resources around it. But he's always going to do it the right way." South Dakota reached the FCS semifinals for the first time this past season, coming one game short of playing for the program's first national title -- which Johansen set as a goal from the outset. "There's no change in expectation," Johansen said. "We'll only elevate those. At the end of the day, we're here to win. We're here to win a national championship or to pour everything we can into doing that." Johansen and the Coyotes open the season at Iowa State on August 30. Their home opener is September 13 against Northern Colorado.