After playing at
UPEI in the 1976–77 season and
Lakehead University in the 1977–78 season, Arseneault coached
college basketball in Canada in
Ontario Universities Athletics Association, later known as Ontario University Athletics (OAU), for the
Guelph Gryphons and
McMaster Marauders. He inherited a Grinnell program, which competed in
Division III, that had not had a winning season in 25 years. After a couple years of trying out traditional eight-player rotations, he felt Grinnell needed to change its basketball philosophy to rejuvenate the team and have more fun. Arseneault developed the
Grinnell System. Over 26 years, Grinnell won four conference championships, advanced to the postseason 11 times, and led the nation in scoring at all levels of college basketball in 17 of the past 19 seasons. Areseneault retired in June 2018. He was succeeded by his son,
David Jr., who had been serving as the Pioneers' interim head coach. After Grinnell's
Jack Taylor twice scored
100 points in a game, including an NCAA-record 138, Arseneault and his program have been criticized for focusing on records and
running up the score on overmatched opponents.
Deadspin wrote that Arseneault "has focused less on putting together a successful team and more on getting his players' names in the record books." However, former Grinnell player Ross Preston, author of the book
The Road to 138, counters that Arseneault transformed a program that was a combined 52–222 with no championships under its four previous coaches, and the choice to use his system was to improve the program, with the scoring records being only a byproduct. Three times an Arseneault-coached player has set the
Division III single-game scoring record, In August 2013, Arseneault released his second book, titled
System Successes; during the 2013–14 season, Taylor scored 109 points and Grinnell guard Patrick Maher set an NCAA record with 37 assists, breaking David Jr.'s previous record. ==Head coaching record==