How did you see the team grow from the spring to the title game?
I think that the way that the spring ended up, and the feeling that the players, coaches and everybody involved had after the quarterfinal game, was one that we didn’t want feel again.
What was your personal experience in winning the title? What were your emotions?
It was really fun, obviously, to see all the hard work that our players and coaches and administration put into this come to fruition and to accomplish the goal that we had set out to accomplish. That’s always enjoyable. That’s the most enjoyable part about coaching. It was also the first time in my career that we finished on our own terms when we played the last game of the season and won it. So that’s always a great feeling.
At one point or another, so many of your running backs made a big impact this season. What does that mean to you as a position coach?
We weren’t concerned at all about who’s going to get this many touches, who’s going to get this many yards. We were concerned about what we can accomplish as a group. And, obviously, we accomplished that goal as a group and it took everybody.
Is there a memory from the season that sticks out to you the most?
No, I don’t think there was anything that sticks out specifically. I think my best memory or whatever you want to call it, is the way that our kids approached every day in practice. They came to work every single day. They took every opportunity that they had to get better.
Individually, as a coach, is there anything unique that you learned from this season that culminated in a championship that you can take with you going forward?
Just the process with which the NDSU program operates. That’s the kind of the thing that I’ll take with me for the rest of my career. How we operate, how we practice, how to prepare the schedule and what what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. That’s what I’ll use for the rest of career.
