USF Director of Athletics William Sanchez showed up at practice and noticed all the coaches looking at his team prepare for a title game.
Some were college coaches. Some were even local high school coaches looking for another day or two of looking at a sport they love so much...
Shorter Hawks Assistant Head Coach Mike Bartik was at a USF practice during Championship Week. He and Offensive Coordinator Tony Lundy were sitting on one of the metal benches on the track next to the practice field.
I asked why coaches come to these kinds of practices. You think, on some level maybe, it stings a little bit since the home town team is watching USF and Carroll playing for a title and you're hosting the party.
"This is what it's all about," Coach Bartik explained. "You're looking at some of the best in NAIA Division one football."
Maybe it's a practice habit. Maybe it's a routine. Something you can add...
And in USF's case, they run the same defense Shorter does.
It's pointers and compare/contrast...
University of Sioux Falls Head Coach Kalen DeBoer ((pictured, thanks usfcougars.com)) is a legacy...Went there, played there, coached there, now head coaching there...
And he's this/close to being in his third straight title game...
38 and 3 in his time as a Head Coach...
Not bad...
He's a guy in his mid-30's who looks like he could still run you over if he felt like it.
He'll go over a pass play at practice with his high-powered offense step-by-step in a warm-up suit if he has to in order to get the point across...
He's been up against Carroll before in a lot of big games... recently, it's been on the losing end. Two games in particular stick out- last year's loss in the title game and the blow-out loss in the semi-finals in 2005.
"We, probably, learned more from losses sometimes than wins," DeBoer says. "And they've improved our program. We looked at how we trained and how we recruited. We even changed our defense after the semi-final loss in 2005- going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 which is what we have now."
But he also admits that you have to live in the now.
Last year's game, in particular, was last year's game.
"There are some key similarities," he continues. "But the defense is our backbone, and on offense we have to find a way to score. This game, you have to look at the spacing of your line on the inside. It's about the passing game and defending the pass. It's the 14th game of the season. You work out and you're moving on. We're not in awe of the championship. It's fun. You get to see the sights, but we're focused on our goals."
DeBoer is also complimentary of his counterpart in Coach Van Diest. He knows the game against Carroll will be a hard fought one. But the thing that seems to impress him the most is the class the program exhibits from the top down.
The word DeBoer uses when describing the Saints' class as a team is "consistently."
"There will be times, when you're playing other teams where they might punch or push after a gain of no yards. They ((Carroll)) don't do that. They play the game of football the right way, the way it was meant to be played. We have a lot of respect for each other."
And he's also glad that the team can feel its fingers...
SIDENOTE: At the Friday "Champions of Character" Banquet at the Forum in Rome, Carroll linebacker extraordinare Owen Koeppen was named NAIA Player of the Year.
The biggest roar came from his teammates, all sitting around him at the banquet. He's a "quiet leader," by his own admission.
"It feels great. It hasn’t really set in,” Koeppen said. “It’s a representation of Carroll College. I’m really honored to accept it as an individual award, but without the team and coaches it wouldn’t be possible.”
You talk to him and get the impression it never has been ((and never will be)) about him on the field. He cuts an imposing figure even at 6-2, 235. And when you talk to his head coach, Van Diest says that he knew what Koeppen was capable of when he transferred from Weber State before his Sophomore season.
AD Bruce Parker was one of a few people who knew the award was going to Koeppen, but the secret was well-guarded. Parker says maybe "three people knew."
Whaddya wanna bet Carroll's number 51 has had a big spot shadow around him in film sessions the last two weeks...?
