14 minute read
Tommy Time
Longtime St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso rallies his players before a game. The Tommies will be entering their second season at the Division 1 level with hopes of taking a big leap forward as a program.
Head coach Glenn Caruso on the sidelines during a football game vs St. John’s October 1, 2011 in O’Shaughnessy Stadium. The Tommies won 63-7.
by MALIK MITCHELL
Let’s Play Football Contributor
Last season, The University of St. Thomas became permitted by the NCAA to make the jump from Division III to Division I. The Tommies became the first program to make this big of a jump for all of their sports.
Head coach Glenn Caruso stated, “It’s crazy. It’s uncharted, that’s really the unique thing. Every one of the challenges that we’ve met over the last 26 years of coaching college football, in the upper Midwest we’ve always had a point of reference that you can ask this person or speak to these people or call this friend who had gone through it. This is so entirely unique that it’s a bit of a pioneering expedition and in that lies a lot of the fun and the excitement.”
The Tommies took their place in the Pioneer League Football Conference in the FCS. The Pioneer conference teams include Davidson, San Diego, Morehead State, Dayton, Marist, Valparaiso, Stetson, Butler, Drake, and Presbyterian. In the Pioneer Leagues 2021 preseason coaches poll, St. Thomas was charted at No. 8 out of the 11 teams. As far as the FCS as a whole, they would rank last out of 128 programs.
“We have three kids. Anna Maria is the oldest and she’s going to be a freshman here at St. Thomas this year playing softball,” said Caruso. “Cade is an 11th grader and True is a 9th grader. A year ago Anna, Cade, and I were in my little pickup truck. Anna was in the passenger seat and Cade was in the back. His phone pings and he says, ‘hey dad the Division 1 rankings came out.’ I kind of looked at Anna because she knows how the deal goes. She’s the oldest one, we don’t pay attention to stuff like that very much but I was interested. I said, ‘oh that’s good,’ and he goes ‘hey dad we’re 128.’”
“I looked over at Anna and she kind of winked at me and we didn’t say anything. As I was driving I kind of looked into the rearview mirror and I could see Cade’s eyes were kind of squinted. His mind was working. About ten seconds later he goes, ‘hey dad how many teams are in Division One?’” Anna goes, ‘128 (said laughing).’” He says, ‘what a great freaking place to start.’”
The Tommies started off their season with three non-conference teams. They were set to play their first match against St. Francis, however, it was canceled. The following week they faced Michigan Tech and took the victory, winning 12-9. The next week they faced the UNI Panthers, a top-25 FCS program, and lost 44-3.
“I think there was a lot of excitement, there was probably some anxiety of the unknown, there was a level of accomplishment to be able to do something that no one’s ever done before,” said Caruso. “I think all of those things culminated in a really focused team last year, but it was totally different.”
After three non-conference battles, the Tommies would have a good conference season going 6-2. They would have dominating victories against Presbyterian, beating them 54-15, and also Butler, beating them 36-0. Their two losses would come from San Diego losing 27-24 and Davidson losing 42-15. The newly arrived competitor took fourth in the Pioneer league standings. Davidson, San Diego, and Morehead State held the Nos. 1-2-3 spots.
“I think as a competitor it went tremendously well. As a coach I would say most importantly it laid an unbelievable foundation for what’s to come,” said Caruso. “A year ago last week the first rankings came out. We hadn’t played a Division 1 game yet and no one knew what to expect.”
“What I realized was there were the obvious adversities like the guys ran faster and they threw the football further and they hit harder but that’s the obvious. The biggest adversity is the coaching staff. This is a program where we knew very clearly who we were as a program. The main question was, can you scale that culture and that attitude while controlling the quality of the brand and the footprint of that brand as it begins to expand from coast to coast?” With joining a new division and a new league, St. Thomas would face teams they had never faced before. With a lack of knowledge and little help from their peers, the Tommies would have to figure out the start of their new era.
“It was almost like you’re in the middle of the desert but you’re hearing crickets and it’s like ok well what do you do now? Each week it made it so challenging because we didn’t even know the teams we were playing,” said Caruso. “Of course, you try to familiarize yourself, you make calls, you watch the film, and you do all that kind of stuff.
- Glenn Caruso Our staff did an amazing job at all those logistical pieces.” “But you don’t know how a team is going to rise to the pressure or if they’re going to fold to the pressure. If things start getting routine and mundane, how do they react to this? All of those intuitive things which were a huge part of the game day process, we had no idea. Not only did we not know any of the teams we were playing, but we also didn’t even know any teams that played the teams that we were playing. That allowed us to focus on ourselves and in hindsight that probably kept us pretty poignant during one heck of a year…” Caruso said.
This fall, St. Thomas will kick off their second season in the Division 1 era. Last season, after accomplishing a winning record along with ranking fourth in standings, what is the mindset of the Tommies for this upcoming season?
“How much can we grow? I’m a big believer that the largest opportunity for growth is between one and two,” said Caruso. “So, between job one and two, between week one and two, between game one and two, practice one and two, year one and two. That’s been a staple of how we’ve built the program because you don’t know what you don’t know.”
“...Now we have a few data points, now we have some sort of assemblance of oh so that’s what this route combination looks like versus that level of competition. Now it’s on us to be able to apply what we learned while keeping who we are at the root of every single thing we do.”
With St. Thomas football starting their new era of Division 1, what impact do they plan to make? What kind of mark do they want to leave in not only the Pioneer conference but in Division 1 football?
“None of the intention or the purpose is new, it’s all exactly the same,” Caruso said, “That’s because our purpose for the last 15 years and for the next 15 years is going to be to utilize the sport we love, to be able to raise and educate men to be great fathers, and great husbands, and great leaders in their own community. I know people roll their eyes when I say this, that’s fine I don’t care… I’m just telling you that has always been this program. We just happened to win football games.”
On Sept. 1, the Tommies will kick off their season in a non-conference match against Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah at 7 pm. This will be their first-ever meeting with the Thunderbirds. Can St. Thomas top their performance from last season? Fans will have to wait and see.
by MALIK MITCHELL
Let’s Play Football Contributor
The Minnesota State Mankato’s head coach, Todd Hoffner will enter his 13th season as head coach of the Mavericks. After taking the head coaching role in 2008, Hoffman has achieved an overall record of 112-27 along with six NSIC Championships and eight NSIC South Division Championships. The Mavericks had a humbling setback last season going 6-5 along with missing the playoffs. Aside from COVID-19 canceling the Mavericks season in 2020, this previous season broke their three-year playoff run.
“I think anytime when you have lost the expectations and everybody you know wants to win championships, it’s quite a fall from grace when you play for a national championship in 2019 and then turn around and have a (6-5) season in 2021,” Coach Hoffner said. “It was definitely a rough go, and it didn’t get better as the season went on.”
Falling short of the playoffs this past season after making the playoffs for the past three years causes a team to stop and reflect.
“I mean we got a big ol’ slice of humble pie that’s for sure,” said Hoff-
ner. “When you’re successful on a regular basis and you have a steep fall into the abyss you have a lot of work to do and that’s something that we’re really trying to work on and get better in the offseason of course.” With a setback of this magnitude, it sparks the question of what kind of adversity were the Mavericks facing throughout the season? “We have to coach better, we have to play better, and we have to prepare better. There are so many things that went by the wayside, we just had to find that inspiration and there Todd Hoffner were plenty of up and down moments,” said Hoffner. “I think a lot of the new guys that came in didn’t necessarily gel with the existing players and we had some chemistry things.” With COVID-19 canceling the Mavericks season in 2020, the year’s absence may have caused a lack of chemistry and motivation from last season’s teams. “We lost some good coaches too and we lost some really good players, a combination of all those things definitely led to who we were and what happened,” Hoffman said. “We definitely failed as coaches in providing inspiration or motivation for our young men and the momentum that we had coming off in ‘19,
Todd Hoffner’s Career Record at Minnesota State
Season
2008&$ 2009&$ 2010 2011*& 2014*&$^ 2015*&$ 2016 2017*&$ 2018*&$ 2019*&$^ 2021
Total W
9 10 6 9 14 10 8 13 13 14 6
112 L
3 2 5 3 1 2 3 1 1 1 5
27 Pct.
.750 .833 .545 .750 .933 .833 .727 .928 .928 .933 .545
.805
* Indicates NSIC Championship & Indicates NSIC South Division Championship $ Indicates NCAA Tournament Appearance ^ indicates NCAA Championship Game Appearance
I don’t think there’s any if, and, or buts about it that definitely in hindsight it hurt us pretty big time.”
Moving forward to the upcoming 2022 season, the Mavericks have added some new additions to the team. They’ve put an emphasis on working the line on both sides of the ball.
“We have four new guys up front. A couple on defense and a couple on offense, hopefully, they can gel and mesh with our current players, and hopefully, everybody’s training hard and developing,” said Hoffman.
The Mavericks are set to play their first game on Sept. 1 against Bemidji State University at the Beavers home turf. This will be the 49th meeting between the two with Mankato leading the series 32-15. The Mavericks are 15-9 in Bemidji with their last loss being in 2005. Coach Hoffman plans to find success in their first match up of the season.
“Well, I mean we’re just trying to go (1-0), the team we play right out of the gate went the deepest in the playoffs in our league,” Hoffner said. “They were only one of two teams that we viewed with a winning record from last year and we had their number last year but I’m sure that didn’t make them very happy that we beat them. They’ll be motivated and we’ll be motivated and coming out of the gates it’s going to be a pretty difficult challenge for us to succeed.”
UMD coach looks to continue success with new extension
by MALIK MITCHELL
Let’s Play Football Contributor
After leading the Bulldogs to conference a championship this past season, UMD’s head coach Curt Wiese will continue to coach after receiving a three-year contract extension.
The Bulldogs went 9-3 last season achieving a conference championship beating Northern State 49-35. That marks their second conference championship in the last four years.
“It’s always a goal of our program to have an opportunity to compete at the end of the season and in meaningful football games,” Coach Wiese said. “That’s part of our recruiting pitches and that’s always our goal and our intent towards the end of the season is to be playing in meaningful football games.”
With a record of 9-3 from last season, the Bulldogs seemed to pick up where they left off in 2019 after their season was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19.
“Coming out of COVID, I think our team and our leadership last fall did a very good job of staying together throughout COVID,” said Wiese. “Making sure we were focused on day-to-day operations and continuing to get better as a team. In my opinion, things really clicked for us through COVID.”
Last season with COVID-19 still lingering, the Bulldogs were able to finish their season without any canceled games. Even though college football is becoming less strict on COVID-19 protocols, however, it’s still an issue.
“I think everybody is ready for some normality whatever that may be this fall. Last year was still a challenge battling with testing and exposure rates and that kind of thing,” said Wiese. “I think everybody around the country, around the world, and definitely within UMD football looks forward to a normal fall as far as travel opportunities. And being able to compete and not have that on the forefront of our minds wherever we go, whenever we travel, and whenever we enter a building.”
UMD Head Coach Curt Wiese signed a three-year extension after coming off a conference championship. 2013 UMD 11-2 10-1 (2nd-T) 1-1 2014 UMD 13-1 11-0 (1st-T) 2-1 2015 UMD 9-3 8-3 (4th-T) 2016 UMD 10-2 10-1 (2nd) 0-1 2017 UMD 9-3 9-2 (3rd-T) 2018 UMD 11-1 11-0 (1st-T) 0-1 2019 UMD 8-3 8-3 (3rd-T) 2020 UMD 0-0 0-0 No Season 2021 UMD 9-3 9-2 (1st-T) 0-1 2022 UMD 0-0 0-0 Totals 89-29 (80-18 UMD) After capturing the NSIC championship, the Bulldogs advanced to the Division 2 NCAA playoffs but fell short in the first round. UMD has gone 3-5 in their eight NCAA playoff appearances under Wiese. “I think as you get into the national playoffs a lot of it has to do with health, some of it may be luck, and some of it
Curt Wiese career record at UMD 76-19 (77-12 NSIC) 3-5
may be preparation. We’ve continued over the last few years to put ourselves in a place where we have a chance to compete in the playoffs and we have fallen short in the first round,” said Wiese. “I don’t think it has anything to do with preparation for off-season things, it’s just we haven’t proven ourselves the last few years and the last few opportunities once we get on that stage.”
What’s next for UMD football? The Bulldogs will have to replace a vital piece on the offensive for the first time in six seasons. However, they will be returning some key players that could help keep the ball rolling for the Bulldogs.
“We’ll start a new quarterback on our roster here for the first time in six seasons. John Larson has graduated and moved on after a very good career here, so we will have a quarterback battle on the offensive side of the football which will be very interesting throughout fall camp,” said Wiese. “We did return some of our top guys like Armani Carmickle at wide receiver who returns as an all-conference wide receiver. Brent Laing at offensive tackle and Wade Sullivan at tailback. Brad Dati and Marcus Glodowski defensively, I think those two guys are guys that have been able to lead us both on and off the field. They have proven themselves that they can compete at a high level.” UMD will kick off their season facing SMSU on Sept. 1 at home. From their last three meetings in 2014, 2016, and 2018 UMD leads the series 2-1 with both wins being at home. Wiese has built a culture of success at UMD with an overall record of 80-18 over eight season (not including 2020), including 77-12 in the NSIC. The hope for UMD football fans is for them to continue the success that Coach Wiese has developed in the past decade.
