Ole Updates

Homecoming 2009 was a great success. The week was filled with a focus at practice that allowed me to know that our guys were serious about the game and not all the distractions that come with Homecoming. I'm proud of the way that our guys bounced back from the tough loss on the 19th by winning the Homecoming game. We did not play great in the first half but we came out after halftime and took over the game. The class of ‘69 was back in town and was honored at halftime - now that is a special group of men! The parents of the juniors spearheaded a huge post game gathering at one of the houses here in town - everybody had a great time.

This week is the battle for the Goatrophy. Our challenge will be for us to stay focused on us - and prepare with great effort, as we have all year, so that we can be the best we can be on Saturday. We'll remind the guys that this game is not more important that any we have played or will play this season; it is one more chance for us to get together - to family up - and enjoy and afternoon together.

PLU Wrap Up

What an awesome weekend we had in Washington. We left on Friday and the trip started out on the right note with smooth ticketing and boarding at the airport. The guys were having such a good time that the people on the plane with us started enjoying the trip a little more as well! Landed in Seattle and we went straight to Husky Stadium at the University of Washington for our Friday walk-thru (video of us sing the fight song on the “W” coming soon). That was a neat experience for all of us – even when the Huskies came out for practice and mistook us for Idaho (same colors) and upheld one of their own old traditions of barking at their opponents.

From there we checked in at our hotel and got settled in before supper. The Embassy Suites did an outstanding job of taking care of us – first class the whole weekend. We talk with our players all the time about making it the BIG TIME here at St. Olaf and we strive to do that for them every chance we get.

Saturday morning the made to order breakfast got the day started right; of course, when the defensive bus broke down 15 minutes from Sparks Stadium on the way to the game, it did give us an opportunity to rise above some adversity! After dropping the offense off, the offensive bus became the defensive bus and the D-Side was picked up and dropped off at the stadium (judging by the -76yd rushing they gave up, they were not too bothered by the travel delay).

The day belonged to the Oles – the offense dominated time of possession (41 minutes) and rushing yards (298) and that helped the defense hold PLU to 47 total offensive plays. Dominate team effort!

With the business portion of the trip concluded, we were all ready to have some fun in Seattle. After going out for supper we headed down to the waterfront and turned the 63 players loose on the town (the coaches, trainers, managers, parents and alumni also got out for some fun)! It was a great experience for everybody the natural beauty of Seattle combined with the social crowd (both U of Wash. & Wash. State played in town) made for a very fun evening.

I have to give a special thanks to all the parents and alumni who flew and drove to the game to show their support for Ole football. It never ceases to amaze me how devoted our parents and alumni are to this school and our football family. Their love for the experience that their sons are having or they themselves had shows me that we are doing things right and that we do it in a way that makes the alumni proud to be Oles.

Great memories were made this weekend and it was a wonderful stop along the journey. Now, it is on to the next stop and we will strive to “go 1-0” this week. As we turn to M.I.A.C. play, we know the competition will get tougher and the challenges will grow greater and our guys are excited to meet those challenges head on.

GO OLES!

Classes, PLU - Be An Ole!

Today was the first day of classes - vacation is officially over! Yesterday both sides of the ball did a lot of install for PLU so today should be much more spirit filled. The team is very focused and knows that this trip is about taking care of business first and then enjoying the time away together. Our guys never shy away from the hard work part of the game and that makes me proud as their Head Coach. Hope to see some Ole Alum who are from the Pacific Northwest at the game on Saturday.

GO OLES!

PLU Week

Great practice yesterday. The guys worked hard and were eager to improve from the mistakes they made during the first game of the year last week. The film sessions really help them see how much we need to get better (that is nice to be able to say after winning in such a convincing manner!). After practice, just to help the guys know that they have a long way to go yet we ran 10 - 100yd sprints - not one complaint. Today we are really going to get after them and get after PLU!

GO OLES!

Luther Week Final

Great day yesterday! Oles win 33 - 13! It is always great to win convincingly and still have so much to improve upon. We let the guys enjoy the win last night and today (their off day) but come 11:00am tomorrow; we have some serious work to get done before we get on the plane and head out to Tacoma on Friday.
It was move in day at St. Olaf on Saturday so the crowd was a little thin but all the Ole fans will have time to get their schedules worked out because we are on the road until the Sept. 26 game against Augsburg (of course, we wouldn't mind a big turn out for the Sept. 19 game at St. Thomas). For now, we will focus on PLU - theme of the week.... Go 1-0 this week.

GO OLES!

Luther Week Update

Great week of practice. Things are coming together very nicely! We do have a few things to fine tune today. Fortunately, we have meetings this morning and again before practice today. As we draw near the start of the school year I am struck with the feeling of after having had a 5 Star resort all to ourselves for two weeks other guests are now showing up.

I guess our vacation is truly coming to an end (but hey, at least we did get a pool "practice" in!)That just leaves the end of summer party at 1:00pm this Saturday - Manitou Field!

GO OLES!