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!
About Me
- ST. OLAF FOOTBALL
- I strive to be a servant leader. One of my firmly held beliefs is that God has put us on the earth to serve others. I am a Christian, husband, father and mentor in that order. On March 31, 2008, I was named the 11th head football coach at St. Olaf. It is both a blessing and honor to be associated with so many great Oles, past & present. Prior to joining St. Olaf, I coached at my alma mater, Wis.-Stevens Point, as defensive coordinator the last two seasons. I spent seven seasons as an assistant at Division II Minnesota State University-Mankato (1993-96, 1999-02) before a three-year stint as the CEO of the Mankato YMCA. I also spent one season as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Bombers of the Arena Football league (1999) and another as an assistant at California Lutheran University (1998) as defensive line coach. My wife Deana and I have three children, son Jett and daughters Jersey and J.J.
Coach O
