ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul football kicks-off the 2017 season on Thursday, August 31 with its Day of Heroes event, a celebration of military veterans, servicemen and women and first responders by taking on Minot State with a 7 p.m. start at Sea Foam Stadium.

The game will be televised by MidcoSN, a sports cable station primarily servicing North and South Dakota as well as parts of western and northern Minnesota.

CSP and Minot State leadoff the NSIC Thursday Night Game of the Week partnership with MidcoSN which features a game televised on the regional cable network each Thursday of the 11-week NSIC football season.

 

CSP by the Numbers
By Class	#
Freshmen	38
Redshirt FR	11
Sophomores	23
Juniors	19
Seniors	16
By State	#
Arizona	2
California	5
Colorado	1
Florida	13
Iowa	3
Illinois	11
Michigan	2
Minnesota	37
Texas	2
Virginia	1
Wisconsin	24
Germany	1
France	1
Unknown	1
By Position	#
Offense	45
Quarterbacks	3
Running Backs	7
Fullbacks	1
Wide Receivers	11
Tight Ends	7
Offensive Line	16
Defense	59
Defensive Line	18
Linebackers	21
Defensive Backs	20
Specialists	3
Kickers	2
Punters	2

CURRIER COACHES & LEADS WITH R.E.D.
Since sixth year head coach Shannon Currier started his second stint leading the football program in December, 2015 there has been an inescapable buzz in the hallways, offices and meeting rooms in the Fandrei Center where the football offices and locker rooms are located just outside of Sea Foam Stadium.

The infectious energy and enthusiasm continues to mount like a steam engine compiling momentum as it thunders down the tracks.

With a reinvigorated alumni base who helped Currier and the Golden Bears to the program's first string of four straight winning seasons (still the only coach to achieve the feat at CSP) ready to pile on the upbeat atmosphere, the Golden Bears rolled to back-to-back victories to start the 2016 season. The wins weren't small, either, a season opening home shutout of U-Mary (17-0) and a 41-18 road win at Minnesota Crookston.

In week three, CSP hosted a nationally-ranked and perennial NCAA contender Minnesota Duluth and took the Bulldogs to the wire, falling by just three points. CSP led in the closing minutes of the contest and had the final possession, putting itself just mere plays from becoming a 3-0 team with a win over a nationally-ranked opponent under their belts.

The Golden Bears wouldn't post a victory for the rest of the season, but it was the type of early buy-in to coach Currier's relentless enthusiasm and desire the young team needed and the alumni base was hungry for to understand that what was happening within the program was just the beginning of a long term and impactful change.

While Currier is eager, almost restless, to start posting winning seasons and compete for championships, what he's doing with the program has a longer lasting impact with each member of the team and coaching staff.

"In this business you continue to focus on the things that aren't quite right and are always looking for improvement and I think we have improved in all areas. Provided we continue to make strides daily going forward, the rest will take care of itself and we'll get to where we need to be. The faster we can do those things, the quicker the success comes on the field."

Currier added, "Overall, the product on the field is going to better (this year). We are going to be a better football team. I don't know what that means in terms of wins and losses but when people watch us play they'll see a better product. They'll be bigger, faster, stronger players on the field. They'll see more experience out there. I'm sure our sense of urgency will be improved. They'll see better special teams play and I'm expecting the results to be more favorable this year than they were last year."

THE COACHING STAFF
And with his anxiousness and competitive drive to start mounting wins on a weekly basis, he's more focused on the excitement that comes with being a college football coach and providing a unique and priceless experience that comes with playing in his program. And it starts with the staff that he has supporting him and helping implement his vision.

"The staff is the best I've ever worked with, and maybe that's said often and by many coaches. But having (defensive coordinator) Craig Stern back on defense is huge because we have a great defensive system and his experience with 20 years as a defensive coordinator and college head coaching experience, he brings credibility and continuity to what we do here. He's been here before, knows how to recruit here and he appreciates the improvements Concordia has made since he was here last."

In the type of program Currier is building, the continuity and relationships standout as the ultimate game-changer for what it means to have Stern back in the mix running the defense.

"He's also a close friend of mine, so having that relationship and continuity is huge. We workout daily together and the relationship is deep. In this business, the stronger relationships you have with the people you're working with, the better."

Currier and Stern aren't just tied together through their first stint in the program from 2000 to 2003 which culminated in the program's first NSIC championship and postseason appearance in 2003.

These two have roots all the way back to Cosmos, Minnesota, a town with a population of 473 located 85 miles west of campus and tucked between Hutchinson to the east, Willmar to the northwest and Redwood Falls to the southeast.

Having that bond certainly paid dividends with football results in their first term together, with Currier a former quarterback engineering a high-octane offense while Stern's footprint on an aggressive defense played to a perfect harmony. The offense was capable of long, plotting scoring drives or quick strikes with big plays while the defense was able to either thwart scoring drives, produce quick three-and-outs or create turnovers to put the offense in scoring position again.

And while Currier continues to play a key role on the offensive side of the ball, his role as a leader and executive of the football team allows him to delegate to his offensive assistants which once again relies on positive relationships and trust with the staff he's assembled.

"My focus with the staff is continuity and I feel like the full time guys are going to be here (long term). I think it's going to take a real significant opportunity for them to leave because I think they are embedded in Concordia."

It helps to have alumni on the staff spanning different eras of Concordia's near-50 year football history.

"Coach Jon Medlo being an alumni, I've been able to develop a strong relationship with him over the past year and a half and he's done tremendous things with the offensive line in terms of the culture."

When Currier was hired in December, 2015, he inherited a team that had four offensive linemen – a position perhaps more than any other on the football field where depth, experience and continuity matter most.

Just a year and a half later, the program boasts 16 offensive linemen and features the type of depth to equip the team to redshirt more of its freshmen up front as they acclimate to a bigger, more physical game than their prep days a year prior.

"The culture he's created for those kids has been unbelievable and that has to be a strength of our team. If I had to rate the offensive line a year ago on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give them a 1. But what Medlo has done with them has been amazing, I'd say this year we are already beyond a 5 and that's a huge improvement in a really important area. We won't start any true freshmen like last year when we had three rotating in there and a couple starting at different times."

The culture Medlo is creating to provide stability, continuity and ferocity up front directly benefits the playmakers and specifically the quarterbacks who are coached by Houston Jones.

"Houston's a real sharp, patient and composed coach who does a great job building relationships with our players and I feel like him and I and coach Medlo work extremely well together from the offensive standpoint to form our offense."

While those three choreograph and implement the overall offensive philosophy, they have a solid bench of assistants to help implement the strategies while helping mold and develop the talent in the players.

"We have some very quality assistant coaches like Tim Bona and Ben Weaver who have both been outstanding and we're really, really lucky to have those guys here. Reed Johnson is working with our tight ends this year and continues to do a great job and coach Steve Lydon is helping coach Medlo on the offensive line, bringing stability because he's been working with me for a long time."

The defensive side has experienced a few shifts in addition to the return of Stern as the defensive boss. Trevor Warner was promoted to coach the secondary after serving as a graduate assistant for cornerbacks last year and Jake Munkwitz was moved into a full time position.

"Trevor has only grown as the secondary coach and continues to do a great job, and we have a phenomenal new graduate assistant working on the defensive line in Kyle Kelley."

Kelley joins returning assistant Dwayne Waltower to coach in the trenches. "Dwayne played defensive line in college at New Mexico State and was a very good player, and both of those guys bring energy and an element of toughness that we've needed. Our players have told me through camp that they feel like they're tougher, expectations are higher and they feel like they're meeting those expectations. The play of the defensive line has been vastly improved from spring to now."

Medlo isn't the only alumni having success on the Concordia coaching staff as Jake Munkwitz leads the linebackers and has been bumped up to special teams coordinator. Not only was Munkwitz a recent graduate and player in the program, but he has family ties with his father, Jim playing for the Comets in the 1980s.

"That guy bleeds navy and gold. He was here as a ball boy when I was here before, then to playing before I came back to now he's a full time coach. It's neat to see guys like him work hard and be rewarded with opportunities and that's really just how life is. People work hard and good things happen, and that's what he's done."

Munkwitz and Johnson provide a positive example for student assistant coach Blair Griffith, whose own playing career as a defensive back was derailed due to injuries. But he's come into his own as a leader while starting his coaching career with invaluable experience as an undergraduate.

Also working with defensive backs is former NFL All-Pro Russell Gary, "He's even more valuable to us now, his insight is phenomenal and he's out there really helping with his expertise. There's not many all-pro NFL players connected to NSIC programs and we're fortunate to have him."

While the coaching credentials are there, Currier is most impressed with their ability to relate to the players.

"The staff is phenomenal and most importantly about all of them is that they care about these kids. Regardless of what the role of the player is, off the field they're all wanting to take the time to help them improve as young men. That's where it starts."

PROGRAM FOUNDATION: BUILDING ON THE ROCK
It's Currier's 14-man coaching staff that implements the overarching philosophy to the football program which transcends the sport and filters into every aspect of the player's lives: Building on the Rock which features seven key components.

"Each of these seven pillars have been addressed by having a business plan with goals and an action plan to improve those phases. I tell players all the time, 'It's hard to be great. There's not a lot of company at the top because not a lot of people are willing to do the necessary things to be great.' College football is hard, if it was easy then everybody would be doing it."

1. GRACE: Graduation, Retention, Academics, Career Enhancement all combined into one, a process overseen by coach Stern.

2. Recruiting: "Our freshman class has just proven through fall camp that they're every bit as good as we thought they'd be." Midway through camp, the staff had zeroed in on just over 10 true freshmen that would be competing for playing time on the travel list. "We're happy about that, but we continue to focus on next year's recruiting. Recruiting is a non-stop process, we've had summer camps, visits and now into fall ball we'll have kids on campus for games. We've narrowed our recruiting down to our top-150 and we're really focused on those kids. We feel like we'll get our share, we won't and can't get them all but we want to find kids that fit Concordia, want to be here and are motivated."

3. Alumni Development: "It's a continuous thing to keep our alumni involved and engaged. This year we'll celebrate the 1976 and 1977 UMAC Championship teams at the St. Cloud State game. We're working on building relationships and have had a lot of different players stop through, some have talked to the team, and that's something we continue to encourage – have them back and connected to our current team."

4. RED: Relentless, Enthusiasm and Desire: "This is a culture development. Expectations that just like in life, whoever wants it most is going to get it. We want our team to want to win and be the best more than any other team. That aspect is something that we've improved on. The commitment has been great, we had over 60 kids stay this summer to compete and workout compared to around 30 the summer before which is another sign of our growth in our commitment and willingness to be great. Kids have invested more which makes winning mean more and success means more to them as a result."

5. Family Atmosphere & Leadership Training: "Our camp is different than others, for the second straight year we took our team to the military base at Camp Ripley. This year we partnered up with the Marine Corps. In my opinion, the experience with the boot camp and drill sergeant for three hours was the best three hour time I've ever had spent with football. It was better than any other practice or event I've ever seen. It showed the kids the importance of attention to detail, the sense of urgency we're looking for. They were pushed, it was hard and when you put your team through hard exercises they come together. The culture our upperclassmen has set has really helped us grow as a family and have quality young men in it. We've had 15 guys attend a leadership course during camp and our entire team will spend one Monday each month in leadership training to get Concordia's leadership certification throughout the year."

6. Football Fundamentals: "We have a 4th and 1 approach to life and Golden Bear football. Everything we do, it's 4th and 1 and we gotta make the play. It's that sense of urgency in everything we do, everything's important. We talk about the acronym WIN: What's Important Now. If we're in a meeting, THAT's what's important now, if they're in class that's what's important, practice, and so on. We're focused on taking care of business at that time and focused on the process and expecting that the results will be positive after having a good process."

7. Community Service: The team is approaching 1,000 hours of community service since the New Year including a variety of initiatives, mostly off campus. "Our focus this year is to do more community events on campus and to be more engaged in Concordia University and to be more present in some of the things going on here. We'll still have community service outside CSP, but we want to have a better presence on campus. The overall community service engagement has been very successful and our players have been gracious with their time and willingness to volunteer."