Great Plains Athletic Conference Football Media Day 2012 MEDIA GUIDE www.gpacsports.com 13th Annual GPAC Football Media Day Country Inn and Suites – Lincoln, Nebraska Thursday, August 2, 2012 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide – www.gpacsports.com – 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide Great Plains Athletic Conference Football Media Day 2012 GPAC Commissioner Welcome On behalf of the membership of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) I want to welcome you to the 2012 GPAC Football Media Day and the Country Inn and Suites in Lincoln, Nebraska. We are pleased to be in Lincoln for our 13 th annual media day as we prepare to kick-off another year of football in the GPAC. I want to thank Nebraska Wesleyan Head Football Coach Brian Keller and Deborah Carroll and the staff at the Country Inn and Suites for their assistance preparation for this annual even. Excitement for media day continues to grow each year in the league from our first event back in 2000 at Mahoney State Park. This year’s event has a couple of new items that we are excited about. First we are joined by all of the football officials in the conference and our Supervisors Justin Ingalls and Pete Hansen. I think it’s a positive for the GPAC to have our officials and coaches in the same room at the same time for discussion on rules and interpretations prior to the season. Also, new this year, we will be conducting a media poll along with the coaches’ poll for the preseason. The GPAC appreciates all the outstanding coverage that the media gives us during the year and this is an opportunity for them to weigh in on the upcoming season. I want to thank the SID’s, Coaches, and Administrators of the GPAC for their continued support of GPAC Football. We strive to do it right here in the GPAC and strike a balance between what happens on and off the field. That’s why our motto is and will continue to be “Academic and Athletic Excellence Since 2000!” Finally, thank you to Midland University (Jason Dannelly and AJ Ellis), along with Channel 21 Sports in Lincoln (Bill Luxford) for their assistance in broadcasting today’s festivities. On behalf of the more than 4,000 student-athletes that participate in 19 intercollegiate sports at the eleven member schools in the GPAC I invite you to enjoy GPAC Media Day and the upcoming football and athletic season in the conference. Please continue to follow the GPAC on our website at www.gpacsports.com and on Facebook and Twitter. Yours in GPAC Athletics, Corey Westra GPAC Commissioner 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide – www.gpacsports.com – 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide 2012 GPAC Team Capsules From The Victory Sports Network --------------------------------- Special Thank You to Barry Fouts for his work in compiling this information for the GPAC! --------------------------------- 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide – www.gpacsports.com – 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide BRIAR CLIFF UNIVERSITY CHARGERS Sioux City, Iowa Head Coach: Tom Rethman Alma Mater: Knox College (’92) Years at Current School: 5th Record at School: 10-34 Career Record: 10-34 Offensive Coordinator: Tom Rethman Defensive Coordinator: Justin Mohning Last Playoff Appearance: N/A 2011 Season (2-9 Overall, 1-8 GPAC) Athletic Director: Steve Gast President: Beverly Wharton Faculty Athletic Representative: Open Sports Information: Brandon Osborn and Jared Bodammer Local Radio: KKMA - 99.5 Local Newspaper: Sioux City Journal Main Rivals: Morningside School Colors: Royal Blue & Gold Enrollment: 1100 Stadium: Heelen Memorial Stadium (One home game (Hastings) at Dakota Dome) Capacity: 4,000 Surface: Natural Grass Returning Starters on Offense: 7 Returning Starters on Defense: 7 Base Offense: Multiple Pro Key Offensive Returners : RB Jared Williams, TE Michael Becker, WR Bryce Harshman, OL Wes Bell Coach Rethman on the Offense: We feel we return a number of very good players at certain positions. We still need to continue to develop more depth on the offensive side of the ball. QB play and how we do up front, just like every season, will dictate our level of success offensively. Base Defense: Multiple Key Defensive Returners : OLB Jordan Lester, DT Derreon Richardson, FS Chance Colvin, ILB Marcell Moody Coach Rethman on the Defense: We had a good spring and the guys did a good job of picking up on the new defensive schemes. Our key to success in the fall is how quickly we are able to install all that we want to do on the defensive side of the ball and having guys step up in the secondary. Top Recruits: Kevin Van Egdom QB Tyler McGhee WR Marshall Dickson OL Marquette Harper CB Eddie Ficklin CB 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide – www.gpacsports.com – 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS Seward, Nebraska Head Coach: Vance Winter Alma Mater: Dakota State (2002) Years at Current School: 7th (3rd as head coach) Record at School: 11-21 Career Record: 11-21 Offensive Coordinator: Curran White (Wayne State 2000) Defensive Coordinator: Patrick Daberkow (Concordia, NE 2006) Last Playoff Appearance: 2001 2011 Season (4-7 Overall, 3-6 GPAC) Athletic Director: Devin Smith President: Brian Friedrich Sports Information: Jacob Knabel Faculty Athletic Representative: Brent Royuk Local Radio: Webcast – www.cune.edu Local Newspaper: Seward Independent Main Rivals: Hastings, Doane, Nebraska Wesleyan, Midland School Colors: Navy Blue/White Enrollment: 1350 Stadium: Bulldog Stadium Capacity: 2500 Surface: Sprint Turf Returning Starters on Offense: 8 Returning Starters on Defense: 6 Base Offense: Multiple Key Offensive Returners : Colten Quinabo WR, Adam Faulstich OL, Dylan Klassen OL, Aaron Gillory RB, Von Thomas QB, Justin Haun QB, Will Cox TE. Coach Winter on the Offense: The changes we have made scheme wise have been a major boost for this group. Coach White has done a great job of fitting his system around our personnel. This was by far our most productive spring offensively in my time at Concordia. We feel like we have a nice nucleus and plenty of competition for positions which hasn’t been the case in the past. We have high expectations to be much improved offensively in 2012. Base Defense: 3-4 Key Defensive Returners : Darnell Woods CB, Derek Blessing CB, Drew Baxter S, Tom Malander OLB, Langston Jones ILB, Kyle Little ILB, Michael Voelker DL, Dylan Heithoff OLB Coach Winter on the Defense: We lose some outstanding football players from our senior class last year and we are short with experienced depth at certain positions but our expectations defensively are still very high. Coach Daberkow and the defensive staff will always have our guys playing fast and sound. We feel like we have some difference maker type of talent at each our position groups (Defensive Line, ILB, OLB, CB, and S) and we are excited to see these guys step up this fall. Top Recruits: Tait Sibbel S Riley Herren WR Michael Gill DL Josh Slechta TE Victor Brown RB 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide – www.gpacsports.com – 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide DAKOTA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY TIGERS Mitchell, South Dakota Head Coach: Ross Cimpl Alma Mater: University of Sioux Falls Years at Current School: 3 rd season at DWU (1 st as Head Coach) Record at School: 0-0 Career Record: 0-0 Offensive Coordinator: Zeke Prado Defensive Coordinator: Ross Cimpl Last Playoff Appearance: 1994 2011 Season (6-4 Overall, 5-4 GPAC) Athletic Director: Curt Hart President: Robert Duffett Sports Information Director: Leah Rado Faculty Athletic Representative: Pam Boline Local Radio: KMIT FM - 105.9 Local Newspaper: Daily Republic School Colors: Blue and White Enrollment: 780 Stadium: Joe Quintal Field Capacity: 3,200 Surface: Grass Returning Starters on Offense: 7 Returning Starters on Defense: 5 Base Offense: Multiple Key Offensive Returners : Nathan Little-OT, Eric Witte-OL, Josh Endres-RB. Anthony Muilenburg-WR. Jon Bane-QB Coach Cimpl on the Offense: “We have a nice group returning on offense. Eric Witte returns in 2012 after a season ending knee injury in 2011 along with many skill guys that had good seasons for us last year. Offensively, we are looking to control the football and put together some longer drives. Staying healthy will be a key with our offense, but we feel good about the potential we have to score points.” Base Defense: 3-4 Key Defensive Returners : Mike Barnuad-LB, Jeff Maassen-LB. Dustin Bergmeier-DB, Craig Hengelfelt-DL, Coach Cimpl on the Defense: “We graduated some tremendous players in 2011. We are going to have to have some younger players step up into starting roles and play at a high level. Our most experienced group is our Linebackers and they are going to have to take control of the defense. We feel that we have guys on our defense that have gotten a great deal of experience the last 2 seasons and we look forward to them taking a bigger leadership role in 2012” Top Recruits : Trevor Schroeder TE Brady Bonte LB Calvin Hunhoff DL Ryan Zdroik OL Greyson Wooten WR 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide – www.gpacsports.com – 2012 GPAC Football Media Guide DOANE COLLEGE TIGERS Crete, Nebraska Head Coach: Matt Franzen Alma Mater: Doane College Years at Current School: 5th Record at School: 22-29 Career Record: 22-29 Offensive Coordinator: Grant Mollring Defensive Coordinator: Chris Bessler Last Playoff Appearance: 1999 2011 Season (8-2 Overall, 7-2 GPAC) Athletic Director: Greg Heier President: Jacque Carter Sports Information Director: Rick Schmuecker Faculty Athletic Representative: Peggy Hart Local Radio: KUTT – 99.5 Local Newspaper: Crete News Main Rivals: Nebraska Wesleyan and Hastings School Colors: Black and Orange Enrollment: 1100 Stadium: Simon Field Capacity: 2500 Surface: Field Turf Returning Starters on Offense: 6 Returning Starters on Defense: 7 Base Offense: Spread Key Offensive Returners : Dillon Carmichael OL, Kevin Roehrich OL, Alex Dose RB Coach Franzen on the Offense: Our offense will need to establish its identity as several players compete for starting positions.