V OLUME 1 V OL. 1/ISSUE 2 THE MAVERICK THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MSU FOOTBALL BOOSTER CLUB MSU TOUCHDOWN CLUB GOLF CLASSIC A HUGE SUCCESS! The inaugural MSU Touchdown Club golf event was held on June 10th at the beautiful Refuge Golf Club in Oak Grove, Minnesota. Like Coach Jamrog's first year with the Mavericks, a fantastic success can be the only way the event and participation can be described. Thanks to Darryl Wills leadership, the neverending support of Rufuge's head pro and MSU alum Drew Ekstrom, the event was extremely well attended, the golfing was fantastic, the food and drink were tasty and the auctions raised nearly $20,000 to go to the football program. The event drew 70 football alumni and friends to play golf, had seven members of the MSU coaching staff in attendance, an additional six supporters came for the dinner and the auctions, making a grand total of 83 people attending the event. In addition, we were honored that Dean Trauger from the university joined us for the entire day. As stated earlier, the event also had both silent and live auction components which added to the atmosphere. Thanks to the generous contributions of many alumni, the silent auction included many autographed Vikings and Timberwolves items, unique MSU branded items, Lifetime fitness packages and work out gear, a Toro lawn mower, a John Deere mini-vehicle, two Maytag Sky-Box vending machines and many other items. The live auction included John Burns placing a very generous bid on a suite at the Twins game donated by Zest4Life Adventures and alumnus Steve Connelly, four tickets to the Vikings vs. Packers game going to Ron Dorf, and "Coach for the Day" packages going to Mark Krivoruchka and Mark Hanson. 1Page One... MSU TOUCHDOWN CLUB_MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY_INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS, MF135_MANKATO, MINNESOTA 56001_PHONE 507-389-6111
Expectations are very high that next year we will "Own the Course" on Friday, June 9th, 2006 when the Touchdown Club will hold its second annual golf event, again at the Refuge Golf Club just north of the Twin Cities in Oak Grove. Mark it on your calendars today! TDC_ MEET THE NEW SHERIFF IN MAVERICK COUNTRY One of the most important events in the turnaround of Maverick football occurred on June 17, 2004, when Jeff Jamrog was announced as the 13th football head coach in the history of Minnesota State. Jamrog arrived at MSU following a brief stint as the defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach at Western Illinois University. Jamrog, 39, spent four years on the staff at the University of Nebraska prior to joining Western Illinois last spring. He was the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator for Nebraska in 2003 and was the defensive tackles coach and defensive special teams coach for the Cornhuskers from 2000 through 2002. During his tenure at Nebraska, the Cornhuskers played in the national championship game in 2002. Also, the 2003 Nebraska defense led the country in turnovers caused, led the Big XII in scoring defense and totalled 21 blocked kicks and 11 punt returns for touchdowns in four years. COACH JAMROG Jamrog also spent three years at New Mexico State University (1997-99) as the defensive coordinator, was the defensive coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Omaha for three years (1994-96) and the inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at the University of South Dakota from 1990-93. He served as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Nebraska for two years (1988 and 1989). A three-year letterman at Nebraska where he was a starting outside linebacker in 1987, Jamrog earned a bachelor of science degree in 1987 and graduated with a master s degree in business administration (both from Nebraska) in 1990. He was named a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American in 1987 and was a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. A proven winner throughout his playing and coaching career, Jamrog has been a part of 14 teams that have posted winning records out of 21 seasons, with 10 of those units reaching double-digits in victories. Included in those seasons are four conference championship clubs, 11 Bowl game participants, four Bowl game winners, one NCAA Division II playoff squad, and an overall combined winning percentage of 60.3% (149-98). Besides his gaudy success rate with programs, Jamrog has assisted in the rapid turnarounds of three programs that went from a combined four wins in his first three seasons at the schools to above.500 records within three years. Jamrog and his wife, Connie, have three children - Elizabeth (13), Brett (11) and Jared (9) - and the family resides in Mankato. 2Page Two... JEFF JAMROG TIME LINE Year... School (Record) 1983... Nebraska student-athlete (redshirted) (12-1) Big Eight Champions; Orange Bowl team 1984... Nebraska student-athlete (10-2) Big Eight Co-Champions; Sugar Bowl winner 1985... Nebraska student-athlete (9-3) Fiesta Bowl team; letterwinner 1986... Nebraska student-athlete (10-2) Sugar Bowl winner; letterwinner 1987... Nebraska student-athlete (10-2) Fiesta Bowl team; letterwinner; starter at outside linebacker; 1988... Nebraska graduate assistant /inside linebacker coach/special teams coordinator (11-2)....... Big Eight Champions; Orange Bowl team 1989... Nebraska graduate assistant/inside linebacker coach/special team coordinator (10-2) Fiesta Bowl team 1990... South Dakota inside linebacker coach/special teams & academic coordinator (4-7) 1991... South Dakota inside linebacker coach/special teams & academic coordinator (1-8) 1992... South Dakota inside linebacker coach/special teams & academic coordinator (3-8) A MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FOR THE TOUCHDOWN CLUB CAN BE FOUND AT THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF S, WWW.MSUMAVERICKS.COM
1993... South Dakota inside linebacker coach/special teams & academic coordinator (6-5) 1994... Nebraska-Omaha defensive coordinator/defensive line & inside linebackers coach (1-10) 1995... Nebraska-Omaha defensive coordinator/defensive line & inside linebackers coach (3-8) 1996... Nebraska-Omaha defensive coordinator/defensive line & inside linebackers coach (10-2)....... NCC Champions; NCAA Division II Playoff team 1997... New Mexico State defensive coordinator/inside linebacker coach (2-9) 1998... New Mexico State defensive coordinator/inside linebacker coach (3-8) 1999... New Mexico State defensive coordinator/inside linebacker coach (6-5) 2000... Nebraska defensive tackles/defensive special teams coach (10-2) Alamo Bowl winner 2001... Nebraska defensive tackles/defensive special teams coach (11-2) Rose Bowl team 2002... Nebraska defensive tackles/defensive special teams coach (7-7) Independence Bowl team 2003... Nebraska defensive line coach/special teams coordinator (10-3) Alamo Bowl winner 2004... Named head coach at Minnesota State, June 17 2004... MSU Head Coach (6-5) TDC_ 3Page Three... 2005 FALL CAMP PREVIEW The coaching staff and players are very excited about the 2005 season. The work ethic and attitude have been excellent since we got on campus June 18, 2004. The investment these young men have displayed over winter conditioning, spring ball, and summer conditioning leads me to believe we are a hungry football team. We want to build on the success of last year. Every year we will talk about a winning season, conference championship, playoffs, and a national title. The North Central Conference is a very tough conference. You better be mentally and physically ready every week. We have only 5 home games this year. We open up on Thursday, August 25 against perennial power Northwest Missouri State. We will find out right away where we are at. We also play rivals St. Cloud State and University of North Dakota at home. Both teams made the playoffs last year. We need to play excellent on the road this year as 6 games will be played away from Mankato. Our team is looking forward to visiting Nebraska-Omaha and University of South Dakota. We will bring over 100 players to training camp. Our administration has put a cap of 90 student-athletes so I have to make some tough decisions before the season starts. There is a strong interest in our program right now from some outstanding high school players. We will be a more talented team this year compared to last year. Our new strength coach, Chuck Lobe, has done an excellent job in transforming body types. We are a faster, quicker, stronger, and more athletic football team. We hope this will translate into more wins. Senior leadership will be critical in order to accomplish our 2005 goals. Our offense should be stronger this year. The key will be our offensive line play. We have 3 returning starters and two transfers that went through spring ball that should pave the way for our running and passing game. Our running game is in good hands with returning All-American Sean Treasure. The Harlan Hill candidate is ready for another outstanding season. Hopefully he will have bigger holes to run through this season. We have another very capable back in Cory Jones. Our receiving crew should be strength of the offense. The leading receiver in the conference, Kyle Krivoruchka, is back for his senior season. Ryan Steele has moved from TE and adds a tall dimension for the defense to handle. We have added two transfers to the position along with a very talented incoming high school group. We have moved two defensive ends to tight end in the spring. Dan Harke and Nick Nalezny made an excellent transition and should be ready for a big year. Our QB situation will be crucial one. Ben King decided to play baseball so there will be a new starter. Josh Bryant and Jamie VanDenElzen had a great battle in the spring. Josh is a very talented QB we signed this past December from Mesabi Junior College. It should be a competitive situation this fall. We feel these two young men will be able to lead our offense to many TD s per game. We have a talented incoming freshman in Ryan Fick from Bettendorf, Iowa who led his team to a state championship (13-0). Our offense will be led by new offensive coordinator Garin Higgins. Garin is very innovative and had had great success on the college level. I have also moved Spence Nowinsky to offensive line from defensive line. This moved has turned out to be a very positive one. Our defense is being led by new defensive coordinator Ken Gordon. Ken was on the staff last year and is very energetic. We have 8 starters back on defense. It could be the strength of our team. We have the whole front four back and majority of our secondary. We need to have a couple of linebackers come MORE INFORMATION ON THE SEPTEMBER 17TH CONCORDIA EVENT WILL COME OUT SOON!
through for us. We have a very athletic defense that has a chance to be special. We played strong defense at the end of last year. Some returning players we have back that received some awards are Kevin Adams and Soloni Taumololo. Kevin plays strong safety and Solo plays nose guard and sing our national anthem at home games. Very impressive. Our special teams needs to be special. transferred in that is very impressive. We have some excellent returners and a new kicker that has One of the many things that excite me about our program is our incoming recruits. There are some bigtime players in this class who can help us this year. Some turned down Division I and!aa scholarships to attend Minnesota State. The future of this program looks very bright. Thanks to all Touchdown Club members. We appreciate your support and hope to see you at home and away games this year. GO MAVERICKS! Coach Jamrog TDC_ GRIDIRON HEROES: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? One of the great aspects of Maverick football is the relationships that are created during your time at Minnesota State. One feature that we are adding to the Maverick is an update on a former player. This edition s profile is on Chad Gossard, who played quarterback, tight-end and tackle (yes it is true, this is not a misprint) from 1985 to 1988, ending his career as captain of the 1988 squad. Chad then became a coach with MSU, first as a student/graduate assistant from 1989 to 1991 and then a full time assistant coach from 1992 to 1996. During his coaching stint, Chad got married in 1992, to Andrea. Chad and Andrea currently have 4 children; Thomas 9, Olivia 6, Sophia 4, and Alayna 2. After spending some time in Owatonna, they currently live in Mantorville, MN where they moved in 1999. Goose is an Outside Sales Rep for McNeilus Steel, Inc. out of Dodge Center, Minnesota and has a territory that includes SE Minnesota, NE Iowa, and SW Wisconsin. Chad s better half Andrea is a Nurse Practitioner at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Chad and Andrea both enjoy running (between them have completed 4 marathons), coaching youth sports, boating, golfing, spending time with family and friends. The Gossards don t do anything slow, as Chad has posted a 3:16 personal best in the marathon while Andrea has run a 3:51. Some of Chad s most memorable moments during his time in Mankato include; 1987 playoff game at Portland State which was decided on MSU s last offensive play, participating in many Spades tournament during fall camp, the 1991 season opener at Portland State, and being part of all the victories against NDSU. Chad made a tremendous impact on the University during his 11 years there and we are glad that he is part of the Touchdown Club again! TDC_ 2005 GAME SCHEDULE 4Page Four... The 2005 Minnesota State football schedule has been released, with highlights including three games that will all be played at home against 2004 NCAA Division II playoff teams, five home games with three coming under the lights at Blakeslee Stadium, and the earliest start to a season in MSU history to kick the year off. "I am very excited about the quality of the teams on this schedule, including three games at home against teams that qualified for the national playoffs last season," said Minnesota State head coach Jeff Jamrog. "It is going to be a tremendous challenge for this football team with those teams and also six road games. But Maverick fans are going to see five quality home games, including starting the year off with back-toback Thursday night games." LOOK FOR THE NEXT EDITION OF STAMPEDE IN OCTOBER!
2005 MINNESOTA STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Location Aug. 25 Northwest Missouri State 6:30 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Sept. 1 Oklahoma Panhandle State 6:30 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Sept. 10 Bemidji State 1:30 p.m. Bemidji, Minn. Sept. 17 Concordia-St. Paul 1:30 p.m. St. Paul, Minn. Sept. 24 St. Cloud State*+ 6:30 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Oct. 1 Minnesota Duluth*! 1:00 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Oct. 8 South Dakota* 2:00 p.m. Vermillion, S.D. Oct. 15 Upper Iowa 1:00 p.m. Fayette, Iowa Oct. 22 North Dakota* 1:00 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Oct. 29 Augustana* 12:00 p.m. Sioux Falls, S.D. Nov. 5 Nebraska-Omaha* 1:00 p.m. Omaha, Neb. Home games listed in BOLD and played at Blakeslee Stadium on the campus of MSU * denotes North Central Conference game + denotes MSU Hall of Fame Day game! denotes MSU Homecoming game TDC_ THE TOUCHDOWN CLUB INVADES ST. PAUL The next major event that the Touchdown Club will be hosting is a gathering in conjunction with the Mavericks road game at Concordia St. Paul. Plans are being developed by football alumni John Hoffman and Jeff Zwiefel. While more details will be coming on this soon, please note this date on your calendar. The event will be held before the game, which is scheduled to kick-off at 1:30 p.m. on the campus of CSP. The Golden Bears were 7-4 last year and posted a 5-3 conference record in the NSIC. Keep in touch with details on this event at www.msumavericks.com. TDC_ UNDER THE BIG TENT The MSU TD Club leadership wanted to make sure that we have a presence, a gathering place if you will, for alumni and friends to reconnect at each and every MSU home game. Thanks to the efforts of Dave Schlichte and Steve Kibble, the Touchdown Club will have a very large (and hopefully enclosed) tent very close to the scoreboard for you to visit when you come to the game. The tent will be hosted by Touchdown Club members as well as some athletic department personnel. We are also hoping that by the time the first MSU touchdown is scored, we will have negotiated an arrangement with one of Mankato s local establishments to serve the adult beverage of your choice, part of the proceeds of which would go to supporting the club and the football program. While more details are to come, this exciting development will go a long way at establishing even more atmosphere at Blakeslee Field as well as furthering the cause of the TDC and the football program. If you are interesting in being a host at any of the home games, please contact Greg von der Lippe at GDVDL@WOWWAY.COM. TDC_ 5Page Five... MSU TOUCHDOWN CLUB_MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY_INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS, MF135_MANKATO, MINNESOTA 56001_PHONE 507-389-6111