Category: South Dakota Coyotes
Southern Utah eyes shifting Big Sky Conference
So, where does Southern Utah University go from here?
On Tuesday, the Thunderbirds were left without a viable football league when it was announced that UC Davis and Cal Poly will take their programs to the Big Sky Conference.
Montana athletic director Jim O’Day praised the Big Sky’s decision to add UC Davis and Cal Poly as football-playing members.
“You bring two great academic institutions who do things the right way who are great fits for the league,” he said.
One problem.
The Big Sky’s expansion leaves the Great West Conference with only three football schools: Southern Utah, South Dakota and North Dakota.
- 575 words - Great West Conference, Big Sky Conference, Montana Grizzlies, North Dakota Fightin' Sioux, South Dakota Coyotes, Montana State Bobcats, Sacramento State Hornets, Portland State Vikings, Cal Poly Mustangs, UC Davis Aggies, Southern Utah Thunderbirds, Texas State Bobcats, Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners Great West nears end as schools shift plans
The end is near for the Great West Football Conference, which learned Tuesday that next season will be the last in the league for two of its five members.
UC Davis and Cal Poly, charter members of the seven-year-old FCS conference, announced they were leaving the Great West to join the Big Sky Conference starting with the 2012 season.
That exodus means that the University of South Dakota, North Dakota and Southern Utah will have to find new homes for their football programs or play independent schedules after next season.
- 462 words - Great West Conference, North Dakota Fightin' Sioux, South Dakota Coyotes, Cal Poly Mustangs, UC Davis Aggies, Southern Utah Thunderbirds Football Recruiting Scene Changing Fast
Area colleges know they have to get to prospective players first; schools ‘want to defend turf’.
BROOKINGS - Encircled by campers hailing from the areas that he recruited, South Dakota State football assistant Luke Meadows gave a word of caution before dismissal: Don’t panic if you don’t get a scholarship offer today.
That’s where things are right now in the Football Championship Subdivision. Upcoming juniors and seniors in the Upper Midwest expect to get an offer either during an elite camp - which is against NCAA rules - or immediately afterward.
Football conference in flux at South Dakota?
Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, the University of South Dakota athletic department will move from the Great West Conference to the Summit League for all sports.
All sports that is except football.
For now, the department’s premier program will remain a member of the far-flung Great West Conference.
New USD athletic director Dave Sayler is keeping his options open when it comes to football’s current home and potential future conferences.
David Sayler Named USD Athletic Director
Vermillion, S.D. – University of South Dakota President James W. Abbott introduced David Sayler as the school’s 12th athletic director at a press conference Thursday afternoon in the Muenster University Center. Sayler joins the Coyotes after spending the last four years as Senior Executive Athletic Director at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Summit League Will Conduct Football Feasibility Study
ELMHURST, Ill. - The Summit League conducted its annual President’s Council Meeting on June 21 in Chicago and announced that the league will conduct a feasibility study into having football as a league-sponsored sport.
- 160 words - Missouri Valley Football Conference, Great West Conference, North Dakota Fightin' Sioux, South Dakota State Jackrabbits, South Dakota Coyotes, North Dakota State Bison, Western Illinois Leathernecks, Southern Utah Thunderbirds Top Coaches in South Dakota DakotaDome History
Coyote Athletics has enjoyed a long history of success. In its 30 years as the home of the Coyotes, the DakotaDome has produced over 650 All-Americans. While many aspects are involved in athletic success, surely one of the most important is the coaching staff. USD has been fortunate to have been the home of some of the finest coaches in the nation. While many of USD’s coaches have had great successes, the following have been selected as the best coaches in their respective sport in USD history. Combined, these six coaches have won 28 team conference titles and produced 240 All-Americans.
New Leadership Looms As Coyotes Aim High
The University of South Dakota’s second year outside NCAA Division II was as different from the first year as the first was from all those decades as a North Central Conference school.
The hectic up-and-down nature of the independent scheduling of 2008-09 was gone in most instances, replaced with a semi-regular dose of Great West Conference competitions.
Quarterbacks Competitive In USD Spring Game
Though it came in essentially an expanded scrimmage, Dante Warren’s performance seemed to solidify a job that had been up for grabs.
Earning the starting nod after a strong spring, the University of South Dakota junior quarterback passed for 121 yards and two touchdowns during USD’s annual Red-White Spring Game, held Friday night inside the DakotaDome.
In the end, the offense held off the defensive units 48-33 for the win.
Spring in their steps: Walk-ons key in offseason
Positioned like a safety, South Dakota State assistant Jay Bubak takes two steps forward and leans over.
“Third group, third group!” he screams. Then it hits him: There is no third group of defensive backs.
Welcome to the skeletal reality of spring football practice - the seniors are done and the recruits aren’t here yet. Factor in injuries, offseason surgeries, and it’s challenging to find enough bodies to run a typical workout.
USD Coyotes Bring Spring Football to Sioux Falls
The University of South Dakota football team made its way north to Sioux Falls saturday morning for a spring football practice.
The ‘Yotes are a couple of weeks into spring ball and as they usually do, they brought their show to Bob Young Field. It’s a nice opportunity to give area fans a sneak peak of things to come next season, which figured to be an important one for USD. The Coyotes will open up at Central Florida, a team who was bowl eligible in 2009. USD’s 2010 schedule also features the University of Minnesota.
Coyotes face athletic crossroads
Herbster is interim AD once Nielsen departs
The process to bring a new athletic director to the University of South Dakota at a pivotal point in the school’s Division I transition will not be rushed, president Jim Abbott said this week.
The university leader, who has been involved in hiring two previous athletic directors at USD, will appoint associate athletic director David Herbster to the interim job, then assemble a search committee comprised of coaches, boosters, faculty and students to be headed by faculty athletic representative Tina Keller.
USD will also hire a consultant to help facilitate a national search for a replacement for Joel Nielsen, who was named athletic director at Kent State in March and will leave Vermillion in May.
Search is on for No. 1 QB
VERMILLION - The University of South Dakota football team has an opening at quarterback for the first time in four years and a new defensive coordinator who promises significant changes.
In other words, it’s definitely not a business-as-usual spring football camp for the Coyotes. A lot of new people are going to be trying a lot of new things.
The most significant point of interest will be at quarterback, where four-year starter Noah Shepard is gone and lightly used backup Dante Warren and junior college transfer Brandon Gorsuch expect to battle this spring - and perhaps again in the fall - for the No. 1 quarterback spot.
Coyotes open spring drills on Monday
VERMILLION — South Dakota head coach Ed Meierkort has announced the Coyote football program will begin its spring season on Monday. USD will run through 14 practices, including two in Sioux Falls, over three weeks before concluding with its annual Red-White Spring Game.
USD eyes next step after Nielsen exit
Associate athletic director Herbster viewed as contender for top job
One day after officially accepting the job of athletic director at Kent State, Joel Nielsen was back at the DakotaDome, where it was business as usual. Sort of.
The departing University of South Dakota athletic director joked that he’ll continue to work at USD until early May, “unless someone kicks me out the door.”
USD athletic director to take Kent State job
University of South Dakota athletic director Joel Nielsen will be introduced as the next athletic director at Kent State University this morning, USD president Jim Abbott confirmed Wednesday night.
“I’m very, very sorry to see him go,” Abbott said. “This is a tremendous step forward in his career, and I know that everyone at USD is happy for him.”
Coyotes Hire Tyndall Native Morrell As Defensive Coordinator
In terms of purely title, the new gig for Chuck Morrell is a lateral move.
But that’s where the similarities end.
South Dakota Grabs Stars
Most high school athletes dream about being in the some type of professional sport. With the exception of baseball, every sport requires the athlete to play at least one year of college sports.
This past month was national signing day for college football. Since our transition from Division II to Division I, people are always comparing USD recruiting classes to SDSU’s.
COSIDA's Academic All-America® Team Announced
FCS represented with 17 student-athletes
Repeat selections on the 24-member ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Football University Division first team include junior running back Kyle Minett of South Dakota State, senior defensive lineman Brandon Wingeier of Dayton, and senior defensive back Beau Hadley of Weber State.
- 1311 words - FCS News Articles, Missouri Valley Football Conference, Southern Illinois Salukis, Indiana State Sycamores, Pioneer Football League, Great West Conference, Big Sky Conference, North Dakota Fightin' Sioux, South Dakota State Jackrabbits, South Dakota Coyotes, Weber State Wildcats, Eastern Washington Eagles, Big South Conference, Liberty Flames, Northern Iowa Panthers, Ivy League, Brown Bears, Dayton Flyers, Valparaiso Crusaders, Ohio Valley Conference, Tennessee State Tigers, Jacksonville State Gamecocks Young players impressive in Coyote camp
VERMILLION, S.D. – It’s unusual for University of South Dakota football coach Ed Meierkort to announce after the opening week of practice that some of his younger players are already ticketed for action.
“Some of our young guys are very impressive and they are going to play, which is very odd for us to say,” said Meierkort, whose squad wrapped up its first week of two-a-days with a two-hour session on the grass practice fields east of the DakotaDome on Friday. “Quinton McMartin is not only gifted as a freshman, he’s a weapon.”
McMartin, a 2009 Sioux Falls Washington graduate, has been performing well at fullback. The coach also spoke highly of some younger players at linebacker, including sophomores Shea Williams and Adam Borchers, a Bloomfield, Neb., product.
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