2017 Season

[F'n Hawks]

I would like to see Oliveria get more carries next year...A little bit more of Santiago out wide...

[shep]

How about Santiago out of the backfield isolated on an LB.

[BigGame]

6 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Hunt is going to be great but he was on an island yesterday and overmatched by some really good WRs. 

Is it likely that one of these CB's moves to the FS spot?  We do have some young talent at CB but I am concerned about the safety spot opposite Reyes next year. 

[bang]

5 hours ago, shep said:

The guy I liked so much based on his HUDL video was Randolph. Think he can step in next year??

He's really athletic. Wouldn't surprise me to see him on offense in wildcat formations. 

[UND-FB-FAN]

3 hours ago, F'n Hawks said:

I would like to see Oliveria get more carries next year...A little bit more of Santiago out wide...

 

1 hour ago, shep said:

How about Santiago out of the backfield isolated on an LB.

I really think these ideas are the direction that the offense needs to go. 

I absolutely love John's ability - it is hard not to - but his skills are better suited as a flex player (someone that can play both in the backfield and out wide).

Brady Oliveira is a prototypical pro-style back with his size; in terms of pure backfield touches, he should get more than John Santiago. John Santiago still deserves to be a major emphasized player but with touches coming from multiple spots (backfield, slot, returner, etc.)

[geaux_sioux]

15 minutes ago, BigGame said:

Is it likely that one of these CB's moves to the FS spot?  We do have some young talent at CB but I am concerned about the safety spot opposite Reyes next year. 

I've thought about that a lot this year. We need a true FS because Reyes is such a great SS. I was happy for Arnell to come back from his injury but he just isn't good enough. Too many huge mistakes.  I think that is just as important for our success next year as anything.

[petey23]

I like the direction Bubba has the program moving.

Continue to bring in talent for competition at positions and to build depth.....is the player currently in the starting position a strength, neutral, or a weakness? This evaluation needs to extend to our coaching staff as well. As we continue to build our program and move to where we want to be, are the coaches we have a good fit? Are they still learning or are they maxed out and maybe overmatched in their abilities? Tough decisions for a head coach to make as the staff seems close and friendships are built but at the same time we might have a couple areas that are currently holding us back or will in the future.

[shep]

Plus we have a potential playmaker on the bench.

Gordon looked good in the times he was in.

[Longtime fan]

UND :

8-0 vs big sky 

1-0 vs mvfc 

0-1 vs fbs

0-2 vs caa

damn east teams

[The Sicatoka]

When you have a resource like Santiago, who can run and catch, why isn't he ... 

- slotted and used on the jet sweep
- set wide and used on the tunnel or bubble screen
- returning punts

I'm not saying all the time, you still need to put him in the backfield, but doing those things with 22 only makes space for 5 and 28. 

[SiouxHawks]

As the proud father of Joe Mollberg I would like to take a few minutes to share some observations.  Thank you to those of you who have posted positive comments about Joe over the years on this site, or have stopped at games to ask about Joe’s health and well-being.

 

First, I want to congratulate Coach Schweigart and the entire UND FIghting Hawks staff on a tremendous season and an undefeated Big Sky Conference Championship.  Bubba has the team going in the right direction and the future looks bright for the Fighting Hawks.  Joe has great respect for Bubba and his staff and is appreciative of the support offered him at UND from all coaches, including former head coach Chris Mussman.  

 

It is easy on sites such as this to be critical of coaches and the decisions they make, but being a former coach myself, I am confident that almost all coaches have their priorities straight and really do care for their players at the deepest levels.  To prove this to you, less than an hour after the championship clinching game against NAU was over Joe received a call of congratulations from former Coach Mussman.  That is a class act on Coach Mussman’s part.

 

I would also like to commend one current coach in particular that impacted Joe in his time at UND.  Joe told me repeatedly how much respect he has for tight end Coach Shawn Kostich and the enthusiasm Kostich brings to each and every practice and game.  Coach Kostich took Joe under his wing when he made the voluntary transition to tight end and did a great job making Joe feel as if he were a valued part of that close-knit group that was referred to as the “Big-Cats.” UND is lucky to have Kostich on staff.   Shawn is a young and upcoming coach who will go far in his career

 

Joe Mollberg is a good athlete, but he is even a better person.  Coming out of high school Joe had other options of schools to attend and as a parent, looking in the rear-view mirror, it it is easy to second guess, but Joe has never once regretted his decision to attend UND.  Joe never once questioned his choice, because he is fully committed that he made the right choice, for the right reasons.  Joe has made great friends that will be part of his life forever, and though the road was difficult, Joe left UND as a champion of the Big Sky Conference.   But perhaps the most important fact (that is rarely talked about with college football players) is that Joe has received a tremendous education at the University of North Dakota. What more could he possibly ask for?

 

Joe paraphrased his favorite role model Tim Tebow when he shared what Tebow said in an interview when asked about success and failure.  Tebow said;

 

“The ultimate goal is not to succeed or fail, the ultimate goal is to give everything you have for something in your heart.  If you get to live out your dream every day, then the result does not matter.  To be able to look back 20-30 years from now and say.’I gave everything I could, that is pretty awesome.’”  

 

That was the exact attitude that Joe brought to UND football every day over the last five years.  How could a father not be proud of that attitude?  

 

I learned a tremendous amount by watching Joe and how he faced the adversities thrown his way the last few years.  Joe taught me more the last few years than I taught him.  Joe wants to be a special education teacher, working with special needs kids, and a high school coach.  As a former coach and current teacher I truly believe Joe will be tremendously successful at whatever he chooses to do.  The University of North Dakota School of Education and the University of North Dakota football program have both  helped prepare Joe for the challenges ahead of him l and I am grateful for that.

 

Many of you may not be aware of this, but in high school Joe was diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that can cause the the vertebrae in your spine to fuse together. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture.  A.S. is a painful disease that there is no known cure for.  I remember well taking Joe to Mayo in Rochester in high school and his doctor telling us, “If Joe makes it through a career as a college football player with A.S. they will probably be writing medical journals about him.”  Though there is no medical confirmation of this, I am confident that the ruptured achilles Joe suffered in his sophomore season was the result of A.S..  There is medical evidence to support this claim.  Again, we are proud of Joe for battling through this adversity.

 

After Joe’s ruptured achilles injury he had a number of choices he could have made.  He could have quit the team and walked away.  No one would have questioned this decision.  He could have transferred to another school and tried to reclaim the quarterback position he loved playing.  He could have returned to the team and been a negative influence on his teammates.  Instead he chose a difficult and uphill path.  He chose to support his school, support his coaches, and most importantly support his teammates.  

 

We have a great many photos of Joe playing football at UND, but probably my favorite of all time is this one.  This was one of his final games at UND.  Joe had called me days before to proudly tell me to “be sure to get to the next game early” as he was going to be carrying the UND school flag out onto the field.  Joe was as proud at that moment as any other in his time at the University of North Dakota.

 

Thank you for your support of Joe Mollberg, his teammates, and all student-athletes in their time at the University of North Dakota.

 

Go SiouxHawks!

 

Kent Mollberg

 

 

 

 

[ericpnelson]

Very cool post Kent. I remember talking to you and your wife on the catwalk Joe's freshman year. I hope we keep seeing you around the Alerus center going forward!

[Longtime fan]

I've always considered Joe a true class act.  You can see  how humble he is when he speaks....not only about the team but any general question.  If things didn't go his way he never pointed fingers, whined or cried.   He did what the coaches asked of him and did it 100%.   You raised a good one 

[shep]

Thanks for that post, Mr Mollberg. God's blessings to Joe and your entire family.

[geaux_sioux]

49 minutes ago, SiouxHawks said:

 

As the proud father of Joe Mollberg I would like to take a few minutes to share some observations.  Thank you to those of you who have posted positive comments about Joe over the years on this site, or have stopped at games to ask about Joe’s health and well-being.

 

First, I want to congratulate Coach Schweigart and the entire UND FIghting Hawks staff on a tremendous season and an undefeated Big Sky Conference Championship.  Bubba has the team going in the right direction and the future looks bright for the Fighting Hawks.  Joe has great respect for Bubba and his staff and is appreciative of the support offered him at UND from all coaches, including former head coach Chris Mussman.  

 

It is easy on sites such as this to be critical of coaches and the decisions they make, but being a former coach myself, I am confident that almost all coaches have their priorities straight and really do care for their players at the deepest levels.  To prove this to you, less than an hour after the championship clinching game against NAU was over Joe received a call of congratulations from former Coach Mussman.  That is a class act on Coach Mussman’s part.

 

I would also like to commend one current coach in particular that impacted Joe in his time at UND.  Joe told me repeatedly how much respect he has for tight end Coach Shawn Kostich and the enthusiasm Kostich brings to each and every practice and game.  Coach Kostich took Joe under his wing when he made the voluntary transition to tight end and did a great job making Joe feel as if he were a valued part of that close-knit group that was referred to as the “Big-Cats.” UND is lucky to have Kostich on staff.   Shawn is a young and upcoming coach who will go far in his career

 

Joe Mollberg is a good athlete, but he is even a better person.  Coming out of high school Joe had other options of schools to attend and as a parent, looking in the rear-view mirror, it it is easy to second guess, but Joe has never once regretted his decision to attend UND.  Joe never once questioned his choice, because he is fully committed that he made the right choice, for the right reasons.  Joe has made great friends that will be part of his life forever, and though the road was difficult, Joe left UND as a champion of the Big Sky Conference.   But perhaps the most important fact (that is rarely talked about with college football players) is that Joe has received a tremendous education at the University of North Dakota. What more could he possibly ask for?

 

Joe paraphrased his favorite role model Tim Tebow when he shared what Tebow said in an interview when asked about success and failure.  Tebow said;

 

“The ultimate goal is not to succeed or fail, the ultimate goal is to give everything you have for something in your heart.  If you get to live out your dream every day, then the result does not matter.  To be able to look back 20-30 years from now and say.’I gave everything I could, that is pretty awesome.’”  

 

That was the exact attitude that Joe brought to UND football every day over the last five years.  How could a father not be proud of that attitude?  

 

I learned a tremendous amount by watching Joe and how he faced the adversities thrown his way the last few years.  Joe taught me more the last few years than I taught him.  Joe wants to be a special education teacher, working with special needs kids, and a high school coach.  As a former coach and current teacher I truly believe Joe will be tremendously successful at whatever he chooses to do.  The University of North Dakota School of Education and the University of North Dakota football program have both  helped prepare Joe for the challenges ahead of him l and I am grateful for that.

 

Many of you may not be aware of this, but in high school Joe was diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that can cause the the vertebrae in your spine to fuse together. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture.  A.S. is a painful disease that there is no known cure for.  I remember well taking Joe to Mayo in Rochester in high school and his doctor telling us, “If Joe makes it through a career as a college football player with A.S. they will probably be writing medical journals about him.”  Though there is no medical confirmation of this, I am confident that the ruptured achilles Joe suffered in his sophomore season was the result of A.S..  There is medical evidence to support this claim.  Again, we are proud of Joe for battling through this adversity.

 

After Joe’s ruptured achilles injury he had a number of choices he could have made.  He could have quit the team and walked away.  No one would have questioned this decision.  He could have transferred to another school and tried to reclaim the quarterback position he loved playing.  He could have returned to the team and been a negative influence on his teammates.  Instead he chose a difficult and uphill path.  He chose to support his school, support his coaches, and most importantly support his teammates.  

 

We have a great many photos of Joe playing football at UND, but probably my favorite of all time is this one.  This was one of his final games at UND.  Joe had called me days before to proudly tell me to “be sure to get to the next game early” as he was going to be carrying the UND school flag out onto the field.  Joe was as proud at that moment as any other in his time at the University of North Dakota.

 

Thank you for your support of Joe Mollberg, his teammates, and all student-athletes in their time at the University of North Dakota.

 

Go SiouxHawks!

 

Kent Mollberg

 

 

 

 

I'm still a little bitter about his Achilles injury... I don't care what anyone says he was about to turn the corner and be a great QB for us. I'm really glad he stuck it out and wish they would have done some sort of TE pass option with him.

[MoSiouxFan]

1 hour ago, SiouxHawks said:

 

As the proud father of Joe Mollberg I would like to take a few minutes to share some observations.  Thank you to those of you who have posted positive comments about Joe over the years on this site, or have stopped at games to ask about Joe’s health and well-being.

 

First, I want to congratulate Coach Schweigart and the entire UND FIghting Hawks staff on a tremendous season and an undefeated Big Sky Conference Championship.  Bubba has the team going in the right direction and the future looks bright for the Fighting Hawks.  Joe has great respect for Bubba and his staff and is appreciative of the support offered him at UND from all coaches, including former head coach Chris Mussman.  

 

It is easy on sites such as this to be critical of coaches and the decisions they make, but being a former coach myself, I am confident that almost all coaches have their priorities straight and really do care for their players at the deepest levels.  To prove this to you, less than an hour after the championship clinching game against NAU was over Joe received a call of congratulations from former Coach Mussman.  That is a class act on Coach Mussman’s part.

 

I would also like to commend one current coach in particular that impacted Joe in his time at UND.  Joe told me repeatedly how much respect he has for tight end Coach Shawn Kostich and the enthusiasm Kostich brings to each and every practice and game.  Coach Kostich took Joe under his wing when he made the voluntary transition to tight end and did a great job making Joe feel as if he were a valued part of that close-knit group that was referred to as the “Big-Cats.” UND is lucky to have Kostich on staff.   Shawn is a young and upcoming coach who will go far in his career

 

Joe Mollberg is a good athlete, but he is even a better person.  Coming out of high school Joe had other options of schools to attend and as a parent, looking in the rear-view mirror, it it is easy to second guess, but Joe has never once regretted his decision to attend UND.  Joe never once questioned his choice, because he is fully committed that he made the right choice, for the right reasons.  Joe has made great friends that will be part of his life forever, and though the road was difficult, Joe left UND as a champion of the Big Sky Conference.   But perhaps the most important fact (that is rarely talked about with college football players) is that Joe has received a tremendous education at the University of North Dakota. What more could he possibly ask for?

 

Joe paraphrased his favorite role model Tim Tebow when he shared what Tebow said in an interview when asked about success and failure.  Tebow said;

 

“The ultimate goal is not to succeed or fail, the ultimate goal is to give everything you have for something in your heart.  If you get to live out your dream every day, then the result does not matter.  To be able to look back 20-30 years from now and say.’I gave everything I could, that is pretty awesome.’”  

 

That was the exact attitude that Joe brought to UND football every day over the last five years.  How could a father not be proud of that attitude?  

 

I learned a tremendous amount by watching Joe and how he faced the adversities thrown his way the last few years.  Joe taught me more the last few years than I taught him.  Joe wants to be a special education teacher, working with special needs kids, and a high school coach.  As a former coach and current teacher I truly believe Joe will be tremendously successful at whatever he chooses to do.  The University of North Dakota School of Education and the University of North Dakota football program have both  helped prepare Joe for the challenges ahead of him l and I am grateful for that.

 

Many of you may not be aware of this, but in high school Joe was diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that can cause the the vertebrae in your spine to fuse together. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture.  A.S. is a painful disease that there is no known cure for.  I remember well taking Joe to Mayo in Rochester in high school and his doctor telling us, “If Joe makes it through a career as a college football player with A.S. they will probably be writing medical journals about him.”  Though there is no medical confirmation of this, I am confident that the ruptured achilles Joe suffered in his sophomore season was the result of A.S..  There is medical evidence to support this claim.  Again, we are proud of Joe for battling through this adversity.

 

After Joe’s ruptured achilles injury he had a number of choices he could have made.  He could have quit the team and walked away.  No one would have questioned this decision.  He could have transferred to another school and tried to reclaim the quarterback position he loved playing.  He could have returned to the team and been a negative influence on his teammates.  Instead he chose a difficult and uphill path.  He chose to support his school, support his coaches, and most importantly support his teammates.  

 

We have a great many photos of Joe playing football at UND, but probably my favorite of all time is this one.  This was one of his final games at UND.  Joe had called me days before to proudly tell me to “be sure to get to the next game early” as he was going to be carrying the UND school flag out onto the field.  Joe was as proud at that moment as any other in his time at the University of North Dakota.

 

Thank you for your support of Joe Mollberg, his teammates, and all student-athletes in their time at the University of North Dakota.

 

Go SiouxHawks!

 

Kent Mollberg

 

 

 

 

Not hard to see why Joe is such a class act:  your post shows what a class act you are, as well.  Our football program is the better for Joe having been a part of it for 5 years.  The example he set by the way that he handled adversity will have a far greater impact on his teammates and coaches than any records that he might have set as a quarterback.  If I had had any sons, I would have wanted Joe to be their coach.  Thanks for your post.  It made my day.  May the Lord bless Joe and you and your family.

[gfhockey]

Tear jerker

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

Great Post, just posted on "2016 Attendance" and made comment about getting over the loss to Richmond. This just got me over it.  Thank You, Mr. Mollberg! What a Great Post.

[Westside]

http://millersports.areavoices.com/2016/12/05/und-football-what-returns-in-2017/

Tom Miler's thoughts on 2017

[Westside]

21 hours ago, F'n Hawks said:

I would like to see Oliveria get more carries next year...A little bit more of Santiago out wide...

John Santiago had 9 (yes, NINE) catches in 2016.  This needs to change in 2017.

 

[fightingsioux4life]

18 minutes ago, Westside said:

http://millersports.areavoices.com/2016/12/05/und-football-what-returns-in-2017/

Tom Miler's thoughts on 2017

Wow, Miller makes it sound like we have nothing coming back and we are in big trouble in several areas! I don't think things are that dire.

[homer]

5 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Wow, Miller makes it sound like we have nothing coming back and we are in big trouble in several areas! I don't think things are that dire.

I don't disagree with him.  The goal next year will be improve over this year.   We don't lose a lot for numbers but it's a lot of experience and if we can't backfill, next year will be maintain vs improvement. 

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, homer said:

I don't disagree with him.  The goal next year will be improve over this year.   We don't lose a lot for numbers but it's a lot of experience and if we can't backfill, next year will be maintain vs improvement. 

If Miller thinks we are going to take a step back in 2017, he should just come out and say it.

[Sioux94]

4 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

If Miller thinks we are going to take a step back in 2017, he should just come out and say it.

I guess I read it differently than you, I didn't take that out of it at all.  In my mind he basically pointed out there are 5 key seniors we lose and said OL has ton of competition to replace that spot, the DL will be fine, and some linebackers will have to step up to fill some voids there.  Hardly doom and gloom....or at least that is not how I take it. 

[sioux24/7]

26 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Wow, Miller makes it sound like we have nothing coming back and we are in big trouble in several areas! I don't think things are that dire.

Not sure I read the same thing you did....