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Posts about Minnesota boys football
Metro Football coaches on the move
Posted by: Jim Paulsen Updated: February 27, 2011 - 5:16 PM
While Maple Grove’s hiring of Wayzata defensive coordinator Matt Lombardi as just the second head coach in the school’s history made the biggest splash of the offseason (so far), other coaching vacancies have been filled.
Here’s a look at some of the other coaching moves that have taken place around the metro over the winter:
• Darin Glazier, head coach at Tartan for the last five years, is taking over the top job at Park of Cottage Grove with the departure of longtime head coach Doug Ekmark.
• Beau LaBore is leaving Woodbury after six years to become the head coach at Stillwater, replacing Scott Hoffman.
• Elk River has hired Steve Hamilton for the top football job. Hamilton, 40, is a Michigan native who has spent the last few years coaching at Woodlands High School in Cartersville, Georgia.
• Mike Hennen has been promoted to head coach at Cambridge-Isanti, taking over for Todd Larkin. Hennen has been the Bluejackets’ defensive coordinator for the last 10 years.
Also worth noting is that the High School All-Star football game will be coming back to the Twin Cities area.
After being held at Husky Stadium on the campus of St. Cloud State University for the last six years, this years' game will be played Saturday, June 25 at TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
The game has also changed formats. The traditional Outstate vs. Metro matchup has been scrapped in favor of pitting the North vs. the South. Metropolitan area players will be eligible to play for either team depending on the location of their school.
Jim Paulsen
Totino-Grace football opting-up to Class 5A
Posted by: David LaVaque Updated: February 23, 2011 - 3:34 PMTotino-Grace football, winners of six Class 4A state championships in the past eight seasons, will opt-up next season to Class 5A.
Eagles coach Jeff Ferguson said he spoke with school administration, his coaching staff and players before making the decision. The school, located in Fridley, has a current enrollment of less than 800 students. But Ferguson is confident his team will fare well in the playoffs with schools two- or three-times the size.
“We’re up to the challenge,” Ferguson said. “You don’t know until you try. There’s never a perfect time to make this kind of move.”
The timing is more favorable in the wake of a Minnesota State High School League policy change on the time commitment for teams that opt-up. It used to be a four-year commitment. Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, it’s a two-year commitment.
In addition, major changes could be in store for high school football’s scheduling and playoff systems. A seventh class could be added that would move larger schools into their own class.
Ferguson said the success of the move will be weighed by more than wins and losses.
“If we live according to our mission that we believe in building young men, then it shouldn’t matter who we play or what our record is,” Ferguson.
No change for St. Thomas Academy hockey
St. Thomas Academy's boys' hockey team, Class 1A state champions in 2006 and 2008, will not opt-up to Class 2A, school activities director Jack Zahr said.
"A case could be made either way," Zahr said. "But it was an administrative decision and ultimately it's the best thing for our school at this time."
Zahr said the school "will re-examine" the issue in the future. St. Thomas Academy, an all-boys school located in Mendota Heights, missed qualifying for the Class 1A tournament the past two seasons.
Minnetonka football coach Dave Nelson battling prostate cancer
Posted by: David LaVaque Updated: February 22, 2011 - 6:04 PMMinnetonka football coach Dave Nelson will undergo surgery in April for prostate cancer.
Nelson, 55, was diagnosed in January. He said doctors caught the cancer early and expect both the surgery and long-term outcome to be successful. Nelson will have surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
“Everything will be all right," Nelson said. "Prostate cancer is really curable. I expect to miss a few weeks and then I’ll be back at it.”
A Facebook page entitled “Pray For Coach Dave Nelson As He Battles Prostate Cancer” was started by some of Nelson’s former players. He coached at Blaine for 18 seasons and won the 1988 big school state championship. He left Blaine for Minnetonka in 2002 and led the Skippers to the 2004 Class 5A state football championship.
“It’s nice to win football games but I’d much rather know that former players still care about me,” Nelson said. “Actually, it’s nice to do both.”
Gophers offer football scholarship to Osseo junior TE Will Johnson
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: February 22, 2011 - 8:23 AMThe University of Minnesota has offered a scholarship to 6-7, 255-pound tight end Will Johnson of Osseo, Orioles head coach Derrin Lamker said in an e-mail Tuesday morning.
The Gophers also brought junior QB DJ Hebert from Osseo into Jerry Kill’s office on Saturday for a private conversation about playing either WR or DB for the Gophers, Lamker said.
Johnson had 14 catches last season, while Hebert threw for almost 1,800 yards and rushed for 460 more.
Wayzata's Lombardi takes Maple Grove football job
Posted by: David LaVaque Updated: February 9, 2011 - 4:56 PMMatt Lombardi, defensive coordinator for Wayzata’s football team the past seven seasons, has resigned to take the head coaching job at Maple Grove.
Lombardi, whose defenses spurred the Trojans to Class 5A football titles in 2005, 2008 and 2010, replaces Craig Hansen, who recently retired after serving as the first and only coach in Maple Grove’s 14-year history. Lombardi announced his decision to Wayzata’s players in a meeting Wednesday morning.
Lombardi, whose father, Robert Lombardi, is a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, helped build Wayzata into one of the state’s elite programs. The Trojans went 73-12 during Lombardi’s seven seasons, with the defense pitching 23 shutouts.
The Maple Grove job will test Lombardi’s ability to revitalize a program that finished 3-6 in each of the past three seasons and 38-29 overall in the past seven seasons. An interesting fact: each of Maple Grove three best seasons during that span ended with playoff losses to Wayzata.
Lombardi helped mold several Division I recruits, including James Laurinaitis, Tommy Becker, Tobi Okuyemi, Grant Olson and A.J. Tarpley. But he also did wonders with less heralded units, like the one that helped Wayzata win the 2010 state title. Lombardi’s varied schemes and personnel groups contained Blaine’s spread offense and the power-running games of Mounds View and Rosemount in the state tournament. After the shutout of Blaine, Wayzata head coach Brad Anderson jokingly referred to Lombardi as “a mad scientist.” Next fall, the two could be matching wits in the Section 5 playoffs.
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