Bulldogs make Duluth into Titletown, Minn.

DULUTH

Barely four months ago, when hockey season was just hitting its stride, Kyle Schmidt joined his fellow Minnesota Duluth students to celebrate another national championship. The Bulldogs football team had won its second NCAA Division II title in three seasons, in the same calendar year the women's hockey team brought home its fifth Division I trophy.

Like so many others on campus, Schmidt felt proud to see his school earn national recognition. He also felt inspired to up the ante with the prize it coveted most: a men's hockey championship.

"More than anything, that gave us the drive to have that same kind of success," said Schmidt, a forward from nearby Hermantown. "A title was something we wanted and needed and the community deserved. When teams around you are winning, it builds a tradition of winning. Everyone wants to be part of it."

Schmidt kept the UMD parade going, scoring the goal that beat Michigan 3-2 in overtime two weeks ago for the first men's hockey title in school history. That prompted a whole new round of dreams on a campus where a sense of common purpose -- and deep commitment to school and community -- have led to a remarkable run.

The Bulldogs have won five NCAA championships in the past three years. Football ran the table in 2008 and 2010, capping undefeated seasons with Division II titles. Women's hockey also won NCAA championships in '08 and '10, and its five are the most of any team in the sport. The volleyball program is a D-II titan, with nine consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and a trip to the semifinals in 2006.

"I don't think there's any secret to it," said Bob Nielson, who has been at UMD since 1999 and is currently its athletic director and football coach. "The bottom line is, we have an outstanding group of coaches who are highly committed to being successful and doing things the right way. They've attracted a tremendous group of young people who take a great deal of pride in ownership of our athletic programs.

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It all started in 2001, when women's hockey became the first Bulldogs program to win a Division I national championship. The football team earned the first crown in a NCAA D-II sport seven years later.

"It was a huge deal," said running back Isaac Odim, an All-America who holds multiple school records. "The feeling among the community was, 'We should enjoy this, because it might not happen again. It could be a once in a lifetime thing.' "

Instead, it raised the expectations and goals of all the athletes on this close-knit campus. Though UMD's enrollment has grown, its 11,700 students still consider it a small school. More than 88 percent are from Minnesota, and many athletes who grew up in the area carry deep loyalty to the Bulldogs.

The draw here is love, not money. Nielson said UMD's total athletic budget is between $7.5 million and $8 million this academic year; that's comparable to many similar universities, he said, but it's a lean number in a time of skyrocketing spending on college sports. The football team offers only 24 scholarships -- 12 fewer than the D-II limit -- as per the rules of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

"We can't take a recruit to a football game with 60,000 people or Jim Tressel on the sidelines," said Sandelin, who has been mentioned as a candidate to coach the new men's hockey program at Penn State. "We're taking them to a game with 5,000 people, and it's probably colder. But that's OK. We have tremendous coaches here, hard-working people that all do a lot with less. I think the success of the programs here says a lot for what small schools can do."

Nielson said those coaches support each other well, which rubs off on the athletes. When the football team was rolling through the playoffs, the women's hockey team asked for scoring updates between periods of its own games. Odim said many athletes attend each other's events and help each other out, drawing strength from feeling they are part of a larger athletic community.

The ripple effects of that unity extend to the administration, faculty, city and region. Hockey player Tara Gray said professors are happy to accommodate athletes' schedules; many want to talk about the games and sign their e-mails with "Go Dogs!" Chancellor Lendley Black, who took office just last summer, keeps an autographed team football in his office and watched the men's hockey championship with University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks.

Black said he is particularly proud that the school reflects the principles of NCAA Division II, which emphasizes balance among academics, athletics and community involvement. Several players said the affection that the Duluth area has for UMD -- and for its students and athletes, particularly those who come from the region -- makes them conscious of representing it well. "The community takes so much pride in us winning," said Garth Heikkinen, an offensive lineman. "It's hard not to have that extra 'want' factor, because they want us to win as much as we want to."

That feeling has been cemented by the outpouring of emotion for the men's hockey team. Last week, 3,000 people came to the new AMSOIL Arena for a public reception; it took four hours for the players to sign autographs for everyone. The team has treated the trophy like the Stanley Cup, carting it to their former schools and youth hockey arenas so as many people as possible can touch it and take pictures. When championship shirts and hats arrived at the bookstore, much of the memorabilia was snapped up before it could make it to the shelf.

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Sandelin said he expects the hockey championship will help with recruiting, as will the new $80 million arena. But he doesn't expect the persona of his teams to change substantially, and quarterback Chase Vogler said the same will be true of football.

"Duluth recruits for character," Vogler said. "That starts with Coach Nielson, and he expects that from every coach. That's probably the biggest reason for our success."

There are other benefits to the titles. Odim is proud to have raised the profile of the Northern Sun conference, and he believes the increased exposure for UMD can attract more diverse students from a wider area. Nielson and Sandelin -- who received 230 text messages after the championship game -- hope to see increases in fundraising and other athletics revenues, which will be critical to the future.

Sandelin joked that Black might be expecting championship celebrations on a regular basis, given what the chancellor has seen so far. He promised his team would try to deliver -- and after all the fun they've had, so will every other athlete on campus.