π Published on: 2024-12-02 20:55:54
β± Duration: 00:28:36 (1716 seconds)
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Director of Athletics Bill Chaves, Bubba Schweigert and Isaac Fruechte speak to the media to discuss the coaching transition for the North Dakota football program
#UNDproud | #LGH
π Channel: UND Insider
π Channel Country: United States
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π΅οΈββοΈ Transcript:
we’ll go ahead and get started with director of Athletics Bill Chaves thanks Tyler I appreciate it thank you uh all for coming today appreciate it um so let me start by uh thanking Bubba schweer um Bubba uh had been an assistant coach here from 89 to 03 and then served as a head coach for the last 11 years and so by my count I think that’s 2 years it’s an amazing accomplishment uh 25 years at one place um you should be proud about that accomplishment for sure um but I will say this as we kind of move to Chapters in life I’m excited for his next chapter I I really am um Eric Martins and I talk a lot about where we are in division one division one landscape and one thing that we discussed is what who can we have on our staff that has the ability to do two things one is to continue to reach out to a vast number of alums to a vast number of folks in general that’s the engagement piece we have amazing people in our alumni Foundation I see I see Bubba working with those folks hand and glove then I also think some someone that has done what he’s done for as long as he’s done it he has the ability to Mentor some folks he has the ability to Mentor our staff Mentor our student athletes and Mentor our coaches that’s an important piece of this puzzle so those are two things that I think he’s going to be really really good at and we’re excited about it so so um he’ll start that position on January 1 and uh again uh I think uh you know we’re all going to be better for for uh continuing to work with Bubba so I want to say thank you to Bubba [Applause] schweer I also want to say thank you to uh coach fricky um appreciate his willingness to step up and take over on an interim basis um you know I think uh you know we’ve had some discussions over the last uh 24 to 36 to 48 Hours about what makes sense in this time frame and uh in talking to both um Bubba and Isaac I think we came to the conclusion that I think having someone on an interim role that’s going to be looking forward for the program made a lot of sense so that’s the reason why we made the decision yesterday to name Isaac the interim so uh and I know he’ll mention a few things today as well um so finally about the process uh uh so the process moving forward like like in any head coaching uh search I’m a very popular person right now very very popular so I would say though we are going to go as quick as we can but we’re going to be very very thorough those are the two things because I believe this we have an amazing position available I think it’s incredibly attractive just being in this theater alone opening up a new addition across the way is going to be amazing I you know there’s there’s pieces in place that I truly believe we can be the best FCS program in the country and so with that that’s my thought process I don’t know I won’t be pinned down to a time frame because I never know how it’s all going to work out I really don’t but I will say this I’ll leave it with this and then answer questions after words if you did 10 searches you might yield 10 different results so I don’t know what’s going to transpire at this point in time so more to come with that I’m going to hand it over to Bubba [Applause] schwager all right thanks Bill and thanks everyone for uh being here you know um 11 years ago some of you were probably at the uh press conference when I accepted this opportunity and I promise to be shorter than that today and um you know the one thing I want to say I’ve just been grateful for this opportunity for 11 years you know how many guys get to sit in this chair and not many you know North Dakota’s Flagship University have said it several times when you know throughout the years I get asked by recruits and Families how long you’re going to be here and I go I’m not going anywhere this is my Notre Dame and that’s the truth so you know got to meet Frank zazula that’s how long I’ve been around that was awesome meeting him have known the heling family you know Jerry Olsen became a great support of mine and always appreciate the encouragement from him and his family murf you know we all know murf and what he meant to this program and then of course uh two mentors that I hold in high regard throughout my time here Roger Thomas and Dale Lennon you know to sit in that chair that they sat in really means a lot to me and you know Chris musman and I we were in that coaching booth at Florence 2001 that was quite an Embrace when you when a championship and that was Chris and I so great memories and you know just to be able to sit in this chair just pretty humbling really humbling you know and I’d be remiss if uh I didn’t uh talk about my immediate family she told me not to do this but Laura sacrificed so much Alex and Cooper so we can do what we love to do and all coach’s families go through that and that’s what’s really hard all these sacrifice and you sometimes ask yourself was it really worth it and my family would say yes but I’ll just share one example you know we’re sitting out at a road game Cooper’s playing at a high school semifinal game I think everybody’s dad was there I wasn’t but here’s what’s really cool about College athletics I had a college teammate at that game and I didn’t ask him to be there I didn’t know what he did but I’m sitting in the hotel room and he sends me a picture and I said he said I covered for you tonight he’s embracing my son with tears in his eyes not leny but Cooper pretty cool huh pretty cool what what we get to be a part of one part about coaching you got to anticipate what might happen you know so just thanks to my family and we know what we’re getting into I think I said that we know what we’re getting into but but to get support and what they sacrifice really means a lot to me all the players and staff that have been a part of this I appreciate those efforts and all the work they put in you know I got a chance to meet with the team last night that’s returning and I just I’ll repeat what I told them you know I I feel like they’ve given way more to me than I could ever give back and I feel the same way about our staff just awesome mentors and Coach guys the right way and and and that means a lot to me it really does so that’s greatly appreciated all those efforts by a lot of special people you know the University of North Dakota I the flagship University I think it’s pretty apparent how I feel about this place and what it means to me and you know obviously growing up I wish I could have run faster and got the opportunity to play here but that didn’t happen but to get this opportunity pretty darn special and now it’s time to move on it and I know this um whoever that next person is in the chair and sitting up in that war room around that table I’m going to support them I’m going to support them when it’s going great I’m going to support them when it’s a struggle cuz that’s what you do when you love and care about a place thanks for your [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] time well um hard to follow that up but want to be thankful to to Bill and the admin group um and the coach for the opportunity and for everything that he’s done for the program and for myself um you know we’re at an interesting spot in our program but um I couldn’t be more thankful than to be sitting here uh where I’m at right now and uh you know like coach said he’s been a great support and my job now is to try and support our guys and support our program as we move forward and even though it’s difficult and and tough and uh we’re we’re very very thankful for everything we got to try and take a step in the right direction and make sure that we we continue to progress um you know and like I said I couldn’t thank everybody enough from Bill to Liz and everybody in the admin group to Bubba and and our whole staff we got a great group of uh staff members here we got a great program of players here um obviously we have great facilities and and it’s an exciting opportunity for for us moving forward as a program um you know as I addressed the team last night basically just told them we need to have everything be positive as we move forward we need to keep our guys that we have in our program here we need to keep our guys that are committed uh here and and coming to our school here in in two days signing that dotted line and taking care of what we need to take care of so that’s my main focus is that those guys know that they’re the most important people in our program and that we need to keep them here and uh if we can do that we’ll be in we’ll be in really good shape as we move forward here with that stuff and uh you know it it’s just we have a great foundation and we have a great program set in place and I’m going to do everything I can to try and help move that forward in in the direction that I think is is appropriate and our staff is great and we’ve had a couple good meetings where we’re on the the same page we feel like we need to take the next step and keep our guys here keep our recruits here and uh you know that’s our main focus so I’m excited about the opportunity I’m looking forward to the opportunity um I think this is an awesome job and and an awesome place to be with a lot of great people a lot of great um you know things that come with it great School uh great individuals walking around this H these hallways it’s my job to try and do everything I can to to improve it and uh with coaches help and with our staff’s help I’m going to do my best as we move forward but um you know with that I just I just want to say thanks for for the opportunity I’m going to try and do everything I can to keep this thing moving in a positive direction keep our guys together keep our commits together and uh my message to those guys was real simple let’s keep everything with our program positive as we move forward okay regardless of who the next head coach is and let’s make sure that when we talk about the program everything is in a positive light so we got to do a great job of going to class getting good grades taking care of everything academically do a good job in our two weeks of training before we go into a real winter break do a good job with that and then you know when the dust settles figure out where we’re going and move forward but make sure that we get better and and continue to uh move this program in the right direction so thanks [Applause] we’ll now open it up for questions from media members only please raise your hand if you have a question and wait for the microphone to get to you before asking your question address who the questions for they’ll come up and answer the question we’ll open it up for questions thanks Bill I’ve got a couple questions for you um what was the reasoning behind a change today in the closing of the job posting from December 6th to December 4th what went into that yeah so uh we had every intention for it to be on Wednesday and it just got out on Friday so uh it just was one of those that um most searches in in this case is a 5-day search this one we wanted it to be 3 days alls it was was clerical more than anything so we moved it from from Friday to Wednesday and then who who do you envision having say in this in in this yeah I I mean I think at the end of the day the institution um is run by Dr armacost and uh you know I want to make sure that Dr armacost is always uh you know involved um as far as what we’re thinking at this point in time but you know certainly our senior Administration will be charged with figuring out who that next person will be and I imagine there’s always some level of um urgency in these kind of things but does the kind of looming transfer portal window uh play a factor into your decision- making there yeah I you know it’s a good question Tom I I’d say having done this a few different times the landscape has changed a little bit um you know I at one point in time football had a year in residency um for their transfers that’s not the case anymore um I think the house settlement’s going to play a big role in this as well I I think you’re going to have uh FBS schools rosters um Contracting and I think there’s going to be more student athletes available than ever before and so we just have to be thoughtful um I I want to be quick but I want to be thorough because at the end of the day it’s really important to get the right person everything else will come after that anybody else have questions um is it important that the candidate has a UND and or North Dakota tie will that factor in your decision you know what I I’m going into this really open and uh whatever transpires um you know connectivity uh is always uh important for sure but as you go through these searches um sometimes you think one thing going in you think another thing in the middle and it ends up another way so I I don’t know I mean uh sure I I mean I think that can’t hurt but I’m not sure it has to be that way I have a couple questions for for Bubba uh can you won us through the timeline how long you’ve been thinking about making this decision yeah I you know it’s you just get to a point where you decide you’re going to move on I think you know there was no timeline there really wasn’t um you know I’ve been doing this a long time I I’m sure somebody knows you I did the research I don’t even know the years or number of years I coached but I think it’s around 40 and at some point you make a decision and say you’re going to have somebody else take this opportunity and run with it have you gotten a chance to do some reflecting over the weekend on how far the program has come especially like like you mentioned the facilities yeah it’s exciting I you know as I I’ll just share with you as we visited with with prospects visiting our campus uh this fall you know my opening line was there’s never been a better time in our division one era to be considering the University of North Dakota football with what’s out in front of us so I think that probably answers your question it’s pretty exciting stuff how involved if at all will you be with the next week or so with commits Signing Day Etc yeah like I um shared with the staff in the last meeting I ran I said I am here when you call me or need me it’s time for me to step aside you know um you know I’m not going to be like a maybe a politician that hangs around too long if you know what I mean I see that happen in the world it’s not my role my role is to support and be there to answer questions to help the program so I’m stepping aside thanks coach just one more sorry um what what do you think is the most important part of your new role or what do you look forward to of your new role what what do you think is that plays out here well you know Community engagement you mean that role yeah I’m sorry that I start January one yeah it’s really important for College athletics yeah I think that’s really important how you relate to supporters how you yeah all those things are important and then to Mentor coaches yeah I’m looking forward to it I you know some of that goes on just a natural process when you’ve been doing this a long time coaches on the staff reach out to you and ask you things just right now it’ll be more of an active role because I won’t be I’ll have more time I’ll have more time what um what has been the range of this week’s emotions for you as a place that it obviously matters a lot to you and and things will be changing for you what what have what’s your emotions been like this week I’m good I I’m good it didn’t seem like I was good today but I’m an emotional guy you know um I guess when you talk about people you love and you appreciate what they did for you you get emotional and some guys handle it better than others my dad’s laying in his grave he’s embarrassed right now um but you know he he’d rather have me tougher especially our German Heritage we aren’t supposed to do that but I it happens it happens I’m an emotional guy thanks coach anybody else for Coach fricky um obviously whenever you know uh a coaching change happens on a college level now the transfer portal is the kind of first and foremost in everybody’s mind how important is that you know portal management right now in this kind of transitional period for you well it’s extremely important for us to try and better our roster so we’ve formulated a list that um of position groups that we feel like we need to get better at and where we’re going to take a look at guys and who we want to bring in the assistant coaches as we’re working right now are they have a short list of of guys that they’re looking at and watching film and trying to evaluate those kids as they’re in the portal and as they you know take that step on the night for it to be official um but they’re they’re combing through right now and trying to make sure that we have a short list to try and find the right guys for our program and we’re going to be combing through it to try and improve our roster no question about it and uh we got to do a good job of you know obviously communicating efficiently with them on on that stuff you know cuz we got to be in compliant and do the right stuff and and be there on the nth when it open and make sure that we’re efficient with what we talk about and um you know then we got to get them here and we got to do a good job of you know I don’t want to say selling but showing them what we have to offer because Grand Forks is a great City the university is a great University we have facilities you know all over that are topnotch and now it’s on you know trying to get them to feel like this is family and this is their new home you know and we want to make sure that we have those communication with that communication with them early so that when they’re here they’re trying to make decision within the 24 hours or so of them being here hey this is where I’m going to be so that we can kind of expedite the process and make sure that they’re here for spring and be involved with us for spring workouts School uh Spring football all those things so it’s it’s it’s extremely important and we we’re going to have a short list of guys that we want to try and you know go capture and try and bring them in as soon as possible with how eventful the next two 3 weeks are you know in this calendar year for you guys how do you balance that mentally along with the coaching search going on in this the background there just kind of what’s your personal approach for this whole next few weeks of the program here well I think we’re on the same page you know admin and myself we’re we’re going to just attack it as business as usual you know try and do what we can to bring great people and and great players here and try and continue to progress the program forward like I said coaches got us in a great spot our program is you know at at the best place that could be in in the division one era it’s my job now to try and do what I can and for ever long I’m in this role to try and you know help our program be better so we’re going to do what we have to do and and you know I think we have full support on that side and and it’s it’s my job to try and better our program so we’re going to try and do what we can to make it better and and move forward as quickly as we can uh lastly for me for bill um with this kind of transition you know we mentioned the recent playoff success and things like that is there added pressure on you to kind of nail this higher to in lack of a better term I think every hire you’re trying to figure out the best fit at the right time and I think that’s our job and that’s why when I say we need to be thorough um there are a number of people that will be qualified to do this job but in my mind hopefully there will be one that rises above all to say this is their time now and so that’s our job I mean this is what we sign up for so you know excited for it um and you know the next time I’m at this Podium we’ll be introducing the next head coach of the University of North Dakota I’ve got a couple questions for Coach fry if that’s okay here it’s all good all good coach what what was your timeline in terms of reaching out to recruits and and what did you tell the 2025 class about how this situation might play out for them um you know I think right when coach talked to us about what was going to transpire we I mean we had a really good plan of moving forward and and that was from coach having that plan of we got to make sure that we keep our committed guys committed and that so Wednesday goes smooth so starts with him he did a great job with that our staff has done a good job with that of trying to make sure that we keep everybody um you know that’s going to be a part of our family a part of our family so it started with coach and making sure that when we found out the news that um he was going to step away that we were in constant contact with those guys to make sure that they were still going to be a part of our family now we’re continuing to do it you know as kind of new things have come forward um you know to make sure that we’re Bridging the Gap to try and make sure that again Wednesday goes smooth and our guys that are committed are committed so it’s kind of been a constant thing since everything has transpired with with coach and and uh you know as we move forward in this in this new role so it’s been constant communic to be quite honest with you how do you handle the the transfer portal you know you talked about it a little bit earlier but um how do you how do you convince guys that um a new staff might like them well uh you know I think that’s a good question I mean we’re going to try and do what we can to find the best players and the best fit for our program um you know and I think that’s kind of been the message from our staff and from you know everybody is that no matter what whether we’re here or I’m here or whoever’s here we want to do what’s best for our program so our job is to make sure that we bring the right kids here and make sure that you know they’re in the portal for the right reason we we the last people we want here is to have kids that you know oh it’s my former coach’s fault that I didn’t play or that I you know wasn’t getting on the field as much as I wanted or academic issues we don’t want people like that in our program we want to have guys that have realistic understanding of why they’re getting into the portal and what their what their reasoning is and then we want to make sure that they match us to make make sure that they’re a good fit for our program right and um you know that that’s regardless if our staff is here or if I’m here in what capacity you know those things may take place we just want to make sure that we have the right kids here and they’re the right fit for UND and for for our football program moving forward because we got a great culture and we got a great Foundation built and I think we know what it takes to find the right kids winners and and kids that are going to help our program they have the right um you know mindset about them and the right um character about him I think that’s what’s important and we’re going to try and build that and and sell that to him with that being said
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