Ranked last in preseason polls, USD football still optimistic about season

In 1982 the University of Montana was ranked dead last in preseason football polls. Neither coaches or media members believed the Grizzlies had what it took to win the Big Sky conference championship.

That 1982 Montana team had a first-year offensive coordinator named Joe Glenn on its sidelines and had extremely low expectations for him. But the Grizzlies proceeded to shock the conference with a 6-6 season and conference championship.

Fast-forward 33 years and Glenn finds himself in a similar situation. He’s now a fourth year head coach at the University of South Dakota and just about every pre-season poll ranks USD last in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

During Glenn’s tenure, the Coyotes are 7-28 and have lost all three games to their rivals at South Dakota State. The Coyotes are in the toughest conference in Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision football and, adding insult to injury, starting quarterback Kevin Earl is out for the season due to a back surgery.

The goals, however, are still high for coaches and players.

“We want to win a conference championship,” said sophomore running back Khorey Kilgore.

Both Glenn and his players believe the 2015 season will offer new opportunities for the team.

“We love his enthusiasm and his fire for the game. He does a really great job of motivating us,” said sophomore offensive lineman Ed Kennedy.

With Earl out for the season, redshirt junior Ryan Saeger will step under center two weeks from now at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.

Saeger stepped in one year ago when Kevin Earl was hurt at Oregon in the opening game. Saeger started four games and ended with a 2-2 record as a starter. Now his task is completely different. He is looking at a full season with scouting reports on his game, rather than waiting for Earl’s return.

A conference championship seems like quite the uphill climb for Saeger and the Coyotes, but if it happened in 1982, Glenn believes it can happen in 2015.

“Anything’s possible, if you believe in yourself,” Glenn said.

(Photo: Junior quarterback Ryan Saeger will take Kevin Earl’s starting spot this season after Earl has back surgery. File photo / The Volante)