Scotty to Retire

Moorhead, Minn. (By: Eric Peterson, INFORUM) – The Larry Scott era will soon be over at Minnesota State Moorhead. The school’s longtime sports information director is set to officially retire at the end of June after 40 years on the job. “I’m convinced that I owe MSU Moorhead much more than they would ever owe me,” said Scott, who is 63 years old. Scott, who was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors Association Hall of Fame in 1991, said he hasn’t missed a day of work in that time and has attended the last 427 Dragons football games.

“So the emotions that come with that are sad to see him go … he’s been a great representative of the athletic department,” said MSUM Athletic Director Doug Peters. “He bleeds Dragon red. The guy is a walking history book of Dragon athletics.”

“I knew that time was coming,” Scott said. Scott said he accepted an early retirement incentive package offered through the school and his union.

Scott informed Peters of his decision in early May. “I firmly believe he is going to be a Dragon for life and he is going to be around,” Peters said. “He is not going to disappear on us.”

Scott said he plans to stay active with the athletic department and the school in a limited role in the coming years. “I won’t have to go cold turkey for too long,” said Scott, who lives near his Alex Nemzek Hall office. “It would be very difficult for me to close the door, get in the car and take off somewhere.”

Scott said he was hired as the first full-time SID for the Dragons in 1969 after President Roland Dille created the position and offered it to him.

Scott was ready to take an assistant SID job at the University of Minnesota that summer. “My heart was still here so I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’ll stay with the Dragons a little while and then head down the road,’ ” Scott said. “That was kind of neat. It was kind of like a laboratory experiment. I got to learn on the job.”

Coach Joel Beard invited by NCAA Coaches Academy

The NCAA has invited 26 football coaches who one day hope to be head coaches at NCAA colleges and universities to its NCAA Football Coaches Academy, May 27-29, in Indianapolis.  The Academy will be held in conjunction with the Black Coaches and Administrators Convention in downtown Indianapolis.

The Academy is designed to reinforce various aspects of securing, managing and excelling in head football coaching positions at the intercollegiate level.   The participants are current football coaches at NCAA colleges and universities who have up to eight years of experience coaching football.

The NCAA Diversity and Inclusion department administers the program, which prepares coaches for many of the situations and issues they will experience at the head coaching level through targeted program sessions and networking opportunities with current head coaches and athletics administrators.   The NCAA National Office does not have the authority to mandate hiring decisions at its member colleges and universities, but it provides the coaches with opportunities to further enhance their skills and exposes them to key decision makers at NCAA colleges and universities.

“We’re bringing 26 coaches to Indianapolis to reinforce specific areas of expertise that we know athletics directors and head coaches believe are critical when advancing through the coaching ranks,” said Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA vice president for Diversity and Inclusion.    “The coaches already have the Xs and Os under their belt and they are familiar with many of the skill sets we place emphasis on during the program.   We’re simply going to enhance their skills by providing them with information and feedback from some of the most successful coaches and athletics administrators from around the nation during the various program sessions.”

The following are the football coaches invited to the 2009 NCAA Football Coaches Academy:

***Joel Beard, offensive coordinator, Minnesota State University Moorhead 

NCAA staff, administrators in their respective fields of expertise and guest coaches lead all Academy sessions.   The Academy sessions focus on media training, networking, professional conduct skills and the academic landscape.   The Academy also links the coaches with athletics directors, current head coaches, athletics conference administrators, university officials and faculty, and business leaders, all of whom interact with head coaches at the university level.  

The NCAA began its Football Coaches Academy Program in 2004.  Of the current 119 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) head football coaches, seven are African-American, one is Pacific Islander, and one is Latino.  Out of a total of 582 football programs in Divisions I, II and III, only 3.9 percent are coaches are of color, excluding the historically black coaches and universities.   

Summer Workouts

The weight room will be open 6:30-10am and 2-8pm Monday through Friday.  Workout cards will be available for those guys that are lifting here in the summer.

If you are not in Moorhead for summer workouts, there is a link to the work out materials on the right hand side of this page in the "links" section.

Go Dragons!!!

Finals and Graduation

Best of luck to the guys as they start finals today.  Testing will continue through Thursday 14th with graduation on Friday May 15th.

Congratulations to seniors BRUCE GREEN and CRAIG KUTZ on their graduation next week!

Go Dragons!!!

Pluta grabs spring snaps

By: Eric Peterson, INFORUM

Bryson Pluta was the lone quarterback option for Minnesota State Moorhead on Thursday at Alex Nemzek Stadium.

The sophomore signal was the only quarterback on the roster as the Dragons concluded their spring practices with a scrimmage.

“He’s definitely improved, and that’s a huge thing,” MSUM coach Damon Tomeo said. “Going into spring, there was a lot of learning he had to do. … He has the heart and desire to do it.”

Pluta has yet to take a snap in college, but there is a strong chance he will be MSUM’s starter next fall. The Dragons have signed two high school quarterbacks, who will join the team in the fall.

“I got a lot of reps personally and it gave a good look of what to expect in the fall,” said Pluta, who was the Dragons long snapper last fall. “I found each day and each week the offense was getting better and better and we had a strong finish today.

“I haven’t had a snap in a game at the college level so I have to take advantage of all the reps I can get.”

MSUM started spring football with two QBs, but Alex Wilson left the team after the first week of spring drills for personal reasons.

Sophomore running back Tim Hanson had a strong scrimmage.

He ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run and added a 60-yard reception to set up another short touchdown run. On that long reception Hanson lined up in the slot, broke a tackle and zipped into the open field before he was hauled down inside the 5-yard line.

“We’ve got to find a way to get it to him as many ways as possible,” Tomeo said of Hanson.

“With the offense now, we’re kind of switching over to a running team,” Hanson said. “If we keep a nice little balance than we can keep the defense off guard. … I really want to be a factor and hopefully it will happen.”

The Dragons have been primarily a spread offense team in recent seasons. MSUM ran a number of plays out of two-back sets on Thursday.

Tomeo said he liked what he saw out of linebackers Jake Larsen and Jeff Schuette, safety Brandon Larson and his defensive line.

Larson looks to play a key role for MSUM next fall, especially with All-American free safety Josh Jones transferring to Harding University in Searcy, Ark., for his senior season.

“It’s nice that the scoreboard is not on because you get some real learning opportunities for everybody,” Tomeo said.