UND appears to have landed a good one, Hawks fans. Isaac Fruechte is up & running on campus in Grand Forks and chomping at the bit to get spring ball started.
I was able to chat with Fruechte yesterday and he was very open about his style of offense. One only needs to watch Winona State 2022-2023 to get a feel for how it will look.
Fruechte brings OC experience from two different levels to UND. He was the OC at Wisconsin La Crosse, while also running the show at Northern State and Winona State. The history of running his own offense is great on it’s own, but to have done it all in the upper midwest is a definite plus. He is familiar with the area and the northern mindset of running the ball and winning at the line of scrimmage. Plus, having played in the NFL can only help.
The NSIC is the D2 verison of the MVFC. The similarities are abundant. Both in upper midwest, both run the ball first, both emphasize big, physical offensive lines to go along with multiple tight end looks, both are arguably the deepest conferences in their division.
Here is what I was able to glean with it comes to what we may see in 2024:
- The base set will be 12 personnel (two tight ends – one running back). This should be music to the ears of the current tight ends as they will be on the field quite a bit. Fruechte mentioned when asked that throwing to the tight ends is a product of running the ball. If they do their job blocking in the run game it should open them for receptions down field. He liked what UND had at tight end currently in returners Jaden Norby, Quincy Vaughn, Max Gunderson, Haydn Stay, etc.
- They will work out of the gun and pistol. Typical spread look that has dominated college football.
- Fruechte mentioned they will incorporate a decent amount of what UND already did under Danny Freund and was very complimentary of the packages and schemes they ran. In particular, I asked about RPO stuff and he is high on running RPO often, including packages that UND ran last year. It only makes sense since the players are well-versed in it.
- Make no mistake – this will be a run-first outfit. Run blocking schemes may change some under Fruechte and new offensive line coach Trevor Olson but the goal will be to establish the run. UND was very good at run blocking last season – one of the best in all of FCS. The did lose Kilty and Ventrelli, though, so they is work to do up front this spring.
- Speaking of Olson, he seems like a nice changeup from the more stoic Joe Pawlak (who did a heck of job at UND). Olson is a bit more jovial and player driven – your typical ex-offensive lineman working with his guys. He has spent plenty of time in the Missouri Valley with four years at Southern Illinois.
- Fruechte specifically mentioned his fondness for dual-threat QB’s. He wants to run the ball and also have a guy that can run if the opportunity presents itself or protection breaks down. With Tommy Schuster UND didn’t really have that (even though Tommy was very nifty in the pocket). I would expect them to target bigger, athletic QB’s in the future.
- It will be interesting to see how they handle pass protection in 2024. UND struggled a bit in pass pro last season but were excellent in run blocking. With two tight ends in the game it gives you quite a few options for how to protect. Also, keeping the running back in or just revamping the OL protections schemes.
- There will be plenty of motion and trading/shifting/swapping going on with the tight ends/fullbacks. This allows the QB to read coverages while also possibly giving UND a blocking edge if a team doesn’t adjust accordingly. UND did a lot of this under Freund so it won’t be a big change.
- Terminology will be kept same in certain packages for the most part. Fruechte mentioned wanting to keep it simple so the guys play fast and they can get up and running sooner come spring ball. I get a feeling we will see a handful of effective plays all dressed up in a variety of packages.
- It feels like this offense will revert to running the ball more vs quick passing stuff for small chunks. Obviously they will have the quick passing game installed, but possibly try to run a bit more in short yardage situations. That is easier said than done, however, in the MVFC as the defensive fronts are quite good.
- Running back screens haven’t been as popular in the Hawks offense but that may change in 2024. Getting the ball to the running backs in a variety of ways is important, per Fruechte, and an easy way to do it is the screen game.
I am excited to see UND’s offense this spring. I truly believe this whole ordeal worked out about as good as it could’ve. Fruechte and Olson are very solid hires who have good experience and a network of references. UND begins spring ball in about two weeks!