First off, I want to say it’s good to be back writing again. I have been busy with work & life in general and spent most of my 360 time on Twitter once the season ended. But, I am back. Ready to gear up for spring ball and actual football stuff.
In what would certainly be deemed a shocker, UND defensive coordinator Brett Holinka resigned last week. From everything I can tell there wasn’t much to indicate that this would happen. But, we have to remember that these coaches are human beings, too. They have families, interests outside of football and want to live their best life.
Coaching college football is an absolute meat grinder. It’s 12 months a year, 5-6 days a week minimum, and more complicated than ever. NIL has made it even more convoluted when recruiting and maintaining a roster at the higher levels. I thought about getting into coaching after college but there was just no way. These coaches are more dedicated to their job than ‘most’ any other profession out there.
Holinka did a nice job leading the UND defense. The 2021 defense allowed a solid 20.3 points/game and played an aggressive, sound style. This past season things took a turn for the worse, however, with the defense allowing 30.8 points/game. Issues on the backend combined with an inability to get pressure hurt the Hawks greatly in the passing game. The loss of Turner, Haas, and Shannon at OLB proved to be very detrimental to the UND pass rush.
I wish Brett the best moving forward. I know he will continue on coaching somewhere and keep rising up the ranks. As a FB alum I am always pulling for my fellow Sioux/Hawk brothers!
Combined with the loss of Steve Crutchley (running backs coach), Bubba Schweigert has more than a few interviews to run in the upcoming weeks.
Where do the Hawks go from here? They will obviously still run the 3-4 defense so that’s a factor. Do they hire somebody to coach linebackers & run the defense? Or do they hire a linebackers coach and promote from within to run the show?
UND has two candidates that could be promoted from within – safeties coach Joel Schwenzfeier and defensive line coach Austin Flyger. Both are well-versed in the 3-4 and have double-digit coaching experience. Schwenzfeier is a former UND safety (2007-2010) and Flyger is a Augustana grad (2000-2003).
My guess is UND promotes Schwenzfeier to the coordinator role. He has been on the staff for 10 seasons and coached under a couple different defensive coordinators (Schmidt, Holinka). He was also a finalist when Holinka was hired in 2020. Plus, Schwenzfeier took on more of a leadership role in the defense once Eric Schmidt left for Fresno State. These past couple years prepared him to take the next step.
Of note: spring ball has been pushed back due to the loss of Holinka and Crutchley. They are planning to start around March 1st now. This isn’t a big deal and puts them on a similar timeline as prior spring ball sessions.
The running backs job closes on February 24th so I would expect formal interviews to take place immediately after that.
Cover photo courtesy of Russ Hons and UND Athletics