The University of South Dakota has been quietly building toward being this good for years. The ‘Yotes popped into the FCS playoffs back in 2017 only to flounder through the next three seasons with a 10-17 record, including a 1-3 mark in the 2020 Covid season.
The Coyotes jumped back into the playoffs in 2021, then mysteriously slipped to 3-8 in 2022. They dusted themselves off in 2023 and impressively earned a seed for the FCS playoffs just to be summarily dispatched by North Dakota State in a 45-17 loss at home in the quarterfinals.
In 2024, things are just different. While USD was left in the dust in 2023 with big losses to South Dakota State (37-3 in the regular season) and the aforementioned playoff loss to NDSU, nothing remotely similar has happened to them this season.
The Coyotes have exploded to an 11-2 mark with their lone losses to Big Ten power Wisconsin and an overtime loss to two-time defending champion SDSU in Brookings in one of the games of the year in the Football Championship Subdivision.
South Dakota dispatched of upstart UC Davis 35-21, forcing six turnovers to earn a spot in the FCS Final Four for the first time in program history. Montana State head coach Brent Vigen, who’s team hosts the Yotes on Saturday afternoon, knows all about the Coyotes after spending the early part of his coaching career at North Dakota State.
“I was at NDSU when South Dakota came back to us,” Vigen said in reflecting on when the Coyotes moved up from Division II in 2008 (Great West Conference) with NDSU and then into the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2012. “They and North Dakota were behind North Dakota State and South Dakota State. (The Coyotes) were really fortunate to get coach (Bob) Neilson to come there.”
Neilson had been the coach at Minnesota-Duluth where he went 100-26, including claiming two Division II national championships. After a three-year stint at Western Illinois, he took the USD job in 2016 and had them in the playoffs in just his second season.
“His championship background really helped USD,” Vigen said. “They’ve chosen at USD to invest and the DakotaDome is different now. Their in-state counterparts (SDSU) were doing the same thing, and they didn’t want to just sit back and watch that happen. Credit to them for not being comfortable being second fiddle.
“They’re in a place this year where they’re tri-champions in that league. I’m sure you could ask a lot of people even a few years back, they didn’t see that coming.”
The Coyotes have proven themselves during the regular season this time around. They didn’t just scrape by to get in the playoffs as they did in 2017 (8-5) and 2021 (7-5). They didn’t get a high seed only to be kicked to the curb, such as was the case in 2023. This time they gave Big Ten Wisconsin a game and trailed just 17-13 late in the third quarter before falling 27-13.
They took two-time defending champion SDSU to overtime on the road only to lose 20-17, then fought back for a 29-28 win over perennial powerhouse NDSU to earn a tie for the Missouri Valley title. Since joining the MVFC in 2012, only North Dakota State (the conference champions every year from 2011 through 2021) and South Dakota State (2022, 2023) have claimed the conference title other than Northern Iowa sharing with NDSU in and Illinois State sharing with the Bison in 2014 and 2015. That is, until South Dakota crashed the party this year.
In the playoffs, USD has pushed aside Tarleton State 42-31 and forced six turnovers in a 35-21 win over UC Davis.
So, what happened? Recruiting connections happened.
Just 12 players on the Coyotes’ roster hail from South Dakota, which isn’t an unthinkably low number considering that South Dakota has just over 900,000 residents. But the two Montana FCS schools have over 90 players combined on their rosters. What makes USD unique isn’t the number of out of state players, but the distance some of those players’ homes are from Vermillion – a city of 12,000.
There are 15 players from Florida, five from Maryland, and three from Canada. There are players from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, California, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Washington and Utah. In total, there are 34 players that are well outside what is the primary recruiting area for USD.
As it turns out, Neilson has a few connections along the eastern seaboard.
“When I took the job here nine years ago, there were a number of student/athletes from Florida,” Neilson said. “We continue to build on those connections. Young men have come here and done well and in doing that have encouraged others from that area to come here.”
One player that has done particularly well is running back Charles Pierre, Jr. from Orlando. The sophomore is the leading rusher in the MVFC. Another is linebacker Gary Bryant, III from Baltimore, who leads the team in tackles and has two interceptions.
“Our recruiting is primarily midwestern-based, but with some areas outside of that that we focus on,” Nielson said. “Florida is one of those areas that has been a focal point for us. We’ve got members of our staff that are well-connected down there and as a result have built the kinds of relationships that we need to have with high school coaches to ensure that the guys that we’re getting from those areas are going to be able to be great fits and future leaders in our program.”
The roster isn’t solely dependent on players from faraway lands as in-state players are making solid contributions as well. Defensive lineman Blake Holden of Watertown, So. Dak. leads the team in quarterback hurries (7) and is third in sacks and tackles-for-loss, while All-MVFC offensive tackle Joe Cotton hails from Sioux Falls.
Quarterback Aidan Bouman is from nearby Buffalo, Minn. and star fullback Travis Thies, who is second in the MVFC in rushing being only teammate Pierre, Jr., is from Pratt, Kan. The Coyote’ offensive line is regarded as one of the best in the nation and first team All-MVFC Joey Lombard is from Anoka, Minn., and 6-foot-8, 320-pound Bryce Henderson is from North Aurora, Ill.
The fourth-seeded Coyotes will be in Bozeman to take on No. 1 seed Montana State Saturday at 1:30.
