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Jan. 18—VERMILLION — Coaches change, but expectations haven’t for South Dakota football.
Following Bob Nielson’s announcement that he stepped down as USD’s head coach and headed for retirement, nearly simultaneously the program announced that defensive coordinator Travis Johansen would be his successor.
Following a coaching change, programs may re-evaluate current expectations. However, one of Johansen’s first comments after being introduced as the program’s 31st head coach is that the goal for the program is still the same as it would have been if Nielson hadn’t retired.
“I’m inspired to win a national championship,” Johansen said. “Playing in the FCS playoffs is a heck of a journey. We all know that there’s a lot of pride in this state in doing that. My motivation is very, very high when it comes to winning in South Dakota. I love my family, my kids are growing up here. It’s an unbelievable community that’s wrapped its arms around us and we’re going to try and pay it back.”
Conversations about Johansen taking over for Nielson started as far back as last summer. Nielson met with USD Athletic Director Jon Schemmel to discuss his future and how his retirement would likely come sooner rather than later. At that time no decision was made, but Johansen’s name was brought up as a possible replacement candidate.
Schemmel made an effort to learn more about Johansen and make sure he was the right fit for the position. However, other programs, including some at the Power 4 level were eying him as well. Before he made the decision to step down, Nielson even offered Schemmel a proposition where Johansen would be named the head coach in waiting to steer other programs away. However, Schemmel shot this down.
But once Nielson made his decision within the last two weeks that he would retire, Johansen was the man to take over. One…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/even-coaching-change-usd-head-153400380.html
Author : The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
Publish date : 2025-01-18 15:34:00
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