The Spartan football program at Minnesota State Community and Technical College is committed to success on and off the field. We recruit the top local and regional players, along with a select group of student athletes from other parts of the country. The characteristics we value in our program and players include:

• Strong moral character
• Great work ethic
• Winner's attitude
• Athletic ability
• Belief in teamwork and in the team
• Strong desire to grow as a man and as an athlete
• Spirit of fun

We are proud of the opportunities and support the college offers our student athletes and the subsequent successes of our alumni.

We are a much better team this year. Our offensive line is young, but we are more athletic and have much better depth than previous years. We feel we have eight quality offensive lineman, but all are freshmen, so they have a long way to go. Our running back situation is very good when healthy, but we are a little dinged going into this game. We have good experience at the QB position, and Trent Graves has really taken over that spot. I have complete confidence in him. At the wide receiver position, we have four very talented receivers who are very interchangeable, which gives us much better formation flexibility.

Defensively, we are pretty solid up front. As with the offensive line, we feel we have eight pretty good athletes who can get the job done. They are more explosive and have more quickness than last year. Our linebacker crew is anchored by Tanner Gramm, and he looks great. After that we are very young, and the speed of the game may catch us out of position a few times. The players communicate well and are improving. The defensive secondary has been injured a little, so it has been slow to get all the pieces in place. We are getting healthier and, when at full strength, this should be a pretty good group that has good speed and likes to hit.

Overall, this is a better team than we have had the last few years. We are definitely hoping to get Spartan football over the hump and make the last games of the year meaningful. I have a great staff that works hard, and we are definitely ready for the season.