Home US SportsNCAAF With offseason in the books, new-look Coyote football ready for big 2025 season

With offseason in the books, new-look Coyote football ready for big 2025 season

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Jul. 22—SIOUX FALLS — The 11-win season and an unprecedented trip to the national semifinals were the high points in the 2024 University of South Dakota football season.

And the Coyotes will hit the field on Aug. 28 at Iowa State as a likely top-five team in the FCS preseason rankings to start the 2025 campaign, doing so with their quarterback and leading rusher back once again.

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But it’s everything that happened in between — longtime coach Bob Nielson retired and defensive coordinator Travis Johansen was promoted to head coach, plus major moves in the transfer portal — that carry plenty of intrigue into the new Coyote football season.

“It’s been a unique challenge to navigate just everything in this offseason, the landscape of college football, but coach Johansen’s done an unbelievable job of it,” said senior quarterback Aidan Bouman, who is in his sixth year of college football and fourth at USD. “I think just how we’ve gone about this offseason is different than we have in the past, in a good way. It’s ultimately what I believe is going to bring us to where we want to get to this year.”

The Coyotes were tabbed at No. 3 in the preseason poll of coaches and media, slightly behind No. 2 South Dakota State, with 2024 national champions North Dakota State a clear favorite for this season.

USD brought their two leading and returning all-Missouri Valley players to meet with the media on Monday. The standout Bouman threw for nearly 3,000 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions last season, while running back Charles Pierre Jr. rushed for more than seven yards per carry and 16 touchdowns in 2024. For an offense that averaged nearly 36 points per game last year, that’s a good place to start.

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Pierre said on Monday that the taste of the FCS final four last season only motivates the returning players, while those who are joining over the offseason can look at last season’s FCS playoff bracket and know what type of program they’re joining. USD won a pair of home playoff games last season before falling 31-17 at Montana State, which finished as the national runner-up to NDSU.

“The group of guys that we have on the team, whether the players that coach Johanson brings in or the ones that’s already in-house, we’re all held to a certain standard,” Pierre said. “So whether the people leave or people come in, we are held to the same standard to keep going, keep going further because obviously we have momentum, but now we want a national championship. So we come into the season with a chip on our shoulder and we play like that every single day.”

The question marks into the season include USD replacing four offensive linemen, including three who got into the transfer portal and moved to power conference programs. Left tackle Joe Cotton went to Cincinnati, left guard Jordan Larsen went to Duke, center Joey Lombard was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs, and right tackle Bryce Henderson went to Vanderbilt.

The defensive line will be completely new, and the Coyotes have five transfers on the defensive front competing for playing time.

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Bouman said he’s confident that USD’s new offensive line will play well. That group is led by its only returning starter, right guard Adrian Hawkins, who made 14 starts and was an all-Valley newcomer team selection.

“There’s going to be some new faces, and they’re hungry, they’re young, they want to play,” Bouman said. “I’ve been in that position. I know exactly what that feeling is like. Sometimes that’s arguably better than having a guy that’s maybe a second-year starter or a third-year starter because those guys are trying to prove themselves every single play, every single snap of practice.”

The defensive line is another position that is set to be brand new, with all four linemen and rushers either graduated or transferring, most notably Valley defensive player of the year Mi’Quise Grace moving on to Kentucky. Linebacker Nate Ewell is the top returning tackler after 78 stops last season, while fellow linebacker Wade Abrams and defensive back Tim White have been selected as captains and got experience in all 14 games last season.

Defense is the side of the ball Johansen worked on for six years while working under Nielson. The new head coach said he trusts new coordinator Billy Kirch to run the defense but expects to be involved plenty with the Coyote defenders. He said the flip side of that situation is going to occur, too, in that he can provide a defensive-minded philosophy to help the Coyote offense prepare.

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“There’s a ton of trust, a ton of commonality, a ton of like-mindedness,” Johansen said of the defensive plan. “I’ll still be heavily involved over there, and I think what you try and do with your strong suits is help. … Offensively, I’m not going to walk in there and tell those guys how Aidan needs to throw the football, right? But what are the tough things that you can present to a defense? What is that defense trying to accomplish? My film study goes a little bit broader than it did before, and I’m just trying to assist in the best way I can.”

Since being named USD’s new coach in January, Johansen has been leading the Coyotes but also introducing himself to fans and alums across the state. But next week, USD’s squad will get on the practice fields in Vermillion, and Johansen said he’s ready to put the Coyotes’ 2025 squad in action.

“It’s trying to give guys the experience that you’ve had in college football and let them get on top of that mountaintop and show that that hard work and what they’re getting out of our program is setting them up for life from an intangible standpoint,” he said. “Being able to represent the University of South Dakota is an unbelievable, special honor. Having unbelievable players and loyal guys like this makes it really easy.”

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