Football - News

TWO MINUTE DRILL WITH JOHN STEGER

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

John Steger

Earlier this season, University of Minnesota Duluth offensive coordinator Curt Weise engaged in the first Two Minute Drill for 2012-13 and now it's his counterpart's turn.

John Steger, the dean of all Bulldog assistant coaches, is now in his 12th year (and second tour of duty) at the controls of the UMD defense, having held that role from 1999 to 2009 before heading to the University of Southern Illinois for a two-season stint as its linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

And away we go ...

Does your football clock ever stop? No 

What you do to relax? I play golf

Does the old adage still hold true that defense wins championships? Yeah, I think so.

What has been the biggest change in college football offenses from when you started coaching over a quarter century ago? The amount of formations and the total number of different plays you now see.

One word to describe your coaching style - Preparation

All things being equal, 3-4 or 4-3? 3-4

Amount of time you spend each week breaking down film on a particular opponent – I will not devulge that because it's an insane amount.

If you weren’t coaching college football, what do you think you’d be doing? –  I would probably be a high school teacher.

Artificial turf or natural grass? Artificial turf

What you like most about your job? The interaction I have with young people on a daily basis.

What you like least about your job? Travel during recruiting.

First thing you look for when recruiting a defensive linemen to UMD - How well he moves his feet.

A linebacker? How well he moves his feet.

A defensive back? How well he can run.

Something most people don’t know about UMD head coach Bob Nielson – He has huge sweet tooth.

You were a pretty fair collegiate linebacker back in the day - would you have meshed well with John Steger the offensive coordinator? Oh yeah, we would have meshed really well.

The closest you’ve come to a perfect game in terms of play-calling and execution at UMD – The 2008 national championship game against Northwest Missouri State (a 21-14 UMD victory)

How would you have stopped the Bulldog offense last Saturday night (when UMD scored a touchdown on its first 10 possessions in a 70-24 win at Concordia-St. Paul)? I would have turned the lights off.

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