New OC Danny Freund to be hired
- Thread starter KRUSTYtheCOUG
- Start date
This is interesting. Freund isn't SDSU's OC, he is the Co-OC. I need to dig some more into this. Freund was hired away(?) from North Dakota in January, where they won 7 games or less during his tenure and were 7-5 in 2023. When He was hired by SDSU in January, Ryan Olson was promoted to OC.
I shall do more research.......
Danny Freund - Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks - Football Coaches - South Dakota State University Athletics
Danny Freund was hired as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January 2024. Freund spent the last dozen years coaching at the University of North
gojacks.com
Edit - Ok, I dug a bit more. Looks like Freund left his alma mater UND for more money, and/or was not considered to be a shoo-in successor to longtime and soon to retire HC Bubba Schweigart. And catch the snippet (below) from the article regarding our new HC. Wonder what "if all requests were met" means.....
UND Loses OC To Conference Rival: My Thoughts - UND Football 360
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. Obviously, it was always a possibility but wow. UND offensive coordinator Danny Freund is leaving to be the Co-OC/QB Coach at South Dakota State. Not the offensive coordinator – the Co-Offensive Coordinator and he won’t even be calling plays...
undfootball360.com
"Another interesting tidbit is there’s no guarantee Jimmy Rogers is at SDSU very long. He was an extremely legit candidate for the Minnesota defensive coordinator position that was just filled yesterday (Rogers would’ve had the job if all requests were met is what I was told)."
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WSU hires South Dakota State’s Danny Freund as next offensive coordinator | The Seattle Times
Greg WoodsDec. 31, 2024
The Spokesman-Review
PULLMAN — New Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers is turning to a familiar face for his offensive coordinator.
Rogers has hired former South Dakota State OC Danny Freund to become WSU’s new OC, a source confirmed to The Spokesman-Review on Tuesday, making his first public hire of his new staff. Freund spent one season, 2024, as the Jackrabbits’ offensive play-caller.
Footballscoop.com was the first to report the hire of Freund, who split OC duties with SDSU offensive line coach Ryan Olson this season.
Before his one year at SDSU, Freund spent 12 seasons at North Dakota, where he worked as the Fighting Hawks’ OC and quarterbacks coach from 2018-2023. In the years prior, Freund served stints coaching UND’s running backs, fullbacks and wide receivers. He also held the title of associate head coach during the 2023 season, when North Dakota averaged 34.1 points per game and made the FCS playoffs.
A former captain at North Dakota in his playing days, in which he compiled a 16-6 record, Freund’s South Dakota State offense used a balanced approach to average 36.7 points per game this year, No. 4 nationally. En route to a national semifinal appearance, the Jackrabbits averaged 236 rushing yards (No. 3 nationally) and 198 passing yards (No. 72) per contest.
SDSU QB Mark Gronowski, who has entered the transfer portal as he weighs whether to transfer to another school or declare for the NFL draft, completed 206 of 338 passes (61%) for 2,721 yards, 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions, finishing No. 17 nationally in total passing yards. To open the season, he completed 20 of 37 passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a road loss to Oklahoma State.
Freund’s running back, starter Amar Johnson, piled up 1,222 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 193 carries, good for an average rush of 6.3 yards, which ranked No. 12 in the country. In Freund’s run-first offense, Johnson logged double-digit carries in all but three games.
Johnson has not entered the transfer portal.
It’s possible the Cougars do bring over the Jackrabbits’ best wide receiver, 6-foot-2 sophomore Griffin Wilde, who entered the transfer portal on Saturday with a “do not contact” tag, according to ESPN. Players often use that when they have another destination in mind. This season, Wilde racked up 71 catches for 1,154 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking No. 7 nationally in total receiving hashes.
Wilde recorded five 100-yard games, including a 150-yard outing against Oklahoma State and a 140-yard showing against North Dakota, hauling in three touchdowns in that game.
At Washington State, Freund will have to make some decisions and try to re-recruit the roster. As of Tuesday, the only scholarship QB on the Cougars’ roster was redshirt freshman Jaxon Potter, who has three college snaps under his belt. Starter John Mateer departed for Oklahoma and backup Zevi Eckhaus has entered the transfer portal, as has freshman Evans Chuba.
The Cougars’ class of 2025 QB, three-star dual-threat prospect Steele Pizzella, has decommitted and followed former WSU coach Jake Dickert to Wake Forest.
As of Tuesday, 36 Cougs had entered the transfer portal, including the names listed above.
Some WSU coaches not following Dickert to Wake Forest
Dickert has hired three WSU coaches at Wake Forest: Offensive line coach Jared Kaster, wide receivers coach Nick Edwards and defensive tackles coach Pete Kaligis, who served as acting head coach after Dickert’s departure.It appears those might be the only Cougar coaches Dickert brings over. In a social media post Tuesday, cornerbacks coach Allen Brown bid farewell to WSU, seemingly indicating he won’t be retained by Rogers. There has also been no word on the other three position coaches on WSU’s staff, edges coach Frank Maile, safeties/nickels coach Jordan Malone and special teams coordinator Nick Whitworth, none of whom appear headed for North Carolina.
Greg Woods
Washington State beat writer for The Spokesman-Review
I’m guessing I speak for most of the fan base and roster when I say: who?
As for the departures…can’t say I’m that broken up about any of them. Based on our performance this season, I was rarely sure if we had DBs or Edge on the field. Most of the D stepped up in the bowl, but the DBs showed that their coaches should be sent down the road.
From just a practical standpoint, we need a Poly ass’t coach who can recruit. I’d call that a necessity at WSU. That might mean Maile, or someone else, but it is important.
They don't have Poly's in the Dakotas........dogs either if referring just to S. Dakota. Except on the reservations where they are safe (dogs not Poly's
) Not to mean that Poly's aren't safe in the Dakotas, there just aren't any.Similar threads
