Bon Homme's Pudwill, Hanson's Haskamp step away from football coaching as long-tenured students of the game

Dec. 15—TYNDALL, S.D. — For both Byron Pudwill and Jim Haskamp, coaching football has been a major part of their lives.

Pudwill was part of Bon Homme football for 41 years, spending 23 of them as head coach. The Cavaliers went 254-149 over the span, with Pudwill going 113-102 at the helm, winning Class 11B championships in 1994 and 1995, and a Class 9AA title in 2018.

Haskamp was the head coach of Hanson football for 36 years. He went 210-134, leading the Beavers to four state championships in nine-man football, including three straight titles from 2008-2010.

Following Bon Homme's loss to Hamlin in the first round of the 9AA playoffs Oct. 19 and Hanson's defeat to eventual 9AA champion Parkston in the quarterfinals Oct. 26, Pudwill and Haskamp hung up their headsets one final time, moving forward with the next phase of their lives.

They're grateful for the others who've surrounded them over the years, and for the kids who've played for them, each reasons why Pudwill and Haskamp continued on as coaches for as long as they were.

"Love (of football) is number one," Pudwill said. "It was great to be around the kids. The guys who I coached with were great people. There's nothing better than kneeling pre-game or at practice, especially being on the field or in the locker room after a big win, it's just something you can't buy."

"I actually felt I was still learning things," Haskamp said. "That part I still enjoyed. And being around the kids, I still felt I had something to offer that I could add to the program."

Growing up in a family and surrounded by friends who were coaches and teachers, it was one of the few areas of interest Pudwill knew well. In addition to his football duties, Pudwill served as Bon Homme's track and field coach for 27 years, and the Cavaliers won 180 track meets and 61 region titles during his tenure.

Through track and field, assistant coach Rusty Roland was one of the many influences on Pudwill's coaching style. He remembers Roland teaching him a valuable lesson during a meeting with one of his players.

"I remember sitting at my desk going off on some kid," Pudwill recalled. "I kind of overdid it. Afterwards, Rusty went, 'Well, Byron, I'm glad you never made a mistake when you were 16,' and he walked out the door. It took me that long to figure out I don't like being yelled at, so why would a young kid want to get yelled at?"

Haskamp, originally from Michigan, became an educator partly because he wanted to coach youth sports. His goal with Hanson football was to create a family-like atmosphere, an environment that allows everyone to be seen from a different perspective.

"There is a difference between being in school and in the classroom and what you do every day and what you do out (on the field)," Haskamp explained. "You get to see the kids out there in a different light.

"It's always been a family atmosphere. It has been, for me, an extension of my family," he added. "That's the way I've always looked at it, perceived it, and felt about it. That part of it will be one of the things that I'll miss the most."

The game of football has changed from when Byron Pudwill and Jim Haskamp came aboard their respective programs in the 1980s. The biggest change comes from the advent of technology and having tons of information now at one's fingertips.

Haskamp remembers the days of having to source information about Hanson's next opponent from coaches who'd played them the previous week via phone calls. Then came watching film of an upcoming opponent on VCR tape, which presented its own logistical problems.

"To exchange tapes, you'd put on a lot of miles," Haskamp said. "There was always that driving back and forth to get the tapes. We'd plug in (the VCR machine) to watch film that way."

Team members even traveled to the site of their next opponent the week before to see them in action and scout what they ran and how effective the play design and calls were. However, not everyone on the sideline was happy to see a future opponent's personnel in attendance.

"It used to be a pain," Pudwill recalled. "When I would go scout in the old days, (the other team) would give you a dirty look because they knew you were from another town, another school."

Schematically, the spread offense, which uses multi-receiver sets either out of the shotgun or pistol, has become an integral part of prep football. Haskamp said Menno was among the first teams to incorporate spread formations into its offense. Both Pudwill and Haskamp added spread formations to their playbook to keep up with the times, but the goal of the game still rested on old-school mentalities.

"We tell (the kids) all the time, we can't turn the ball over or we're not going to win," Pudwill said. "We got to be able to run the ball and stop the run or we're not going to win. We can't give up big plays."

"The core of it hasn't changed a lot," Haskamp said. "It still comes down to interior line play. It still comes down to which team can be fundamentally sound and know what their responsibilities are and what their jobs are: the ability to block and the ability to tackle."

Byron Pudwill and Jim Haskamp will still be involved in the prep sports scene, now in different capacities. Pudwill currently helps with the junior boys basketball team at Bon Homme over the winter season. Haskamp looks forward to making trips to Crosby, North Dakota, with his wife, Carol, to see their grandson, Hayden Smithberg, play his senior season at Divide County High School next fall.

They'll always be grateful for the people they've met, the kids who played for them, and the opportunities they were given to coach high school football.

"You want to beat an opposing coach, team, and school so bad," Pudwill said. "All of a sudden, they become your best friends. I just want to thank everybody who helped me survive, thank all the kids who played for Bon Homme and for all the hard work that you gave me over the years. I sincerely appreciate it."

"There's a reason I ended up getting this job," Haskamp said. "I think the good Lord led us here for a reason. For the people who I've come into contact with and we have gotten to know and the people who got to know us. It's a combination of things. I've been very fortunate and blessed for everything over my career."