Breaking down NMU’s 2024 football schedule with Coach Richardson

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – The NMU Wildcats officially unveiled their 2024 football schedule this week, an 11-game test for the team under second-year head coach Shane Richardson as they look to rebound from a winless 2023 season.

“We kind of knew what the teams were going to be there for a while, and I actually had shared with our team, a little while ago, just kind of what to expect,” said Richardson. “It’s exciting. We have 11 games and we have a new opponent in the conference, which is really fun for the GLIAC to be able to just become a little fuller slate. And I think having a bye week in there is also a really good thing. Got a great opportunity to just come back and you know, prove ourselves against some really good opponents, and then going into GLIAC play there to finish off the rest of the second half of the season after the bye week, it’ll be a really good opportunity.”

The Wildcats kick off the season on August 29 hosting the University of Minnesota-Duluth, a rematch of their first game from 2023, and an opportunity for the team to show their development with another offseason under their belts.

“In a football season, much like a lot of other athletic seasons, you have a whole year that you get to train and prepare and it kind of lies dormant a little bit in you until you get around to the next season, and that first one is always really exciting,” Richardson said. “And so to be able to see a team that’s really just hungry and excited and want to go out there and have fun playing the game, that’s really important to us, especially with the way that the results went from last season. I think it’s really important to make sure that our team stays motivated and enthusiastic about what we’re doing out there, and so to be able to see that with the first game, I think is really what I’m looking forward to.”

The next week the team will hit the road for the first time, travelling to Kentucky for the program’s first ever matchup against Kentucky Wesleyan.

“At another school that I coached at, I was able to play against their program a couple of times. They’ve been very athletic and very good in the past,” said Richardson. “Of course, you know, I think it has a new coaching staff and, you know, they’re probably much different than probably what I remember them as, but it’ll be a tough feat in and of itself just to have to travel. It’ll be a very good Division II opponent, and we get an opportunity to go in there and just prove who we want to be and do what we’re supposed to do and be able to go on the road and prove that we can play well on the road.”

The team needs no reminding about their matchup with Michigan Tech on October 26, but Richardson says his first year as a head coach in the rivalry provided some takeaways on how the team can approach the game going forward.

“I think one of the things is making sure that our players are extremely grounded in how to approach that game,” Richardson said. “You know, maybe last year there was a lot of hype with our players, just kind of internally, and maybe put a little bit too much pressure on themselves about the game. I think you’ve got to address some of the things that took place during the game. Of course, we’ve done a really good job to try to address personnel in this recruiting cycle and everything, and so hopefully a year more mature, a year more developed, and to add some personnel will help. You’ve got to go into that game with an understanding of you want to focus on staying true to who you’re going to be. And yet, you know that there’s a little extra inspiration sprinkled on top of that with a team that’s 99 miles away and that hates you just as much as you hate them, and you want to play your best in that game. I think players understand that, but it’s also a teaching process for 18 to 23 year old kids to understand that, too.”

The Wildcats face some stiff competition in their conference, but as they head into the summer months, there’s optimism about where they can grow in year 2 for the coaching staff.

“I think still extremely difficult. I think in general, the GLIAC has a great reputation of being just one of the best conferences in the country,” said Richardson. “I think you don’t get a week off, and we found that out the hard way this past year and knew that every team was going to be really difficult for us. And they were. Obviously, we get a chance to go out and play better this year, and I think, just for us, to be able to take it one game at a time. Of course, you’re going to be able to see them on film before you get there and be able to kind of know their personality and their personnel and who they are as an identity of a team. So that’ll help as you go into those games, and you just anticipate that every matchup is going to be a good, tough battle and you welcome that because you’re playing some of the best competition in the country. We’ll go into summer camp mode in June and July will kind of be a little bit of the calm before the storm. It’ll be here before we know it, and that’s a really good thing, too. Time flies and before you know it, we’ll be looking at Thursday, at the end of August and right out here in the Superior Dome and getting ready for game number one against Duluth.”

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