Eric Schmidt credits UND coaches, time in Grand Forks for aiding path to Monday's National Championship Game
Jan. 7—HOUSTON — University of Washington assistant coach Eric Schmidt is about to coach in Monday's College Football Playoff's National Championship Game, and the former UND linebacker and assistant coach is still using the building blocks of his career he picked up in Grand Forks.
"I got lucky as a young guy to be around guys who really knew football and had to work scheme-wise to get their guys in good spots," Schmidt said Saturday during media availability in Houston before the Huskies take on Michigan for the national title. "The things I learned from Dale Lennon and Bubba Schweigert are really things we still use and have held the test of time.
"It's not only the scheme part but the work ethic part. People back there (in Grand Forks), it's get up early and go to work and grind all day long. All those guys were such good player-focused guys. They were there to help the player. I learned how to treat the people around you. I was able to absorb what they knew and as a young coach it helped me get to where I am today."
Schmidt was interviewed by Mark Pearson of WNEM TV in Michigan. Pearson previously worked at WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks.
Schmidt is Washington's edges coach and special teams coordinator. He's been with the Huskies the past two seasons, moving to Seattle from Fresno State with Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer.
DeBoer, who was the head coach at Sioux Falls when the then-NAIA school beat UND in 2009, was also a finalist for UND's head job when it was awarded to current Fighting Hawks coach Bubba Schweigert in 2013.
When Schweigert was defensive coordinator at Southern Illinois prior to taking the head job at UND, Schmidt and DeBoer were on staff in Carbondale at the same time.
Schmidt began as defensive coordinator at UND when Schweigert took over in Grand Forks. Schmidt spent six seasons in the position before departing for Fresno State.
"You leave Grand Forks and go to Fresno and think, hey man, if we can do a good job there, there can be opportunities past that," Schmidt said of his journey from Grand Forks to Seattle. "Really, you want to go to a place and be around the right people. The biggest thing for me was an opportunity to work with Kalen and he was a guy who aligned the same way I did and was a good family man.
"It's been fun. When you're in the moment, at times, you don't get the opportunity to breathe a little bit and appreciate it. I'm excited to get here and have this opportunity to win the whole thing. That doesn't happen that often."
Schmidt, a native of Mandan, was a two-time all-North Central Conference performer at UND and named an All-American in 2001. Before embarking on a successful college coaching career, Schmidt also led the Crookston High School girls basketball team to the state tournament in 2006 and the football program to a section title in 2003.
The national championship will be Schmidt's final game with Washington. Last month, it was announced Schmidt will become defensive coordinator at San Diego State in 2024.
"Eric has done a great job for us," DeBoer said Saturday. "I got to coach with him from 2010 to 2013 at SIU. I quickly recognized he's a relentless hard-worker. He's very smart special teams-wise and works with our defensive staff to put an awesome gameplan together.
"He's going to go on to do great things. Our whole team and coaching staff is extremely proud and happy for him to get an opportunity to be a defensive coordinator next year again. Seeing it done another way and seeing it at the highest level, those are things that can never hurt you. That's going to help him be successful at his next opportunity very shortly."
