How SDSU's and USD's investments into programs led to strongest football season in the state's history

Nov. 24—Nineteen years after South Dakota State University first made the jump from Division II to Division I athletics, SDSU and the University of South Dakota are enjoying their strongest combined football season in the state's history.

The Jackrabbits, proven national contenders, are riding a 25-game winning streak, and begin their FCS tournament campaign on Dec. 2 as the No. 1 seed, seeking back-to-back national championships.

Meanwhile, the Coyotes return to the playoffs for the second time in three years, boasting a program-best nine wins in its Division 1 history and No. 3 seed in the playoffs. The Coyotes will host a second-round matchup for their first time on Dec. 2.

With a combined record of 20-2, SDSU's and USD's current accomplishments are an accumulation of the investment poured into the programs by the universities and fanbases, and a reflection of the high caliber of recruiting and development of each roster.

Today, South Dakota State's football success appears self-evident. The FCS champions play in a gorgeous 19,000-seat outdoor stadium, and sold out four of their six home games this year. Their roster is teeming with All-America talent. They put players into the NFL every year. They replaced a legendary coach with one of the brightest up-and-comers in the country.

But none of this happened overnight, or even relatively quickly.

To get from average Division II football program to FCS champion, the Jackrabbits played the long game.

When SDSU first made the jump to Division I in 2004, their facilities were substandard by Division II standards. Aging Coughlin-Alumni Stadium gave way to Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, but when the new facility bowed, attendance did not immediately jump. The Jacks were a consistent playoff contender, but a ways behind the true national championship-caliber squads.

It took seven years in the new stadium, which came alongside additions in the form of the Stiegelmeier Family Athletic Center for football, the SJAC indoor practice facility, fully funding the coaching staff, adding player perks like cost of attendance, new helmets, alternate uniforms, improved nutrition and other behind-the-scenes benefits before the Jacks finally won their first championship, which finally led to a consistently full stadium.

"We're kind of a perfect picture of a build," said athletic director Justin Sell. "It wasn't a one-time, let's go do this one thing and then go chase something else. We just kept refining it, and we've gotten good at it.

"People believed in us well before we had a new stadium," Sell added. "Before we had success. I think the ability to invest, and then things started happening so those people felt great about their investment and then invested more, whether that meant donors or people showing up to games. The last few years my thing has been let's just get one percent better, whether that's ticket sales, donations, student athletes, or the schedule we can put together."

Similarly in Vermillion, it took over a decade for USD to have Division I level facilities.

The DakotaDome, built in 1979, was a multi-purpose facility in the truest sense of the word, playing host to football, volleyball, and basketball and creating a crowded setup for decades.

In 2016, the $73 million Sanford Coyote Sports Center was the university's first step towards major improvement, the 6,000-seat arena for basketball and volleyball that included practice courts, a training facility, weight room and facilities for numerous athletic teams. It also moved those sports out of the DakotaDome, giving Coyote football more space. That space was refined when the DakotaDome underwent a $26 million renovation in 2020.

"This Dome renovation was something that we definitely needed to do as an upgrade as a Division I program," South Dakota coach Bob Nielson said. "Facilities make a difference. You have to have the kind of facilities that support a nationally competitive football program. And our administration was committed to doing that. And as a result, the success of this season is partially a result of that level of commitment."

The project included the installment of permanent seats on the west side of the stadium, luxury suits, and a 6,000 square feet football locker room. In 2021, new football offices and an equipment room were added, rounding out a top-tier FCS football facility.

"We have an unbelievable administration and a president that supports us on a level that's incredible," defensive coordinator Travis Johansen said. "A lot of our boosters and folks that are really supportive alumni have all invested in this program, to have gotten it to where it is right now."

The success of both athletic department's has helped individual sports. Both SDSU basketball teams go to repeated NCAA tournaments, and nearly every other Jackrabbit team has had national success. Dozens of players have gone on to play professionally or at the Olympic level. Football both contributes to and benefits from that. It's steadily grown attendance, sponsorships and donors. SDSU has become the dominant athletic presence in the state of South Dakota and become, on a small scale, a national brand.

"We used to talk about helping people reach their full potential," Sell said. "That's kind of shifted to how can we change what people think their full potential is? Because once you do that, you get to where you're hosting playoff games and playing for a national championship. You see one domino fall and then another one and suddenly you realize how much more is attainable."

And the big moves lead to smaller ones behind the scenes. Dykhouse Stadium and the SJAC provided a huge boost to recruiting. But the work is just starting when players arrive on campus. Support staff, athletic trainers, grad assistants, strength coaches, sports information directors, equipment managers, coaches wives and people like director of operations Jonathan Sheaffer and mental performance coach Kris Kracht all provide important support to the team, while the Jackrabbit Former Players Association has made a huge impact in recent years by raising money that goes to everything from new helmets to better food on road trips.

"There's significantly more to this than people realize," said coach Jimmy Rogers. "There's more that these kids do outside their talent that the fans don't see, but there's a lot of people that do a lot of work for (the players) that the kids don't even see. They just expect it. I think there's value in pointing out to our team, hey, somebody did this for you. Somebody paid for that for you. This is a full community that's bought into this. To have the fans and the type of gameday experience that's being given here, there's a lot of people that had to buy into that to make it happen."

Sell credits current president Barry Dunn and prior presidents David Chicoine and Peggy Miller for their vision and support, while the continuity of having Sell in his role for over a decade and former coach John Stiegelmeier in place for years and years for having created something unique in a market few would have seen as having the potential to thrive in Division I.

"The most amazing thing is we've had success while staying true to who we are," Sell said. "There were a lot of tough losses along the way. A lot of really hard plane rides home. But we always regrouped, because the hope was always there, and the belief was always there."

For the Coyotes, three of its women's basketball team's four NCAA Tournament appearances have come since 2016, highlighted by the Coyotes' run to the regional semifinal in 2022. USD volleyball has won five Summit League titles since 2016, and boasts three NCAA Tournament appearances. Coyote football went 7-5 in 2021, reaching the playoffs.

Amid the success, donations have been steady. The Howling Pack, USD's annual fundraising branch, received over $1.8 million in donations in the 2021-22 fiscal year. For the 2022-23 year, the Howling Pack generated $1.4 million in donations, despite down years in football and basketball.

However, the Coyotes still lag behind the Jacks in overall engagement, as fan attendance has been fickle. In 2018, prior to the renovation, the Coyotes averaged 9,420 fans per game in a year they finished 4-7. This year, the team averaged 6,890 fans per game, despite the nine-win season.

Necessary to growing the fan interest is to field a competitive football team year-after-year.

And the 2023 season is perhaps a glimpse into how. While SDSU has dominated in-state recruiting, USD for years has looked outside the state to find talent, and oftentimes outside of the Midwest. But, a glance the current leadership on the team suggests a promising trend.

USD football is showing it can find nearby talent, keep them in Vermillion and develop them into productive players. Senior defensive leaders Brock Mogensen and Micah Roane, along with junior starting quarterback Aidan Bouman, are from Minnesota. Seniors Travis Theis and Brendan Webb are from Kansas. Senior linebacker Stephen Hillis is from Nebraska, and offensive seniors Isaac Erbes and Carter Bell are from Iowa.

Continuity has helped the matter. The university reaffirmed its commitment to Nielson, coach since 2016, by extending him through the 2026 season at the end of 2022. And the number of amenities available now, opposed to just five seasons ago, have lifted the program's standard.

"We certainly feel like we're one of the haves, not the have-nots in the landscape of FCS football," Johansen said. "What our players are able to have, the things we're able to surround them with and use to develop and get the program on this level is a testament obviously to their investment."