1. When did you start playing football?
“I started in second grade and played pad football, and then I played flag football when I was five or six.”
2. Did you play any other sports?
“I grew up playing basketball, lacrosse, soccer and baseball, but then when I was in high school I played football and lacrosse.”
3. What made you ultimately decide to pursue football in college?
“Just the passion I had for the game. I enjoyed the contact and just the physical aspect of it.”
4. What lessons did you learn from tearing your ACL in high school?
“Just getting through adversity with hard work and determination. And then just enjoying the little things, making the most of your opportunities because you don’t know how long it’s going to last.”
5. How does college football differ from high school?
“Everyone’s bigger, and everyone at college that came here was the guy and the best player at their high school, so the competition is better and the aspects are different because you get to live and hang out with these guys 24/7.”
6. How has the team’s new defensive coordinator affected the defense?
“For the most part, he’s just simplified things, especially for the linebackers and me specifically. We get more freedom to read and flow and make plays, and he lets the players make adjustments on the field.”
7. What were your goals headed into this season?
“Team goals were that we wanted to have a winning season, start to turn the program around and put it in the right direction. And then personal goals: I wanted to be a starter and then be all-conference.”
8. Where do you think you’re at in terms of accomplishing all-conference?
“I’ve gotten compliments from teammates and buddies on the other team that I’m doing a good job. I’m just trying to do the best I can and just not be consumed by that during the season. I just want to do what I can to help the team win and do better.”
9. The team started 2-0, but you’re now 2-3 after three consecutive losses. What lessons has your team learned the past few weeks?
“Two of our three losses were against ranked teams, so those were really tough teams. [Head] Coach Bell always says that to learn how to win, you have to learn how to lose first. So against Millikin, we were in a close game and got that experience being in a close game for the first time in a while. I think we learned our weaknesses and that we have to adapt and keep working every week to achieve our goals.”
10. What improvements does your team need to make?
“Each game we’ve always came out and played really well in the first quarter, big emphasis last week was to play better in the second quarter and carry that on through the rest of the game, so I think that’s a big part of it going forward. Defensively we have to tackle better, and then on offense we have to just finish drives.”
11. What’s your major?
“Business administration, and then a minor in political science.”
12. What’s your dream job?
“I want to go to law school and then do sports contract law.”
13. Why did you choose to come to Augustana?
“I came for the academic reputation, I liked the coaching staff, I liked the atmosphere at Augie and then obviously to play football here.”
14. What’s your favorite memory at Augustana?
“After our first win this year, it was a pretty good feeling because last year was a tough year, we were 1-9, so that was a good time, just hanging with the guys after and just having a good time. Just being happy that the program’s going in the right direction.”