New era for UW-Whitewater football begins Saturday
WHITEWATER, Wis. The Wisconsin football team is not the only squad starting a new season with a new coach, UW-Whitewater is as well.
There may be a new voice in the locker room, but the message remains the same.
"Nothing changes, it's still pound the rock, get one percent better every day," said Hawk Heffner, a senior linebacker and one of five Warhawk team captains.
New coach Jace Rindahl knows all about that. He played four seasons in Whitewater from 2005-08 at linebacker helping UW-Whitewater to its first national title in 2007 and was named D3football.com defensive player of the year. He spent more than a decade on the coaching staff from 2009-12 and then returned in 2015.
"Being a Warhawk for life, he just brings a different type of energy that we can all connect to," said Heffner.
"I want to compete at a high level. I want to be successful so I know that there's a lot of effort and work that goes into that," said Rindahl.
Rindahl takes over a program that has won six NCAA Division III championships and lost just 15 games under two previous coaches since 2007. That standard is still there.
"Every time we come into camp it's always, we're here to win championships. win a conference championship and win a national championship," said Zach Sherman, a senior tight end and fellow captain. "We always strive to get one percent better every day and take each day as it comes,"
"We got a good nucleus of guys coming off of last year, we were 8-3, they felt that they could have performed a little bit better so, I think there's that chip on the shoulder," said Rindahl.
A bit younger this season, the 11th ranked Warhawks in the D3football.com preseason poll is not shying away from anything. The season opens with six straight opponents in the top 25 rankings.
"I'm a competitor, I want to play the best. I want to be the best and to do that, you have to beat the best," said Rindahl.
"We want to play as many good teams and good football games as we can," said Heffner. When we look at the non-conference schedule and see teams like Mary-Hardin Baylor, St. John's, teams that are nationally ranked in the top ten. We love it."
The season kicks off Saturday, September 2nd in Ohio at 19th ranked John Carroll at 1:30pm.
"First game, juices are high, energy is high and i just want to get out on the field with all the guys," said Sherman.