October 28, 2025 • 9 mins
UND Footballl Head Coach Eric Schmidt discusses his teams win versus Indiana State, and looks ahead to the meeting with South Dakota on Saturday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So you welcome to the program. The coach at the
U and D football team, the victorious un D football team,
Eric schmid Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Coach, Morning Paul. How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Oh good, good, good morning coaching. Yeah, we're ready for Halloween.
Tim's been trying to find costume ideas. But I'm kidding,
but when's the last time you've dressed up for Halloween?
How many years has it? Were you in college?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I bet it's been a long time. I actually had
a no, and my wife one time, she h, this
is I mean, I'm really putting this out there, Paul.
We were She was Chris Jenner and I was you know,
I was not Caitlyn Jenner.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
At that time.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I'm trying to think what his name was. Bruce. Bruce.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, with a lot of Jenner there you go, with
a lot of gold medal metals.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
This is back when they're uh this is probably twenty
ten when their their show was on TV. So she
did a way better job of pulling off, of pulling
out first time than I did.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Being must have been a staff party or something like that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Back in the day. It was Yeah, it was actually
it came up. We were a Dallas Southern No. No.
I so it was down there.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
But yeah, oh wow, Tim, I'll let you get to
the serious stuff. I got my silly one out of
the way.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Go ahead, Tim, Well, you don't have to be serious.
There was a court you're getting infamous for fast starts
with your football team. How do you explain that?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I just think the guys have just a level of
focus and intensity they understand.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
The one thing I always say about football is, you know,
every game is so important. You get in some of
these professional sports, and you know, Baseball, those guys are
working their way into the season the first twenty or
twenty five games. Same thing, and the NBA guys are
working themselves in the shape you know, early on in
the year. But football you have to be ready to
go every single Saturday because if you stub your toe, man,
(01:54):
that can that can hurt you. You know, at the
end of the year, there's just so few games. I
just feel like our guys understand the importance that, you
know every week. You know, we're trying to do a
great job of getting them prepared, you know, like I
like to say, try to give them as many answers
to the tests as we can and then they got
to go out there and be problem solvers, you know,
on Saturday afternoon. But I just think they understand the
(02:16):
importance of it. We've really stressed him starting fast. And
you know in college football, I've said it before that
if you're winning games at halftime, you have a great
opportunity to be able to win the game. And I
just feel like, you know, different ways. You know, we're
playing complimentary football, but different ways. Sometimes it's you know,
been the first quarter, but on Saturday it was you know,
(02:37):
Indiana State does a good job if you really dig
into who they are, like their body types and the
guys that they put out there, especially on the defensive side.
You're not just gonna you know, line up and be
able to you know, move the football. You've got to
be creative. You got to be able to throw it
a little bit too, to stopping up some of the
coverages and things that they want to do. But I
just thought our guys did a good job of just
you know, sticking to it, leaving in the plan and
(03:00):
eventually we got some short fields and things like that
we're able to put the be able to put the
ball in the end zone.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
You know, coach. One of the things we saw return
to Nate Ramonka making a catch. But that tight end group,
h boy, you've asked, you know, when it's Mason South's
turn to make a play, well, he makes a play.
Hayden Stay will make a play. You've rotated it around here.
You've dealt with injuries throughout that position group. Watson Hafer's
been steady. You know, it's just a really deep group
(03:29):
and it seems like they're all ready to do what
their job is when they whether it's making a block
or making a catch. Uh, there's just a lot of
guys to turn to.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
There been important for us, you know, like you mentioned
with the with the injuries there, there's obviously been some development.
I think, you know, Nate's been really good early in
the year. Ramaca you had a little bit of a
of an injury there the last couple of weeks, but
he's back healthy now. I think, you know, Grant Rubfro
has been really solid in that group, moving from running
(03:58):
back to there's caught some balls and some important situations
and is really, you know, rock solid, you know, just
doing his assignment all the time. And then you mentioned
Mason South, Hayden Stay, we'll get you know, we think
we'll get Aiden bay Meyer back again here this week.
He's kind of just dealing a little bit with a
lower body injury, but we gave him some time last
(04:19):
week just to try to, uh, you know, focus on
the recovery part of it. But I think it's a
credit to coach Howb, it's a credit to just the
culture in that room that hey, man, there's there's guys
that go down. We feel like, hey, the next man
up mentality, and it's so what now, what man? You
got to move on and the next guy's got to
be ready to go if we if we do get
banged up there. I think the other thing I like
about that group is they're starting to get you know,
(04:41):
more physical and more consistent on the line of scrimmage
too as well. I think, you know, Watson Hafer has
become a better blocker here. He's a guy that's you know,
good in the in the past game. He has got
some important balls, has moved the sticks for us you know,
the last month here. But he's getting better on the
line of scrimmage than Hayden Stay has definitely improved on
the line of scrimmage too as well. So those are
(05:01):
important pieces, you know, just being able to block on
the perimeter, whether that's tight ends or receivers too as well.
That's how you know, five and six and seven yard
runs become explosive plays.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, go ahead, Tim, if you oh did you I
didn't know if you had another one there?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Oh, I was just going to talk a lot bitter
talk about what you what do you know about South Dakota?
I mean what I don't want to say. What scares
you about South Dakota? Well, what gets you concerned about
the Coyotes?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, great word, I think you know, obviously have some
talent offensively, quarterbacks a three year starter in the league
and has had a lot of success in the league.
You know, really big upfront. They do a great job
of running the football, and they lost a really good
running back early in the year, but their backup now
(05:52):
is leading the league and rushing. He's had a number
of two hundred yard games. So they do a good
job of, you know, just playing to their identity and
then defensively since they're out in the field a lot
on offense when they're running the ball, you know, they've
been able to play really good defense, and same thing there.
I just think in the box like really stout, you know,
do a good job against the run. You know, play
(06:14):
a lot of just quarters man quarters, so they're gonna
have enough you know, hats in the box to be
able to match up with with what you're trying to
do in the run game. And really I think have
an identity on that side of the ball too, as
well as far as who they want to be, what
their structure looks like. You know, they'll pressure at times,
but they do a good job too as well, dropping
a bunch of people in coverage and and uh, you know,
(06:36):
your quarterback's got to have some some grit and some
tenacity to be able to keep your football team out
on the field. So they definitely, you know, present some challenges.
Then they're always good at home, you know, you look
at their records throughout the years, they've they've played really
well in the Coda Dome. So we know that, you know,
I mean, we have our work cutout for us on
on Saturday at one o'clock.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Well again, I know that the the I'm in phrase
out of the players that step to the podium during
the week during press conferences it's it's no disrespect to
any opponent. Certainly, you guys are aware of who you're
playing because you get into the scout in the details
or whatever. But basically the phrase it's a nameless, faceless thing,
(07:17):
and it's more about basically the focus inward basically when
they use phrasing like that, when they talk about it correct.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, I think you know, it's part of our culture.
You know, we talk about it all the time. I
think you know, we talked about it after the game
on Saturday. Like the best cultures, they're going to help
your players, you know, perform beyond their talents. And I
just think, you know, you create a strong culture when
when you get guys that are doing hard things together,
it just it creates a brotherhood, you know, where we
(07:48):
understand that, hey, we're going on in journey and what
matters is is you know the guys in our locker
room and making sure that it's it's us versus us
and going on that journey and you know, doing that
with your brothers, Like that's what that's what makes college
football special. You know, it's not the not the revs
share stuff. It's not an il, it's not the portal
it's the experience that you get to go have with
(08:08):
your team, and I just think our guys have really
bought into that. You know, Hey, there's going to be
a story written, you know, every single week. You see
it in college football, I mean, coaches getting fired, all
that kind of stuff like it changes, you know, every
single week. So you got to get back to ground
zero every Sunday, and you got to start going back
to week back to work, because that story is going
(08:28):
to be written based off of what you do Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
and then for us this week Saturday from one to four.
And our guys have done a great job of getting
back to ground zero every single every single Sunday and
then getting back to work during the week. So something
that you know, our process, they believe in and it's
something that's really important to us as coaches and to
our players too as well.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
All Right, anything else for coach here, Tim, No, that's
good for me.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
All right? Perfect?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Well, Coach Schmidt, we'll talk to you tomorrow night at
Hot Talk as we count down towards kick off on
Saturday on the road at the Dakota Dome. And appreciate
you taking a little bit of your time here today
to recap and look ahead with us here on our
morning campaign. So appreciate this. Have a good rest of
your week.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Okay, all right, sounds good. You guys have a great
week as well.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
All right, there goes Eric Schmidt, head coach of North
Dakota football, as the Fighting Hawks prepare and get ready
after getting a nice win on Saturday, and they now
turn their attention to the South Dakota Coyotes.
So you welcome to the program. The coach at the
U and D football team, the victorious un D football team,
Eric schmid Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Coach, Morning Paul. How are you guys doing?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Oh good, good, good morning coaching. Yeah, we're ready for Halloween.
Tim's been trying to find costume ideas. But I'm kidding,
but when's the last time you've dressed up for Halloween?
How many years has it? Were you in college?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I bet it's been a long time. I actually had
a no, and my wife one time, she h, this
is I mean, I'm really putting this out there, Paul.
We were She was Chris Jenner and I was you know,
I was not Caitlyn Jenner.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
At that time.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I'm trying to think what his name was. Bruce. Bruce.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, with a lot of Jenner there you go, with
a lot of gold medal metals.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
This is back when they're uh this is probably twenty
ten when their their show was on TV. So she
did a way better job of pulling off, of pulling
out first time than I did.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Being must have been a staff party or something like that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Back in the day. It was Yeah, it was actually
it came up. We were a Dallas Southern No. No.
I so it was down there.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
But yeah, oh wow, Tim, I'll let you get to
the serious stuff. I got my silly one out of
the way.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Go ahead, Tim, Well, you don't have to be serious.
There was a court you're getting infamous for fast starts
with your football team. How do you explain that?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I just think the guys have just a level of
focus and intensity they understand.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
The one thing I always say about football is, you know,
every game is so important. You get in some of
these professional sports, and you know, Baseball, those guys are
working their way into the season the first twenty or
twenty five games. Same thing, and the NBA guys are
working themselves in the shape you know, early on in
the year. But football you have to be ready to
go every single Saturday because if you stub your toe, man,
(01:54):
that can that can hurt you. You know, at the
end of the year, there's just so few games. I
just feel like our guys understand the importance that, you
know every week. You know, we're trying to do a
great job of getting them prepared, you know, like I
like to say, try to give them as many answers
to the tests as we can and then they got
to go out there and be problem solvers, you know,
on Saturday afternoon. But I just think they understand the
(02:16):
importance of it. We've really stressed him starting fast. And
you know in college football, I've said it before that
if you're winning games at halftime, you have a great
opportunity to be able to win the game. And I
just feel like, you know, different ways. You know, we're
playing complimentary football, but different ways. Sometimes it's you know,
been the first quarter, but on Saturday it was you know,
(02:37):
Indiana State does a good job if you really dig
into who they are, like their body types and the
guys that they put out there, especially on the defensive side.
You're not just gonna you know, line up and be
able to you know, move the football. You've got to
be creative. You got to be able to throw it
a little bit too, to stopping up some of the
coverages and things that they want to do. But I
just thought our guys did a good job of just
you know, sticking to it, leaving in the plan and
(03:00):
eventually we got some short fields and things like that
we're able to put the be able to put the
ball in the end zone.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
You know, coach. One of the things we saw return
to Nate Ramonka making a catch. But that tight end group,
h boy, you've asked, you know, when it's Mason South's
turn to make a play, well, he makes a play.
Hayden Stay will make a play. You've rotated it around here.
You've dealt with injuries throughout that position group. Watson Hafer's
been steady. You know, it's just a really deep group
(03:29):
and it seems like they're all ready to do what
their job is when they whether it's making a block
or making a catch. Uh, there's just a lot of
guys to turn to.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
There been important for us, you know, like you mentioned
with the with the injuries there, there's obviously been some development.
I think, you know, Nate's been really good early in
the year. Ramaca you had a little bit of a
of an injury there the last couple of weeks, but
he's back healthy now. I think, you know, Grant Rubfro
has been really solid in that group, moving from running
(03:58):
back to there's caught some balls and some important situations
and is really, you know, rock solid, you know, just
doing his assignment all the time. And then you mentioned
Mason South, Hayden Stay, we'll get you know, we think
we'll get Aiden bay Meyer back again here this week.
He's kind of just dealing a little bit with a
lower body injury, but we gave him some time last
(04:19):
week just to try to, uh, you know, focus on
the recovery part of it. But I think it's a
credit to coach Howb, it's a credit to just the
culture in that room that hey, man, there's there's guys
that go down. We feel like, hey, the next man
up mentality, and it's so what now, what man? You
got to move on and the next guy's got to
be ready to go if we if we do get
banged up there. I think the other thing I like
about that group is they're starting to get you know,
(04:41):
more physical and more consistent on the line of scrimmage
too as well. I think, you know, Watson Hafer has
become a better blocker here. He's a guy that's you know,
good in the in the past game. He has got
some important balls, has moved the sticks for us you know,
the last month here. But he's getting better on the
line of scrimmage than Hayden Stay has definitely improved on
the line of scrimmage too as well. So those are
(05:01):
important pieces, you know, just being able to block on
the perimeter, whether that's tight ends or receivers too as well.
That's how you know, five and six and seven yard
runs become explosive plays.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, go ahead, Tim, if you oh did you I
didn't know if you had another one there?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Oh, I was just going to talk a lot bitter
talk about what you what do you know about South Dakota?
I mean what I don't want to say. What scares
you about South Dakota? Well, what gets you concerned about
the Coyotes?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, great word, I think you know, obviously have some
talent offensively, quarterbacks a three year starter in the league
and has had a lot of success in the league.
You know, really big upfront. They do a great job
of running the football, and they lost a really good
running back early in the year, but their backup now
(05:52):
is leading the league and rushing. He's had a number
of two hundred yard games. So they do a good
job of, you know, just playing to their identity and
then defensively since they're out in the field a lot
on offense when they're running the ball, you know, they've
been able to play really good defense, and same thing there.
I just think in the box like really stout, you know,
do a good job against the run. You know, play
(06:14):
a lot of just quarters man quarters, so they're gonna
have enough you know, hats in the box to be
able to match up with with what you're trying to
do in the run game. And really I think have
an identity on that side of the ball too, as
well as far as who they want to be, what
their structure looks like. You know, they'll pressure at times,
but they do a good job too as well, dropping
a bunch of people in coverage and and uh, you know,
(06:36):
your quarterback's got to have some some grit and some
tenacity to be able to keep your football team out
on the field. So they definitely, you know, present some challenges.
Then they're always good at home, you know, you look
at their records throughout the years, they've they've played really
well in the Coda Dome. So we know that, you know,
I mean, we have our work cutout for us on
on Saturday at one o'clock.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Well again, I know that the the I'm in phrase
out of the players that step to the podium during
the week during press conferences it's it's no disrespect to
any opponent. Certainly, you guys are aware of who you're
playing because you get into the scout in the details
or whatever. But basically the phrase it's a nameless, faceless thing,
(07:17):
and it's more about basically the focus inward basically when
they use phrasing like that, when they talk about it correct.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, I think you know, it's part of our culture.
You know, we talk about it all the time. I
think you know, we talked about it after the game
on Saturday. Like the best cultures, they're going to help
your players, you know, perform beyond their talents. And I
just think, you know, you create a strong culture when
when you get guys that are doing hard things together,
it just it creates a brotherhood, you know, where we
(07:48):
understand that, hey, we're going on in journey and what
matters is is you know the guys in our locker
room and making sure that it's it's us versus us
and going on that journey and you know, doing that
with your brothers, Like that's what that's what makes college
football special. You know, it's not the not the revs
share stuff. It's not an il, it's not the portal
it's the experience that you get to go have with
(08:08):
your team, and I just think our guys have really
bought into that. You know, Hey, there's going to be
a story written, you know, every single week. You see
it in college football, I mean, coaches getting fired, all
that kind of stuff like it changes, you know, every
single week. So you got to get back to ground
zero every Sunday, and you got to start going back
to week back to work, because that story is going
(08:28):
to be written based off of what you do Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
and then for us this week Saturday from one to four.
And our guys have done a great job of getting
back to ground zero every single every single Sunday and
then getting back to work during the week. So something
that you know, our process, they believe in and it's
something that's really important to us as coaches and to
our players too as well.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
All Right, anything else for coach here, Tim, No, that's
good for me.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
All right? Perfect?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Well, Coach Schmidt, we'll talk to you tomorrow night at
Hot Talk as we count down towards kick off on
Saturday on the road at the Dakota Dome. And appreciate
you taking a little bit of your time here today
to recap and look ahead with us here on our
morning campaign. So appreciate this. Have a good rest of
your week.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Okay, all right, sounds good. You guys have a great
week as well.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
All right, there goes Eric Schmidt, head coach of North
Dakota football, as the Fighting Hawks prepare and get ready
after getting a nice win on Saturday, and they now
turn their attention to the South Dakota Coyotes.
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