April 18, 2026 • 12 mins
Jack Michaels, Mike Berg and Paul Ralston from the UND Football Spring Showcase
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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Thanks to Tracy Value today producing our broadcasts. Yeah, I
don't know if Tracy's kept tracking here of like broadcasters
or coaches and you know how many games they've coached
or played or broadcast fall You know said, I wonder
how many broadcasts Tracy Value has produced her in her tenure?
Are you keeping track on that? Add another one today
(00:25):
in the Spring Football Showcase. We thank Tracy for her
work today on his Saturday. And if you find buying
insurance complicated and confusing, talk to the agents with Andrews
and no Dak Insurance Company. Find an agenterey you at
no Daki ins dot com, No Dak Insurance Company Agents
with Andrews. And then you know, we can't wait until
another season of North they could a football rise and
(00:48):
certainly look forward to bringing you all the action the
Fighting Hawks Radio Network. And if you miss parts of
today's you INDI Football Spring Showcase, you can go back
and listen. This is the day and age, but this
is the great thing that we live in today. You
can go back and listen to your convenience by going
to iHeartRadio dot com and within the Arheart Radio app
(01:09):
and search hawk Talk that's hawk Talk h A w
K T A l K and you can listen to
the broadcast whenever and wherever you are. Didn't have that,
Mike in nineteen seventy, he didn't have that.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
When you were out there in Montana, I was coaching
Vi Scully call the game.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
He can't have anything. He couldn't come back and do that.
Now you can.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So that's really a neat thing as we move along.
And it was great to hear from Rick Schmidt. You know,
it's it's interesting the U and what's great about this
North Dakota a football team. And we hear your conversations, Paul,
with these players throughout the course of the season, and
and and we hear Mike's conversations from broadcast with the
(01:55):
coaching staff and his football one on one segment we do.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And just the level of maturity.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And and groundedness of the players and the coaches. And
then the realism when I hear Eric Schmidt talk, when
I hear Danny Freun talk, when I hear Sean Costage talk,
and those are just three. I mean, this is a
good staff that they've assembled here. Trevor Olson has forgotten
more about line coaching than anybody has known. The addition
(02:23):
of kJ May the wide We can go down Darnell Duckett.
It was like a player personnel, which is now a
position in the game. Keith Mulgerson, We can go down
the list of all this guys. This program feels like
it is just poised. Don't you get this feeling, Paul,
It just poised to blow.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Certainly I get the feeling from the fans are ready
for that. I think that's where coach Schmidt and the
staff comes in, and Coach Berg will step right in
on this and add to it. Is that notice that
they are so involved in this process of okay, we
are not getting beyond what the next day lies in
(03:06):
front of us. That is their message to keep them
on task. The fan base is ready for that next step.
The fact that it got to the second round there
wasn't that much separating from getting to yet another week
of football. The fan base is ready quietly this program.
The players in that the incoming and the ones that
are here, they're ready for that step as well. But
(03:28):
that staff, the messaging is the right messaging. We are
here to build upon this on a day by day
basis and really allow our learning to happen on the
weekends and coach, I think you probably would probably agree
with that assessment.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
A little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Sure, I'm a fan, but I'm also realistic enough to
know all of this is great, all of this. We're
all excited, all happy about what looks like is going
to be a fun season. Don't tell me, show me.
Let's get it done, and so all this stuff, it
means nothing unless you get it done when the time comes.
(04:05):
And I believe that the pieces are in place, tools
are there, Let's get it done now.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
The great man one's told me why your front window
is bigger than your rear window windows because it's more
important what's in front. And we'll get to what's in
front here in a moment, but just humor me for
a second. If we look in the rear view window
for a second, then get to the most important thing,
the big window. I think last season we talk about
taking steps in schmidty, you know, getting things in blaze,
(04:31):
and it was kind of a whirlwind of activity, and
it did not take long for North Dakota to be.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Boom on the board.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
You know, we're in Manhattan, Kansas and it's Kansas State,
and all of a sudden, not only having the best
maybe media food.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
By the way, everybody that fires.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
A football game goes. You know, we heard a lot
about that in North Dakota. Left Manhattan thinking, let that
one get away?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Had that one?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That's an amazing font Where was before you think, boy,
if we can just stay for a quarter or two,
you know, so to you guys talk about the progression
and the build, think about that. That was a thirty
eight thirty five game. Came back to Grand Forks and pounded.
Portland State, went out to Montana and left Missoula going
should have had that game? Now this is still ranked
(05:19):
FCS tem So to reiterate before we look in the
front window, Paul, that was the mentality last year, which
should be should have had him went against Kansas fans
are prepers saying should have had Montana probably should have
had three.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
You know what I'm talking about, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
And the thing about it was is that you could
tell what was being instilled right away with this program.
And to be perfectly honest with you, none of the
coaches nor the players were patting themselves on the back
when they left Manhattan the Little Apple, or when they
left Missoula and Washington Griz Stadium, every single one of them,
(05:53):
to him, an individual felt like we not only did
the fans feel that way, those guys within the program
and we're like, we should be three in all right now.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And that's a mentality change, Mike. That's not easy to do.
You're talking about the mentality of a fan base. Everybody's
got expectations, but to physically tangibly feel that, and I
feel that right now with northa Coast.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, I do, and Coach Schmid says it. You know,
we're not results oriented, we're process oriented. The results take
care of themselves. Their emphasis is day to day. The
process is everything. We cannot let up on the process,
the expectation, and so the results will take care of
(06:35):
themselves if they do things right all the rest of
the time. And so that's the way this program is built.
And these kids when they come in here, they get
hit in the face with that the day they walk
in the door, and it doesn't leave I don't think
it ever leaves them ever, even after they're long done here.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
We'll give a in the next segment of rap In
some final thoughts from everybody today at the Spring Showcase.
And it's been a fun afternoon here on a Saturday.
But here is the now the bigger window is the
front window. We just went through the little rearview. This
is the more boy, the front window. At North Dakota
signed a home at home with a Long Island US,
so LU is now part of the equation leads for
a couple. So August twenty seventh, which is a Thursday night,
(07:15):
Long Island will come to Grand Fork, so LU will
be in town and then North Dakota and Saturday September
fifth will host Saint Thomas. And that's a program talk
about leaps and bounds of this Tommy's program across the board.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
For Saint Thomas. Ploy you've seen it as I have
a firsthand. That's that's that's.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Gonna be a nice little challenge there. And then the
first road game coming up for the University of North
Dakota Saturday September twelfth at Portland State. So a trip
to I'm sure we'll have to grab a pull from
Powell's bookstore Voodoo Donuts, but get to return to Portans
that will be fun. And then the eight hundred pound Gorilla,
which is why I'm bringing this up. And then conference
will start in tarot hot and we'll get onto Murray
(07:57):
State comes down all that, but that you guys see,
that had that big eight hundred pound gorilla with a
big red end. It says at Nebraska and now Nebraska
who North Dakota certainly made three thousand people leave Memorial
Stadium before the second half concluded. The last time North
Dakota's in Nebraska. The mount rules got that program. It's
(08:18):
on the uptick again. So guys, l I us fun.
You know, that's game one this way. I didn't bring
it up with Eric Schmid because he wouldn't have talked
about any of this. Hosting Saint Thomas at Portland State.
Then that fourth game Nebraska, Paul, I'm just curious, but
you know, we just got there with old k State
talk and all this kind of stuff, not saying they
need to beat Nebraska to validate anything, but aren't you
(08:39):
sensing that little eight hundred pound guerrilla sitting there in Lincoln?
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I mean, what a what a great target it is
certainly when that day arises, because North Dakota has already
been there and accounted for themselves quite well. In fact,
you know, two plays early in that what fourth quarter
basically kind of flipped that game on that day. In
the Nebraska program juncture struggling, as you mentioned, far different
(09:02):
in today's day and eight. Coach, yes, correct, things were
different down in Lincoln. They expect in Lincoln to do
what they do against a team like North Dakota. But
Coach Schmidt will have his team and his and his
coaches ready for the fray as they did a year
ago against Kansas State. I'm looking forward to that. I
(09:23):
look at the valley ahead here and this will be
just my one little point overall. You know, if you
a lot of people have said, who is not in
the valley, But I look at the valley, They're still
in Illinois State, who has an FCS finalist team here?
The red Birds are still and now you play everyone
and South Dakota State comes back here again. Everybody in
Brooking's upset about that. But they weren't going to send
(09:45):
South Dakota State back to Vermilion for another year in
a row. That would have been a nightmare. So when
they did the rescheduling, we get the jack Rabbits back
in Grand Forks this year. This is a wonderful schedule,
not only with Nebraska, but I tell you every game
so meaningful, starting with Long Island on that Thursday night,
it's gonna be uh. You know, I know people have
(10:08):
their quocks basically set to win. That opening kickoff is happening. Yeah,
the countdown is going on. I'm with them. I'm excited
about what this team can do. And today was just
what we'd sell. There's a French word. I'm just gonna
go with the word appetizer of what today was.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
So that's a different that's apartment. That's right. I like
the way you said, Mike before we break your thoughts
on that too. Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
You see the non conference for North Dakota. Paul just
talked about the conference games over there, the non conference
l I U, Saint Thomas, Portland State, and Nebraska. Is
that enough on your plate to get ready for conference playing.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I don't want you guys to hate me. I have
looked at the schedule. I don't say about this.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Absolutely nothing to practice.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
This coach is orried about tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I look at the start of practice, I look at
the four or five weeks he'll put in before they
take the field, and then I'll see who they're playing
and we'll get ready to talk about that but seriously,
I don't.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Care translate translate for my longtime partner. He's just waiting
for Paul's text to see what time we gotta be
at the airport right exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
I know we'll be.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
We'll be at home on that Thursday night.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
And I know I know where my parking spot is
at the Laris. Before we get there, I'll have watched
a lot of practices and I'll have all kinds of
opinions by kickoff for the.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
For the fan, nicely Don Mike for the fans.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
UH the home games l i U Saint Thomas as
we mentioned, UH Murray stand at home. Paul mentioned South
Dakota State at home, and then finish up with back
to back home games the regular season, Illinois State and
Southern Illinois. So that's a pretty good home slate. Get
those tickets and fill up that ALIS will be loud.
(11:53):
Come back some final thoughts, and we returned from the
spring football showcase. You're listening to Fighting Hawks Football on
the Body Hawk's ready.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
That word
Thanks to Tracy Value today producing our broadcasts. Yeah, I
don't know if Tracy's kept tracking here of like broadcasters
or coaches and you know how many games they've coached
or played or broadcast fall You know said, I wonder
how many broadcasts Tracy Value has produced her in her tenure?
Are you keeping track on that? Add another one today
(00:25):
in the Spring Football Showcase. We thank Tracy for her
work today on his Saturday. And if you find buying
insurance complicated and confusing, talk to the agents with Andrews
and no Dak Insurance Company. Find an agenterey you at
no Daki ins dot com, No Dak Insurance Company Agents
with Andrews. And then you know, we can't wait until
another season of North they could a football rise and
(00:48):
certainly look forward to bringing you all the action the
Fighting Hawks Radio Network. And if you miss parts of
today's you INDI Football Spring Showcase, you can go back
and listen. This is the day and age, but this
is the great thing that we live in today. You
can go back and listen to your convenience by going
to iHeartRadio dot com and within the Arheart Radio app
(01:09):
and search hawk Talk that's hawk Talk h A w
K T A l K and you can listen to
the broadcast whenever and wherever you are. Didn't have that,
Mike in nineteen seventy, he didn't have that.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
When you were out there in Montana, I was coaching
Vi Scully call the game.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
He can't have anything. He couldn't come back and do that.
Now you can.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So that's really a neat thing as we move along.
And it was great to hear from Rick Schmidt. You know,
it's it's interesting the U and what's great about this
North Dakota a football team. And we hear your conversations, Paul,
with these players throughout the course of the season, and
and and we hear Mike's conversations from broadcast with the
(01:55):
coaching staff and his football one on one segment we do.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And just the level of maturity.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And and groundedness of the players and the coaches. And
then the realism when I hear Eric Schmidt talk, when
I hear Danny Freun talk, when I hear Sean Costage talk,
and those are just three. I mean, this is a
good staff that they've assembled here. Trevor Olson has forgotten
more about line coaching than anybody has known. The addition
(02:23):
of kJ May the wide We can go down Darnell Duckett.
It was like a player personnel, which is now a
position in the game. Keith Mulgerson, We can go down
the list of all this guys. This program feels like
it is just poised. Don't you get this feeling, Paul,
It just poised to blow.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Certainly I get the feeling from the fans are ready
for that. I think that's where coach Schmidt and the
staff comes in, and Coach Berg will step right in
on this and add to it. Is that notice that
they are so involved in this process of okay, we
are not getting beyond what the next day lies in
(03:06):
front of us. That is their message to keep them
on task. The fan base is ready for that next step.
The fact that it got to the second round there
wasn't that much separating from getting to yet another week
of football. The fan base is ready quietly this program.
The players in that the incoming and the ones that
are here, they're ready for that step as well. But
(03:28):
that staff, the messaging is the right messaging. We are
here to build upon this on a day by day
basis and really allow our learning to happen on the
weekends and coach, I think you probably would probably agree
with that assessment.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
A little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Sure, I'm a fan, but I'm also realistic enough to
know all of this is great, all of this. We're
all excited, all happy about what looks like is going
to be a fun season. Don't tell me, show me.
Let's get it done, and so all this stuff, it
means nothing unless you get it done when the time comes.
(04:05):
And I believe that the pieces are in place, tools
are there, Let's get it done now.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
The great man one's told me why your front window
is bigger than your rear window windows because it's more
important what's in front. And we'll get to what's in
front here in a moment, but just humor me for
a second. If we look in the rear view window
for a second, then get to the most important thing,
the big window. I think last season we talk about
taking steps in schmidty, you know, getting things in blaze,
(04:31):
and it was kind of a whirlwind of activity, and
it did not take long for North Dakota to be.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Boom on the board.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
You know, we're in Manhattan, Kansas and it's Kansas State,
and all of a sudden, not only having the best
maybe media food.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
By the way, everybody that fires.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
A football game goes. You know, we heard a lot
about that in North Dakota. Left Manhattan thinking, let that
one get away?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Had that one?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That's an amazing font Where was before you think, boy,
if we can just stay for a quarter or two,
you know, so to you guys talk about the progression
and the build, think about that. That was a thirty
eight thirty five game. Came back to Grand Forks and pounded.
Portland State, went out to Montana and left Missoula going
should have had that game? Now this is still ranked
(05:19):
FCS tem So to reiterate before we look in the
front window, Paul, that was the mentality last year, which
should be should have had him went against Kansas fans
are prepers saying should have had Montana probably should have
had three.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
You know what I'm talking about, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
And the thing about it was is that you could
tell what was being instilled right away with this program.
And to be perfectly honest with you, none of the
coaches nor the players were patting themselves on the back
when they left Manhattan the Little Apple, or when they
left Missoula and Washington Griz Stadium, every single one of them,
(05:53):
to him, an individual felt like we not only did
the fans feel that way, those guys within the program
and we're like, we should be three in all right now.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And that's a mentality change, Mike. That's not easy to do.
You're talking about the mentality of a fan base. Everybody's
got expectations, but to physically tangibly feel that, and I
feel that right now with northa Coast.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, I do, and Coach Schmid says it. You know,
we're not results oriented, we're process oriented. The results take
care of themselves. Their emphasis is day to day. The
process is everything. We cannot let up on the process,
the expectation, and so the results will take care of
(06:35):
themselves if they do things right all the rest of
the time. And so that's the way this program is built.
And these kids when they come in here, they get
hit in the face with that the day they walk
in the door, and it doesn't leave I don't think
it ever leaves them ever, even after they're long done here.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
We'll give a in the next segment of rap In
some final thoughts from everybody today at the Spring Showcase.
And it's been a fun afternoon here on a Saturday.
But here is the now the bigger window is the
front window. We just went through the little rearview. This
is the more boy, the front window. At North Dakota
signed a home at home with a Long Island US,
so LU is now part of the equation leads for
a couple. So August twenty seventh, which is a Thursday night,
(07:15):
Long Island will come to Grand Fork, so LU will
be in town and then North Dakota and Saturday September
fifth will host Saint Thomas. And that's a program talk
about leaps and bounds of this Tommy's program across the board.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
For Saint Thomas. Ploy you've seen it as I have
a firsthand. That's that's that's.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Gonna be a nice little challenge there. And then the
first road game coming up for the University of North
Dakota Saturday September twelfth at Portland State. So a trip
to I'm sure we'll have to grab a pull from
Powell's bookstore Voodoo Donuts, but get to return to Portans
that will be fun. And then the eight hundred pound Gorilla,
which is why I'm bringing this up. And then conference
will start in tarot hot and we'll get onto Murray
(07:57):
State comes down all that, but that you guys see,
that had that big eight hundred pound gorilla with a
big red end. It says at Nebraska and now Nebraska
who North Dakota certainly made three thousand people leave Memorial
Stadium before the second half concluded. The last time North
Dakota's in Nebraska. The mount rules got that program. It's
(08:18):
on the uptick again. So guys, l I us fun.
You know, that's game one this way. I didn't bring
it up with Eric Schmid because he wouldn't have talked
about any of this. Hosting Saint Thomas at Portland State.
Then that fourth game Nebraska, Paul, I'm just curious, but
you know, we just got there with old k State
talk and all this kind of stuff, not saying they
need to beat Nebraska to validate anything, but aren't you
(08:39):
sensing that little eight hundred pound guerrilla sitting there in Lincoln?
Speaker 4 (08:42):
I mean, what a what a great target it is
certainly when that day arises, because North Dakota has already
been there and accounted for themselves quite well. In fact,
you know, two plays early in that what fourth quarter
basically kind of flipped that game on that day. In
the Nebraska program juncture struggling, as you mentioned, far different
(09:02):
in today's day and eight. Coach, yes, correct, things were
different down in Lincoln. They expect in Lincoln to do
what they do against a team like North Dakota. But
Coach Schmidt will have his team and his and his
coaches ready for the fray as they did a year
ago against Kansas State. I'm looking forward to that. I
(09:23):
look at the valley ahead here and this will be
just my one little point overall. You know, if you
a lot of people have said, who is not in
the valley, But I look at the valley, They're still
in Illinois State, who has an FCS finalist team here?
The red Birds are still and now you play everyone
and South Dakota State comes back here again. Everybody in
Brooking's upset about that. But they weren't going to send
(09:45):
South Dakota State back to Vermilion for another year in
a row. That would have been a nightmare. So when
they did the rescheduling, we get the jack Rabbits back
in Grand Forks this year. This is a wonderful schedule,
not only with Nebraska, but I tell you every game
so meaningful, starting with Long Island on that Thursday night,
it's gonna be uh. You know, I know people have
(10:08):
their quocks basically set to win. That opening kickoff is happening. Yeah,
the countdown is going on. I'm with them. I'm excited
about what this team can do. And today was just
what we'd sell. There's a French word. I'm just gonna
go with the word appetizer of what today was.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
So that's a different that's apartment. That's right. I like
the way you said, Mike before we break your thoughts
on that too. Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
You see the non conference for North Dakota. Paul just
talked about the conference games over there, the non conference
l I U, Saint Thomas, Portland State, and Nebraska. Is
that enough on your plate to get ready for conference playing.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I don't want you guys to hate me. I have
looked at the schedule. I don't say about this.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Absolutely nothing to practice.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
This coach is orried about tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I look at the start of practice, I look at
the four or five weeks he'll put in before they
take the field, and then I'll see who they're playing
and we'll get ready to talk about that but seriously,
I don't.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Care translate translate for my longtime partner. He's just waiting
for Paul's text to see what time we gotta be
at the airport right exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
I know we'll be.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
We'll be at home on that Thursday night.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
And I know I know where my parking spot is
at the Laris. Before we get there, I'll have watched
a lot of practices and I'll have all kinds of
opinions by kickoff for the.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
For the fan, nicely Don Mike for the fans.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
UH the home games l i U Saint Thomas as
we mentioned, UH Murray stand at home. Paul mentioned South
Dakota State at home, and then finish up with back
to back home games the regular season, Illinois State and
Southern Illinois. So that's a pretty good home slate. Get
those tickets and fill up that ALIS will be loud.
(11:53):
Come back some final thoughts, and we returned from the
spring football showcase. You're listening to Fighting Hawks Football on
the Body Hawk's ready.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
That word
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