#92Noon! 9am Hour 9/2 - Dwight Lundeen

PA opens the show talking about the Kyle Van Noy, the Vikings newest LB. Becker High School Football Coach Dwight Lundeen joins the show to talk about his 50+ years coaching football.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, hello there, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the
joy and happiness and people-watching of the Great Minnesota Get-Together.
And welcome to the Minnesota Vikings, a man named Kyle
Van Noy, a veteran signed yesterday to bring some edge
to the Brian Flores pass rush and some stability and

(01:11):
depth fortifications. Seems like a perfect place to begin Vikes
Bites with mad producer Vikes Bites.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Vikes Bites. Vikes Bites.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
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Speaker 4 (01:25):
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Speaker 3 (01:26):
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Speaker 4 (01:44):
But let's kick off Vikes Bites with Kyle Van Noy.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
And we can listen to a linebacker turning offense into,
excuse me, defense into offense.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Waiting on the snap.

Speaker 5 (01:58):
And the punt with O'Donnell standing on is 30.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
He has it short or high. Got it.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
Got it.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Right up the middle. Blocked by Hightower. It's going to
be picked up by the Patriots.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
Van Noy from the.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
10 to the 5. Raising his arms to the end zone. Touchdown, Patriots.

Speaker 6 (02:16):
That day had a tower, baby.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Wow. Came right up the middle.

Speaker 6 (02:22):
Almost took the entire kicker out.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
Kyle Van Nooy with the touchdown.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Oh, so he had a defensive touchdown.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
He had a defensive touchdown via the punt block in
that particular case.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, that had to be the only one, right?

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, it must have been, or was it, Max?

Speaker 5 (02:37):
Now the Pats in a 21-3 lead. The Jets confront
third down and 10. In the early minutes of the
third for the Patriots, 49. Ball on the right hash
mark with three wides to the left. One in Anderson
to the right. McGuire off the right hip of Darnold
right before the quarterback takes the snap. Drops back against
a four-man rush. Under pressure. Starts to roll off the ball.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Knocked out.

Speaker 4 (02:55):
Scooped up by Van Noy.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Sprints past the 35-30. In the clear. End zone bound
to the five.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
To the pylon.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Touchdown, Patriots. Scoop and scores.

Speaker 6 (03:08):
And I just said it, the defense is putting on
a stretch.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
New Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Kyle Vannoy with two defensive touchdowns.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
What a career.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
Not bad, unless you'd like another one.

Speaker 6 (03:21):
Shotgun, third and nine.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Jones drifting back.

Speaker 6 (03:24):
Checks it underneath.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
John Hilleman catches it. Loses the ball.

Speaker 4 (03:27):
It pops free.

Speaker 6 (03:28):
And it's scooped up down the left side. Kyle Vannoy
dives for the pylon. Did he get in?

Speaker 4 (03:36):
They're going to say he's down at the two-yard line, Ian.

Speaker 7 (03:39):
And a fumble.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
And that ball is clearly out. He got in, ladies
and gentlemen.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
Now three defensive touchdowns over the course of a career.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
My man hit the trifecta.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Are you kidding me? Second rounder out of BYU? How
about one more, though, from Mr.

Speaker 6 (03:55):
Van Noy? Down to a minute 33 to play.

Speaker 8 (03:57):
Third and five for the Falcons.

Speaker 6 (04:00):
Shotgun for Rosen. Two receivers left.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Looking to his left.

Speaker 6 (04:04):
Rosen.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Intercepted.

Speaker 6 (04:05):
Picked off. Van Noy still going to the ten.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
To the five.

Speaker 6 (04:10):
He gets pushed from behind.

Speaker 9 (04:11):
Touchdown.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
The Patriots get a bonus.

Speaker 6 (04:17):
Kyle Van Noy, the pick six.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
Wow, the edge-rushing depth fortification knows how to sniff out
the end zone. And good morning, Vikes Bites.

Speaker 4 (04:29):
Good morning.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
A conversation throughout camp, whether it's Vikes Bites related, we're
on the perch at TCO and just the final 53.
And chats we've had even on a Wednesday morning the
last couple days. What are we going to do at
the edge position, given that Tyler Batty tears his ACL, sadly,
in that final preseason game?

Speaker 4 (04:49):
Even prior to that, let's say that Tyler's healthy.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
It was still a point of contention in terms of
the depth and what you could expect behind Andrew Van
Ginkle and then Dallas Turner, who we're all expecting, health
and everything aside, to have a terrific third season in purple.
And so it was Hasan Reddick, that was a name
that you had been bandying about, or just kind of
sniffing around for the right names. You know, a complicated

(05:13):
situation as, you know, I'm a Rube, I'm a fan,
and I'm thinking to myself, ooh, look at these names
out here. You got Von Miller, ooh, Jadeveon Clowney.

Speaker 4 (05:22):
Joey Bosa is still available.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
But I think there was a tricky element here in
terms of finding somebody that the team, first of.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
All, really, really liked, fit into the mix, all of that.
But are they.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Potentially comfortable being the third fiddle on that depth chart,
and the fact that this team is moving forward with
Dallas Turner being a massive part of this defense and
splitting snaps and those sorts of things.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
And so what was the right name?

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Well, apparently, according to the Vikings, and Lieber had been
on Kyle Van Noy really for a couple months, and
cool seasons.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
His first two with Baltimore.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
Had his highest sack totals in his career. His first
couple seasons with the Ravens, I think it was nine
and then 12 and a half two years ago. entire
defensive front for Baltimore basically was injured last year so
he only had two sacks in 15 games but starting
his career with Detroit he's flipped to the Patriots this
will be his third intersection with Brian Flores both with

(06:20):
the Patriots early on then 2020 I believe with the
Dolphins and now he's here a member of the Purple
so hey, I wonder how quickly Kyle Van Noy can
get up to speed in Brian Flores' scheme. Maybe that's
part of that conversation, too. But just really excited to,
in some ways, have an answer to what the Vikings
are thinking, at least, in terms of bolstering that defensive

(06:41):
pass rush group.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
When was this announced, roughly? Was it last evening?

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Because there was a tell floating around there yesterday. that
I missed on social media but I saw this morning.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
What's that?

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Kyle Vannoy tweeted, middle of the day, early evening, 6, 630.

Speaker 4 (06:59):
I'll find it.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Interlocking CC, fire. Hit that sub button. Don't forget to like.
Don't forget to hit that thumbs up and like it
and hit that sub button.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
Interlocking CC, fire.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
So if I had seen that yesterday, I might have
texted you and just kind of thought via the text
machine that, hmm, My man visited the Vikings. No reports
that he left with a deal, but he had time
to play at Interlochen Country Club. So, I mean, he's
either milking somebody for everything they have before he leaves
and joins a team anew, or he's going to stay

(07:34):
here and play for the Minnesota Vikings, which indeed is
the case. The word patience. In fact, our first guest
today with Nostalgia Radio coming up around the corner, is
somebody who started a football program 57 years ago and
is retiring after this year for Becker High School at

(07:55):
age 79. And I would imagine patience with a lot
of different things would have to be in play, specifically
early in the foundation of a program when things probably
were rough. So how does that segue to what we're
talking about now? vikes bites vikes bites provided.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
By kin mount exteriors kin mount.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
Exteriors.com the the patience play for the minnesota vikings with
this off season um has has been quite impressive yeah
uh now you're going to need a couple of players
uh with whom that uh they were patient uh they're
going to have to come through kyle van noy is
one joan jennings would be another uh but early in
free agency kind of like last year where the uh

(08:36):
the Vikings on the very first day of free agency
into the 2025, they signed Isaiah Rogers. And that was like,
all these big names are getting hundreds of millions of dollars,
and we slide under the cover of darkness and bring
in a corner that was a little off the radar.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
I was scrambling to Google to figure out, okay, Isaiah Rogers,
where does he play?

Speaker 4 (08:56):
What has he done? What does he look like? I
had no idea.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
And you quickly learn he was an accomplished kick returner.
As it goes here, at least, DeMond Claiborne, let's go.
But this year, their first free agent signing was of
the frugal variety, and it also was very early in
the free agency process. His name is James Pierre, and
he made the team. Now, this year, balling on a budget,

(09:23):
so to speak, they wanted Jawan Jennings week after week
after week after week after week. Wide receiver Jawan Jennings,
they wanted him week after week after week after week.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
And they waited it out.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
And kept working with Juwan and his representation, then boom,
Juwan ended up on the team. The patience play very
much was in play. Perhaps when you're balling on a budget,
it needs to be that way. Well, they also needed
a veteran edge. And Tyler Batty, who ripped up his

(09:55):
ACL in the final preseason game, I fully believe was
going to be given a fair opportunity.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
To be that third edge.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
But this is the time now where if you're going
to make a play for something you feel you need
in full or part-time fashion, emphasis part-time fashion, you've got
to make it. And whether Batty hurt his ACL or not,
Kyle Van Noy is going to be a part of
the outside linebacker group for Coach Thad Bogardas and a

(10:24):
defensive coordinator, Brian Flores. Now, I'm not going to venture,
I'm not going to go down the road of how
long or how interested they've been in the aforementioned names
that Nordo rattled off. I can't believe this is the
first time that they've talked to Kyle Van Noy's agent. So,

(10:44):
or Hassan Reddick's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, or agent's du jour
of player's du jour. But when you have that first
conversation with veterans, because with respect to Kyle Van Noy,
he's closer to the end than he is the beginning.
This is a mercenary-type hire on a one-year deal for
a very fair.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Amount of cash. But you have to wait it out.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
And, you know, Van Noy wants to play for a
good team at this stage of his career. And I'm
sure he had myriad opportunities, but it ended up being here.
So then the next part's going to be when we
tee it up against Green Bay in 11 days, how
much does he play and why? And does that increase
over the course of weeks? Because with Brian Flores, as

(11:28):
Nostalgia Radio guest is going to tell us in about
10 minutes, position flexibility is very important. So Andrew Van
Ginkle and Dallas Turner are identifiable as outside linebackers, edge linebackers,
But if you watch the games, they play all over
the place. So they can do their edge work and
rush from obtuse angles. And the fact, like Nordo said,

(11:52):
that Kyle Vannoy has many, many snaps and many reps
with Brian Flores, well, that only expedites the process with
a player like this. So it can be argued, Hasan Reddick,
may have more potency or pop to him at this
stage of his life slash career than Kyle Van Noy,

(12:13):
probably cost about double the money, and you also have
to start parsing between, like Norto said earlier, when you're
chatting with these players, what are your expectations for playing time?
Because we got this guy over here with the five
defensive touchdowns, the kid with the long hair, and granted,
he's into his final year at like age 31, but

(12:34):
The other guy, if you want to sit down and
watch Baltimore Ravens joint practice tape with us, he was unblockable.
Dallas Turner was unblockable in the Ravens' joints. In fact,
the first sack of the preseason for the Vikings went
the way of Dallas Turner. So he supposedly is sitting
on a big one. The other guy over there knows

(12:55):
this thing inside and out, super smart, can rush, good
against the run, jumps routes, gets to the house.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
How much do you expect to play?

Speaker 1 (13:03):
So that's not anything that's going to cause 9 to
Noon to stare at ceiling fans and determine, like, what's
this guy's lot in life? They added somebody who knows
how to play this defense, and it's a fortification piece,
and I'm excited to meet him and call his games.

Speaker 4 (13:19):
I am too.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
Just waiting for the team to make it official official,
and then I do kind of wonder who.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Well, we do have a press conference today at Noon.
Vikings general manager Nolan Teasley speaks today at noon.

Speaker 4 (13:30):
Could be perfect timing.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Right.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Not sure if it's carried on KFA, and it probably is,
but we're at the fair, so things change.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
But the GM speaks today at noon, so I would
imagine this would be part of the mix.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Bites, bites.

Speaker 4 (13:45):
Bites, bites indeed.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
And Kyle Van Nooy in there will be probably a
corresponding move associated with that.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
And speaking of that PA... Does.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
Anybody have any idea where Dylan Bell is? Well, he... That's...
I mean, he made the team.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
Then he got cut. I mean, I spent 15 minutes
of my life yesterday. I'll never get back. Looking for
Dylan Bell on practice squads. Like, did he get hurt? Like,
after the Denver game? And is there some weird injury
designation thing here?

Speaker 2 (14:13):
Like, where's Dylan Bell?

Speaker 3 (14:15):
Yeah, everybody in the stands, you've been waiting. You've been
waiting to find out what's going on with Dylan Bell.

Speaker 4 (14:20):
And I'm here to provide you with the intel.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
He is officially back to the Vikings practice squad.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
Is he really?

Speaker 4 (14:26):
He's back to the.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Vikings practice squad.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
Now, that's not going from the outhouse to the penthouse.
That's not going from the penthouse to the outhouse. Okay,
the penthouse would be... Hey, Mom, I made the active 53. Hey, Mom,
I'm on the practice squad. No, he probably was going
to be on the practice squad in the first place.
I knew he might have gotten a little excited about
Dylan Bell making that active 53 on Monday. I mean,

(14:53):
there might have been some Juwan Jennings comparisons unfurled and
things like that, but the practice squad's not a bad
place to be, man. I mean, you've got 16, 17 spots,
making about a quarter million a year, cop meals. Speaking
of comp meals, here comes Ali with Ali's Crab Fritters.

Speaker 4 (15:11):
Oh, come on.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
Thanks for the early Crab Fritters, my brother. Appreciate you. Hey,
where are you located these days?

Speaker 2 (15:17):
Between Murphy and Lee up on Underwood. Between Murphy and what?

Speaker 1 (15:20):
Murphy and Lee up on Underwood. Murphy and Lee up
on Underwood. Support those who support us. Thank you very much,
my brother.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
Great to appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
Yeah, so we have a Dylan Bell sighting practice squad,
quarter million, cop meals, get to work with all the
right players.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
That's sweet.

Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah, he went from, hey, he made the final 53
in Juwan Jennings' name.

Speaker 4 (15:41):
His name pops.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
I heard something kind of a different kind of physical
like a Percy Harbaugh.

Speaker 4 (15:47):
We got a little ahead of our skis.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
That wasn't me. No, that one wasn't me.

Speaker 4 (15:51):
I don't think that was even I to do. But again,
we went from that type of conversation.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
We were excited.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
Wow, undrafted cat. Hey, three UDFAs. We got the punter.
We have Jacob Thomas. We have Dylan Bell, the undrafted bulldog.
And what can he do in this offense? And then
suddenly he's waived.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Bikes, bites.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
And then Max Brosmer, by the way, was indeed waived.
And he was sent back to the practice squad.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
For the Vikings?

Speaker 4 (16:15):
For the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Sky U Ma, Max Brosmer. Sky U Ma. Welcome back
to the Covenant, my brother.

Speaker 4 (16:22):
So we still have those two guys in the house.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
But enter.

Speaker 4 (16:25):
Trevor Keegan. So offensive line, team only keeps eight on
the final 53.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yep, the Michigan guy.

Speaker 4 (16:31):
Yep, we've got a.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
Former Wolverine and teammate of McCarthy and Bredesen. He was
a fifth-round pick.

Speaker 4 (16:36):
He's played in a total of three games.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
I believe he's a guard by trade, seasoned with the
Eagles and the Cowboys.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
With McCarthy nursing a bad ankle up to the Green
Bay game, the assumption here is Carson Wentz is the
backup quarterback. We have no confirmation on that from the
head coach via press conferences, but I'm sure we will
closer to the game. Do you think there's anybody so
offended that J.J. McCarthy is actually on the team as
the third quarterback they're like, I'm.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
Pulling my tickets. If he's on the squad, I'm pulling
my tickets.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yes, I do. It's ridiculous. I'm not pulling their tickets,
but you know, yeah, I know what you mean.

Speaker 4 (17:11):
No, it is still hot.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
It's still super hot.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
No matter how many times we try to say we
don't want to talk about it, It's about Kyler. It's
about 12 or 11 days from the border battle.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
What do you guys got against baby faces with curly
hair popping out of baseball caps?

Speaker 4 (17:26):
Why are you trying to get 23-year-olds fired?

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Honestly.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
Crazy.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
It's just starting in life.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
Can we at least shape it from a Minnesota nice
standpoint on social media and ingratiate the young man into
this ankle injury? And third quarterback state is Bites Bites.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
So depth chart deep dive. It's Trevor Keegan and Nick Samick.
I mean, this is not necessarily breaking news, but we
didn't have a.

Speaker 4 (17:49):
Football-heavy show yesterday.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
He was, let me see, with the Panthers last year,
plucked from the Ravens practice squad, cut by the Panthers
a week ago, and now he's here. It's a depth
situation for them, of course. At the center spot, we
talked about it in the final 53. We got one
converted center on the team. Maybe Huber played 10 snaps
for the Badgers that we didn't know.

Speaker 4 (18:08):
About yet, that sort of thing.

Speaker 10 (18:10):
Right.

Speaker 4 (18:11):
Adding O-line to the roster is a good thing. Maybe
still a weak.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
Spot depth-wise at the center spot, and we will find out.
Xavier Scott, by the way, this is a doogie bomb.
Doogie bomb.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (18:23):
Reports of Xavier Scott.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
No.

Speaker 4 (18:26):
He chose the Bears, PA.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Chose?

Speaker 1 (18:28):
I mean, did he have an option here? He wanted
to return here. Did he get beat by Dylan Bell?
Holy cow.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
He may have got beat by Dylan Bell.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
All right, Zay, love you, bud. Floor down, Chicago beers.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
You're not going to be in first this year.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
That's Vikes Bites, courtesy of?

Speaker 4 (18:47):
Kinmount Exteriors, kinmountexteriors.com.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
And the TimberTech What's On Deck set list includes former
Minnesota Twins general manager Thad Levine.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
He has a really.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
Smart and cool podcast that is called Rosters to Rings.
And Thad's very, very smart, not only with baseball, but
myriad sports-related topics. He's going to be at the State
Fair with 9 to noon at 11 o'clock. Really, really
enjoy conversations with Thad Levine. Former Gophers great quarterback Tanner Morgan,

(19:19):
he's going to be here at 10 o'clock. My man
set 15 program records when he was quarterback for the
Golden Gophers. He currently is doing a lot of things,
including coaching. as the chaplain for the Minnesota Vikings. Tanner
Morgan will be here at 10 o'clock, and Nostalgia Radio
takes place around the corner. We have a retiring head

(19:41):
coach and an author son, and we'll pay all of
that off when we return to the State Fair.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
It's 919. Good morning.

Speaker 8 (19:48):
This.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
Is 9 to noon.

Speaker 9 (19:52):
This is PA live from the Minnesota State Fair on
the fan. Presented by Mesh, Besher, and Spence.

Speaker 7 (20:02):
Mall of America Summer Mystery Prizes are back, and we're
bringing them to you all summer long. Come grab yours
at KFN events throughout the summer. And whenever you see
our KFN Street Team, then make sure to redeem them
at the Mall of America for fun prizes.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
And big discounts.

Speaker 7 (20:18):
See the full list of events at KFN.com keyword calendar.

Speaker 1 (20:36):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Carousel Park at the
Great Minnesota Get-Together adjacent to the Grandstand. We're very excited
for what's going to transpire right now. We've been working
on it several weeks with a dear friend of mine.
And here at the State Fair, we have a man
named Dwight Lundeen who enters his 57th and final year

(21:01):
coaching football at Becker High School. a program that he began,
ladies and gentlemen, right to my left.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
That's Dwight. And to his left is his son, Matt.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
Who wrote a book about the whole experience and the
life of his father, Dwight Lundeen. It's called Success is Temporary,
Impact is Forever. 57 years of influence. A round of
applause for the father and son, ladies and gentlemen, joining
us here for some nostalgia radio. The book looks fantastic.

(21:34):
I've gotten through some of it to prepare for this interview. Now, Dwight,
first and foremost, thank you very much for helping.

Speaker 6 (21:40):
Thanks for having us. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
This is pretty special. You have a game against Orono tomorrow.

Speaker 6 (21:45):
Tomorrow, yeah. We'll have to head back and have a
little practice, polish up a little bit, and get ready
for Orono. They were only state champions last year. They're loaded.
We're just trying to make it a game.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Okay, so being here for the, I don't know, 35,
40 minutes we're going to be together, And like getting
here and going back to Becker High School, that's not
going to impact your third down calls or third down
defense or offense against the state champions tomorrow, right?

Speaker 2 (22:12):
We don't want to be part of that.

Speaker 6 (22:13):
No, no, no. We need a game. We've practiced enough.
I told the kids, hey, no more practice, no more talk.
Let's play a game, find out where we're at.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
And Matt, Matt Lundeen, one of two kids to play
for your father?

Speaker 8 (22:28):
Absolutely, yep. I have an older brother, Mike.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
And what triggered you to write the book? Like, when
did this hit you?

Speaker 1 (22:34):
Hey, my dad has the second most wins for a
Minnesota high school football coach. He's won four state championships.
There's an incredibly unique nature to to part of Dwight's
life where he actually spent a lot of time in
the Congo. Have you been working on this for a while,
or was it an epiphany over the last X amount

(22:56):
of years that led you to this?

Speaker 8 (22:57):
Yeah, you know, it really started two years ago.

Speaker 10 (22:59):
Two years ago at the end of our football season,
I was talking to my dad as I was wrapping
up some things from our season, and like always, he's
just a wealth of knowledge. Anybody that's done anything for
57 years, I mean, they have a ton of experience
and just a ton of knowledge, and when I hung
up the phone... a thought came to mind as I said,
everybody should have a Dwight Lundeen in their life. Someone

(23:20):
that they can call and talk to just about anything,
everything from football to life to things. And it was
at that time I was like, you know, I should
really write a book about the things that I've learned
from dad over the years.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
Have you written things before? I mean, in any way,
are you an accomplished writer? Or is this just something
that God put in your heart where it's like, Holy cow.
I mean, these are not only amazing, unique stories, but
from an impact standpoint, maybe even a gospel standpoint, that

(23:52):
this needs to be put out there.

Speaker 6 (23:53):
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 8 (23:54):
It was just totally, you know, God put it on
my heart.

Speaker 10 (23:56):
I mean, I'm a sixth grade language arts social studies
at the wonderful town of Redwood Valley High School in
Redwood Falls, Minnesota. So anything I write is basically to
sixth graders and to those parents. So to take this on,
It was an awesome journey.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
How long did it take you to write it?

Speaker 8 (24:11):
I started it in November.

Speaker 10 (24:12):
And which was nice is when dad announced that this
was going to be his last year, it kind of
kept that timeline always going and just was really blessed
with a lot of people along the way. It was
awesome being able to interview dad for the book and
also my mom. And one thing that I've learned just
through this is like, you know what, everybody should interview
their parents. and write a book on them, even if
they're not going to publish it. But I learned a

(24:34):
lot of awesome things about my mom and dad.

Speaker 2 (24:36):
I love that idea.

Speaker 8 (24:36):
That are really, really special.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
What a wonderful idea.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
And Dwight's wife and Matt's mom, Pam, is in the
fan stands. Round of applause for Pam, if only for
being the wife of a coach and in some form
a missionary for X amount of years. All right, so Dwight.
Evangelist Billy Graham starts this book. Now, Billy Graham is

(25:01):
very important to me. May God rest his soul. I
just love him. This side of Jesus, I could argue
he's the greatest speaker in the history of the world.
And he starts things with a quote, a coach will
impact more lives in one year than the average person
does in a lifetime. So Dwight is the son of

(25:23):
a preacher. So he's the son of a Protestant pastor
and the child of a missionary. How many years did
you spend in the Congo?

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Okay.

Speaker 6 (25:34):
My dad started out as a teacher. Then he went
into ministry. He had a church a few years in Minnesota.
And then he really felt, hey, I need to be
a missionary. And so he took his family and we
traveled to the Belgian Congo. We were there about 12
years total.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Wow. What years?

Speaker 6 (25:53):
That was from 1954, and then there was a rebellion,
and then they had to leave, and then they went
back out in 1967. What type of rebellion? There was
a Mobutu, a dictator that anybody that was not part
of their revolution were asked to leave or they were

(26:14):
going to be eliminated. Oh, wow. So we were forced
to leave. And we left the African pastors in charge
of the churches, which was good. But the part that
really kind of got me into coaching was my dad.
It was a life of service. And he said, you know,
this is what I'm going to do my whole life.

(26:35):
And that kind of got me, you know, we traveled.
I was in four different high schools. And my connect
group was with sports, whatever sport was going in that season.
And I had some really great coaches. And then I
had some coaches that I don't ever want to be
like that. So I started to say, hey, I want
to be a coach and a teacher. And then my

(26:57):
kids were the same way. They all are in education
and they're serving that way and a life with a
purpose as a teacher. But the life as a coach, Paul,
whether you like it or agree with it or not,
we have a platform in a community. I want to
serve the community. I want to serve the school. I

(27:19):
want to be very active. And they ask me to
speak at any organizations going on in the town of.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Becker.

Speaker 6 (27:28):
I'm asked to speak at that. And so it gives
me a real platform to share my faith and share
why I think we're so successful. And that's the culture
that we've created of serving each other, playing for each other,
and making these young men that have come out of
Becker successful. hopefully better people because of being in our program.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
And Matt, there's part of the book that I came across,
and correct me if I'm wrong with the timeline or
the destinations, but your family is in the Republic of Congo,
is in Congo, and you needed to get over there
and you didn't have any money. and you couldn't get
in touch with your family or you needed to get overseas,
you wrangled up $ 1, 000 to get to Paris, I believe.

(28:10):
So what was your either missionary-related life or sports-related life
abroad like your father's?

Speaker 10 (28:18):
Yeah, really all I've been on one mission trip over
to the Philippines my first year in Redwood. But yeah,
my dad's journey of getting to see his family abroad
when he was going through a very difficult time of
his life, was quite remarkable. He talks about it in
the book, and when he shares the story, you can
see the raw emotion.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
So your father needed the grand.

Speaker 8 (28:37):
Yes, he was the one that needed the grand.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
Holy cow.

Speaker 8 (28:40):
Good thing Gordo's here.

Speaker 10 (28:42):
Yeah, he went to the bank in Cocado and said,
I don't have any money, but I need to see
my family.

Speaker 8 (28:46):
Will you give me $ 1, 000? And they did. Wow.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
How difficult was that?

Speaker 6 (28:51):
That was hard, yeah. And we got it paid back.
It took a long time, but we made it work.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
So, Matt, this book, Success's Temporary Impact is Forever, 57
Years of Influence, what's the best route for people to
get it?

Speaker 8 (29:06):
Yeah, on Amazon.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
It's on Amazon.

Speaker 8 (29:08):
You can get there. You know, you get everything on Amazon.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Now, Dwight Lundeen, right here to my left, wearing the
powder blue shirt, this is his final year. coaching the
Becker High School football team. They have a game tomorrow
night against Orono. Why did you decide this would be
your last year? I mean, after 56 of them, why
was 57 the answer?

Speaker 6 (29:31):
I was just kind of praying about it and figuring
out I would really like to go out healthy. The
Lord has blessed me with great health. My wife has
gotten great health. We feel good every day. I would
like to do everything one more time. I've got like
16 fake punts that I'm going to all run. I
might run them all against Orin.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (29:51):
We're going to pull out all this stuff that we've
been doing for 57 years and do it one more time. Healthy,
But if I have a stroke today, 80 years old,
life is fragile.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
Well, think about this.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
I mean, if there's a parent of a player for
the Orono High School football team listening now, and the
probability is 50-50 or maybe a little above, what you
still are so crafty with so much cunning and guile
that is required by coaches to win and raise kids
on the fly that somebody's going to tell somebody, I
heard on the radio today the coach for Becker High

(30:26):
School said this, They're going to be on fake punt
alert the entire game.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
There's a ton you can do with that.

Speaker 6 (30:33):
Yeah, yeah. That might happen, but maybe we don't have
to punt. I don't know. But yeah, our goal is
to win every game. I hope I go 13-0 this year,
but I can walk away very satisfied with the career.
I'm just excited about The book, I feel so honored

(30:54):
that my son would write that.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
That's great.

Speaker 6 (30:57):
The legacy, if the book and sticking with something for
57 years could encourage any football coach or any coach
out there to stick with it, because I think our
life expectancy as a head football coach in Minnesota, how
sad it is, is about five years. And they either
can't put out with the pressure or they're asked to leave.
They don't play the right kid. Some administrator... Okay, they'll

(31:21):
find something wrong. And so you've got to work through that.
And I think that's been my career where I've had
to do a number of those kind of things. And
at the end, it's worth it, you know, to impact
young people. And hopefully they're better husbands and better fathers
and better involved in their community.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
Amen.

Speaker 6 (31:40):
That they can take something from that. And a business person,
I mean, you do that. You serve people. You know,
Christ was the best. servant ever. And if we can
be somewhat like that, I want to serve my kids.
I want to make, I got a hundred boys out 10th,
11th and 12th year. I need to serve them. I
want them to have a positive experience, 2026, whatever that

(32:01):
looks like, I'm going to try to make it a
positive experience. So that's kind of what my culture is.
And it's been a, I think a kind of a
way of making a successful program. We get great kids out.
We haven't had a losing season in 30 years.

Speaker 8 (32:16):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (32:17):
We started out really bad. We were really bad. We
had like 20 kids out total grade seven through 12
and we were taking our lumps, but that was a
good education too. You know, you got to learn to
be humble and, Find a positive. Hey, Monday morning, it's
hard to find a positive when you've lost 56 to nothing. But,
you know, hey, we were better on third down than

(32:37):
we were the week before. You don't beat them up.
You just encourage them. And hopefully at the end of
the day, they're a better football player individually and as
a better football team together.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
Coach Lundin, help me with this, because you said something
when we were talking about the decade and small change
that you spent abroad in the Congo. And sports always
were a common thread for you, playing them. And you
said that you knew you wanted to be a coach
so that you could impact lives. And you played for

(33:10):
coaches where you knew, I don't want to be like them.
So obviously, you can identify whatever you want. What goes
into whether it's then, now, or casting your gaze forward
with what you're seeing, impression fashion, What goes into a
coach that, like, you didn't want to play for, that

(33:33):
you knew this is not the right way?

Speaker 6 (33:35):
Yeah, there's no connect. There's no concern for me as
an individual. He never found out that I was in Africa.
He never found out my dad's name, my mom's name.
He knew nothing about me other than, what can you
do for me on Friday night?

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Right.

Speaker 6 (33:51):
And if a kid knows that you really care and
you love him, oh, I love you, you'll run through
the wall for me. You know, that's the secret, I think.
And if you're not going to connect with the kids
and find that every kid is valuable and we're going
to coach every kid. I tell my coaches that every day.
There's 100 of them out here. You're going to coach

(34:12):
every kid.

Speaker 4 (34:13):
I don't care.

Speaker 6 (34:13):
You could go a depth chart. There's going to be
a best player, and there's going to be a number
of 100. But they're all important. They're all important. And
hopefully they all go and leave our program with a
positive experience. But to me, you've got to have that connect.
You need what you're playing for me. You need that
I really care. How's Grandpa?

Speaker 2 (34:32):
What happened?

Speaker 6 (34:32):
I heard something. So there's got to be a connect.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Authentically.

Speaker 6 (34:37):
Give them a hug if they need it you correct
things you know you say hey we can't do that
but you tell them what they did positive and then
build from.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
There matt what was it like playing for your father yeah.

Speaker 10 (34:49):
It was a great experience you know a great thing
about dad is he was always the same he was
the same at home as he was on the football
field there was no he was one way there and
a different way at home he always demanded that we
called him dad first and foremost yeah He always told us,
I'm always your dad first and foremost, you're coach second.

Speaker 8 (35:07):
So it was a great positive experience.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Well, yours truly, and to a certain extent the producer here, Nordo,
whether it's here or away from here, we and a
lot of people can have mood swings that are of
the pendulum variety. We're over here by one, and now
we're up by nine, and now we've ruined this room,
and now we've empowered these people and lifted this room.
How does one stay the same? I mean, that's such

(35:32):
a great compliment your son just gave you. How does
one stay even-keeled and the same as frequently as you do?

Speaker 6 (35:41):
Well, I think it's a situation where I'm very comfortable
with who I am and One of my favorite verses,
1 Peter 5, 7, cast all your care upon him
for he cares for you. So knowing that everything is okay.
I mean, I can lay my head down on the
pillow and I tell my wife, you got five seconds
because I'm going to go to sleep right now. And

(36:03):
then I'll wake up and tomorrow he and I will
handle all of this together. So he's seen me at
my best and he's seen me at my worst. And
he really knows what's going on inside and who I
really am. And this is who I am. And if
you go with life that, hey, what can I do
today to make this world better? What can I do
to serve people in my community? Becker is a small community.

(36:26):
What can I do to get the golf course built?
What can I do to get those pickleball courts built?
What can I do to help the community center expand
into an outdoor swimming pool? All these things I feel
is very important. And that's what I get up at
530 each day and say, you know, what can I
do today to serve? my kids and my family and

(36:47):
my wife, who I love. She's been sitting there for
57 years, and every game, there's, what, 600, 700 games?
I don't even know how many it is, and she's
always there, and that unconditional love, you know, that's always there,
and it's a comforting thing. So it keeps you really grounded,
but my faith is what really, I think, gets me

(37:07):
through all of the ups and downs of all the
social things that are going on in our world, and
it And in the field of coaching, which can be
very personal sometimes with Dad, thinking Johnny is a lot
better player than what you're playing. And we have to
have some serious discussions about that. But I seem to

(37:27):
stay pretty calm during those things. Matt calls me because
he knows I've seen 700 games. I probably hasn't seen
anything that's new that he hasn't seen, and then I
can kind of help him do that kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Well, you coach Dwight Lundeen, Becker High School football coach.
They have a game against Orono tomorrow. This is his
final season, 57 years of coaching, and he started a
program at Becker High School. And Dwight mentioned it a
little earlier that God chose football would be the platform
for you to share and impact. What went into starting

(38:03):
the Becker High School football program more than a half
a century ago, and how difficult was it early?

Speaker 6 (38:11):
Well, okay, so I was terribly in love with this
young lady named Pam.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
Hi, Pam.

Speaker 6 (38:17):
And she had one more year of student teaching in St.

Speaker 8 (38:20):
Cloud.

Speaker 6 (38:21):
So I needed to get a job so I could
ask her to marry me, and if I could fool
her into that. We will live in Becker. and then
she can commute. So I go down there, and they
hire me, and they say, we're going to start a
football program. Do you want to be the head coach? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (38:38):
I can do that.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
How many kids have we got who want to play? Seven?

Speaker 6 (38:43):
We had no football program at all. We had no field,
so I got it from scratch.

Speaker 9 (38:47):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (38:47):
From scratch. I had to order the goalposts. I had
to line the field. I had to develop where the
field was. I had to order the first equipment. I
had to get us into a new conference. I had
to make the schedule. So it was ground zero. And
then we won a game, and we slowly got better.
Numbers is a game in football. It's just the in

(39:11):
and out and sore thumbs and strip throw it and
all the things. You've got to have depth. When we started,
we had 20 kids, and you're the offensive guy. You
have to learn all the offensive positions because you're the
only guy that's going to go in if you're an
offensive guy. And I had a defensive guy. So that's
what the humble start was, and then we built it.
each year and we got more numbers and all of

(39:32):
a sudden our school became uh quite wealthy because of
nsp came in which was uh a great blessing to us.
And we were at, we had facilities and we built
a great field and it just grew.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
And so, I mean, God has his hands all over
this whole thing.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
I mean, from the meager beginnings to, Hey, look, look,
look what popped up all of a sudden to fortify
us and help us.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
Your, your, your wife, Pam, um, you have 417 victories,
second most in the history of Minnesota high school coaching, um,
out of 600, whatever, 700 some odd games. Uh, How
many times, if ever, has she second-guessed a play call? Dwight, honey,
why didn't you run on third and one? Why did
we go play action and try to find the tight

(40:18):
end on the skinny post?

Speaker 6 (40:20):
Only one time. This was a situation. My oldest son, Mike,
who was an All-American at Bethel, and Matt was the
All-American quarterback there, and it was a great time. He
got a job teaching in Malacca and coaching. And Malacca's
very first game, against in his career was against becker

(40:42):
and uh we had terrible amount of media it was
such a heck why is it a terrible it was
terrible we had no separation from getting to family so
i said i'm gonna run this play against my against
mike the very first play yeah Because I know what
he's doing, and he can't stop it.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
Are you kidding me?

Speaker 6 (41:01):
And she looked at me and said, don't you dare
do that. And so I never did that.

Speaker 8 (41:07):
Really?

Speaker 6 (41:07):
I knew that I better not do that or I
will be in the basement.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
That's the voice of Dwight Lundeen.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
He's the head coach of the Becker High School football team.
Into his 57th year coaching the program that he was
a big part of starting.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
And this is his final year.

Speaker 1 (41:24):
Next to him, his son, Matt, who wrote a book,
Success is Temporary, Impact is Forever. Amazon.com, best place to
get it. We have more stories to share and more
conversation with the Lundins. When we return to the Great
Minnesota Get-Together, thanks to Mesh, Besher, and Spence, Minnesota's personal

(41:44):
injury attorneys. 9 to noon continues after this.

Speaker 9 (41:48):
This is PA, live from the Minnesota State Fair on
the Fan, presented by Mesh, Besher, and Spence. Join KFAN
at the Minnesota State Fair.

Speaker 7 (41:56):
Don't miss a moment. Get a front row seat to
the Power Trip morning show, program password, exclusive interviews, and
more at KFAN.com slash watch, powered by Quantum Fiber Internet.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
Dwight Lundeen has been the coach of the Becker High
School football team for 56 years. This will be 57,
and it's his final year. A program that he and
others started more than a half century.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
And Bernie Kukar's here. Are you kidding me?

Speaker 1 (42:29):
One of the great referees in the history of the
National Football League. Bernie, Dwight Lundeen, 57-year coach at Becker High.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
You guys know each other?

Speaker 6 (42:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:42):
Holy cow.

Speaker 1 (42:43):
So you're telling me Bernie Kukar worked Becker High School
football games.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
And what did you say, Dwight?

Speaker 1 (42:48):
Oh, he kept ruining every game with bad holding calls? Bernie,
it's so great seeing you, buddy.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
God bless you, man. What an awesome day. This is turning.

Speaker 4 (42:58):
Bernie Kukar.

Speaker 2 (42:59):
Holy. Personal foul. Clipping. That's absolutely terrific.

Speaker 6 (43:04):
I threw my red flag.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
All right. So the book written by Matt, Dwight's son.
Success is temporary. Impact is forever. 57 years of influence.
Go to Amazon.com. Learn about it and to purchase it
if you are so inclined. Coaching your kids. I asked
Matt what it was like to play for you, but

(43:25):
coaching your kids. Just overall, it was the same as
coaching other kids, right? I mean, granted, it's your blood,
but it has to be the same, right? So nobody
thinks you're playing favorites. or were you more harsh on
your kids than maybe some other players?

Speaker 6 (43:45):
No, I think I get asked, you know, what is
your favorite part of 57 years? Uh, and then I'll
always say the years that I coached my sons, that was,
that was really, really special. Uh, I was gifted in
that they were pretty gifted. So that, that helped. They were,
they were good football players, but you know, uh, supper
time was a, a coach's meeting and, uh, traveling in

(44:07):
the car and all those kind of things. Just sharing
those experiences, it was very, very special. Those were the
precious years of all of them were the years that
he was, the two of them played for me and
like I said, they were really good and it made
it a little easier. But then what kind of worked out,

(44:30):
I mentioned that Mike was coaching at Malacca for a
few years and then He came down and was my
offensive coordinator for the last 25 years. So that's been
a part of that too, that having him on my
staff has kept me in it. And he's very sharp
and it's been a great bond with my son. And
then Matt and I, we have our summers to really

(44:53):
spend a lot of time. He's had some His boys play,
and I've been able to coach them and watch them,
and it has been kind of fun, too.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
This is so amazing.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Well, Matt, there clearly is a common thread throughout the book,
and I'm going to share it in truncated fashion, but
there's much more of a deep dive on this throughout
the book. Success is temporary. Impact is forever, and here's
what I mean. The influence that people have on others...

(45:25):
whether it's coaching, whether it's here at the state fair,
whether it's holding a door open for somebody, whether it's
lending a helping hand, the influence.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
People have on others. Talk about that common thread.

Speaker 6 (45:37):
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 10 (45:38):
You know, the more and more when we were digging
into the book is, you know, football is the platform
of the book, but life is the lesson is really
what it is. It's a leadership book. How do you
lead others really well? How do you lead yourself really well?
So then, therefore, you can make a great positive impact
in the people that you're around and the community that
you're in. And if every person was very intentional and

(46:02):
purposeful about using the platform that they've had, regardless of age,
to positively invest in others, we're going to make a
great positive impact throughout our communities.

Speaker 6 (46:11):
And our world.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
Well, not every platform is as easily identifiable as... say,
radio host, play-by-play voice, or 57-year football coach. You know,
I mean, there are platforms where in prayer sometimes people
should thank God for the platform he chose we or

(46:33):
they get to have. And it also goes with gifts,
where the Bible lists 18 gifts, and not everybody has
every single gift. So how does one identify truly what
their gift is, what their platform is, and how Not
to benefit themselves, it's to benefit others.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
How do they identify that?

Speaker 10 (46:54):
Yeah, I would just look at who are the people
that are around you. You know, I think of a grandpa.
Grandpa's 80-some years old.

Speaker 8 (47:00):
They got two or three great-grandkids. Invest in them.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
Love it.

Speaker 10 (47:03):
Love them and do whatever that requires and whatever that takes. Yeah.
If you're a paraprofessional at a school and you're working
with two kids, you just love those two kids and
you just breathe life into them and find the gold
in them and just make their lives as great as
you can.

Speaker 1 (47:19):
A question potentially for both.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
You're welcome to jump in whenever you want. Matt, we'll
start with Dad.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
Dwight Lundeen, better hockey player for the Mankato Mavericks, David
Backus or your nephew Chad Lundeen?

Speaker 4 (47:34):
Or your cousin Matt?

Speaker 6 (47:38):
I think Chad was an All-American at Mankato.

Speaker 9 (47:41):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (47:41):
The older we get, the better he is.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Yeah, right.

Speaker 6 (47:44):
No, he was a wonderful young man. He was born
the same day as my oldest son. They're twins.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (47:53):
One was born in Monticello. One was born in St.

Speaker 3 (47:56):
Cloud.

Speaker 6 (47:56):
So we have grown up with Chad from day one,
and he's just a wonderful young man and a great family. Yeah.
it's been just a real treat to be connected with him.
And he just shares some of those same family values
that we have. And he invests in me, and I
invest in him, and I invest in his kids. And

(48:19):
that's the group that I need to... My legacy is
my three kids and their spouses and my seven grandkids.
That's the most important legacy that I can leave. I'm
very active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at... Becker
have been doing that for 57 years with a huddle.
My kids are at Edina High School, and they are

(48:41):
running the FCA at Edina High School with thousands of kids. Wow.
It's their group now.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
At a public high school.

Speaker 6 (48:48):
At a public high school.

Speaker 2 (48:49):
Well done.

Speaker 6 (48:49):
They can do that. I mean, I am so proud
of that. Matt runs an outstanding FCA down at Redwood Valley,
and they do summer camps. Summer camps through FCA are amazing.

Speaker 2 (49:01):
FCA is Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Speaker 6 (49:03):
Yes. It's a life-changing kind of thing, and so... That's
my legacy. I've been doing that for 50-some years of
going to camps. And now my son and my grandkids
are doing it. So that is my legacy. Nobody knows
my record, my football. I can finish and I'll have
the best record ever in 11-man football, whether I win

(49:26):
any games or win 13. So it doesn't make any
difference and nobody cares. It's the legacy that I leave
behind of continuing doing the things that impact lives.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
That's just phenomenal.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
So Well, the Chad Lundeen we're speaking about is a
longtime trustworthy friend of mine who has worked with the
Minnesota Vikings for quite some time. That's the Chad we
were referencing. So, Matt, Chad really was a good athlete,
just to land the plane here, okay? Because I've heard stories, too,
just like Dad. So he really was a good.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
Athlete, right? Yeah, 100%. Excellent.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
Working with, from a coaching standpoint, and you touched on
it a little bit earlier, working with and or appeasing athletes,
disgruntled parents Johnny's better than Billy no Billy's better than
Tommy and so on over the years how much has
it changed how frontal and loud parents can get now

(50:21):
of course we have social media but working with as
a coach working with disgruntled parents what would you say
about that I.

Speaker 6 (50:29):
Think camps and AAU and all these kind of things
and they're paying money all the way since they're five
years old and running them all over to different things,
they feel more entitled, maybe, to make the starting lineups.
And back in the day, boy, if you got scolded

(50:52):
by the coach, the dad is going to scold you
even worse when you got home, you know. Hey, my dad,
he found out I did this, and boy, I had
to go shovel all the whole barn out, you know.
So those kind of things are more prevalent, but Honestly,
I will just sit down and talk with you and
just say, I really, I found that, I just invite

(51:14):
him to my house, okay, Saturday morning, and he didn't
play as much as you should have, and he comes
to me after the game, and I'll just say, okay,
come over to my house tomorrow at 9 o'clock, and
I'll be in my sweatshirt and shorts or whatever, and
I'll sit in my Lazy Boy, and right above my head,
it's for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,
that big sign, and then just say, what's going on?

(51:36):
And he said, well, he I don't understand why Johnny's
number three. He didn't get the reps. And I said, well,
back in fifth and sixth grade, he was the biggest kid.
But now these two guys are ahead of him. I
love your son. I really appreciate him being in my program.
But he'll get the reps after the one and two
get their reps. So that's where he is. And he's
been good in practice. And he's good on Monday nights.

(51:57):
And he'll get his chance because he's the next player up.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
Matt Lundeen, what are, quick twitch, some parts of the
book that involving parents and kids or influence and direction.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Just quick twitch, what hits your heart? What are some
parts of the book?

Speaker 1 (52:15):
The book being called Success's Temporary Impact is Forever, 57
Years of Influence, from this man, Matt's dad, Dwight, coach
of the Becker High School football team.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
What jumps out, like must?

Speaker 1 (52:26):
If you're only going to read one or two or
three chapters, here are the three.

Speaker 8 (52:30):
Yeah, I would say the goals and purpose.

Speaker 6 (52:33):
Which is huge.

Speaker 10 (52:34):
You've got to know your difference between your goal and
your purpose. Obviously, the goal in coaching is to win
every game. Your purpose is to impact lives in a
positive way. The next chapter, I would say, is life balance.
You can't be a public success and a private failure.
You've got to make sure you're really investing yourself in.

Speaker 8 (52:50):
The right positive ways.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
Say that again.

Speaker 8 (52:52):
You can't... It can't be a public success and a
private failure.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
Amen.

Speaker 10 (52:56):
You've got to make sure that you're positively investing in
yourself so then you can breathe into others. And you've
got to positively refill your cup each and every day
with good stuff.

Speaker 8 (53:05):
Not stuff that.

Speaker 10 (53:06):
Temporarily makes you feel good, but it's going to leave
you empty at the end.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Right.

Speaker 10 (53:09):
But really invest in others, and that's a great life balance.
And I would say the other part is just how
do you really invest in the relationships, obviously your students
and your athletes. but the people that mean the most
to you, your husband, your wife, your kids, and the
people like that. You can't ever let those become distant
or else there's trouble.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
I couldn't love this anymore. All right, it's 10.03. You've
got a game to win tomorrow night. Fortunately, we have
Grace and Mercy guy over there, Tanner Morgan, who completely
understands what's happening. We're running late, so, yeah, I got
a few more that I, yeah, thank you. Hey, a
round of applause for Dwight and Matt Lundeen and this

(53:50):
book and more than a half century of coaching a program.
He had a big hand in starting because I have
three more, and I want to make sure they get in.

Speaker 2 (54:00):
Take as long or as short as you want, Coach.

Speaker 9 (54:01):
You bet.

Speaker 1 (54:02):
Chapter 7, The Power of Assistant Coaches. When I saw
the name of this chapter and then I read a
couple of paragraphs, the power of assistant coaches, what hit
my heart immediately, the importance of empowering others. Where there
are times I'm sure you want to bang your fist
on the formica and say, nope, it's.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
My way or the highway.

Speaker 1 (54:23):
But empowering others, and that's why like during the Vikings preseason, okay, they,
you know, it's Kevin O'Connell saying, I think in the
Denver Broncos' third preseason game, he let five people call
the defense. He lets his assistant, Wes Phillips, call the offense,
empowering others to solve problems on the fly like you've

(54:44):
done for more than.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
A half century.

Speaker 1 (54:46):
And also put some good stuff out there, maybe to
get yourselves a head coach or coordinator job. So Chapter 7,
the power of assistant coaches, what hit you?

Speaker 6 (54:59):
Yeah, to me, you surround yourself with good people.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
We have more football immortality over there. Scott Studwell, ladies
and gentlemen, holy cow. One of the great tacklers in
the history of Vikings football. After Bernie Kukar stopped by,
all he's done is be the white cap referee for
three Super Bowls. And we've got 57-year coach Dwight Lundeen here.
Gophers record holder Tanner Morgan over there. This is a

(55:23):
beautiful Wednesday at the State Fair, you were saying?

Speaker 6 (55:27):
Okay, where was I?

Speaker 2 (55:28):
The power of assistant coaches.

Speaker 5 (55:30):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 6 (55:30):
Surround yourself with great people. When I interview people that
want to be a part of our program, we talk
about how are you going to treat kids. And I
would say most of the coaches that I have start
out with a short leash, like a defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator.
I have a defensive coordinator who's taking my place now consistently.

(55:53):
Hocon Bankston, been with me 20 years. I've been training
him for this position. He's going to be great. He
started out with a short leash. He has such a
long leash now. I don't know where he's at. He
is so good. But he understands the culture. Occasionally, Paul,
it's happened where somebody's wanted to be a part of
the program and they're using language that I'm just uncomfortable with.

(56:16):
And I just have to say, if that doesn't change,
we have to make a change. And so Those are
the difficult things that happen in the coaching where you
might have to ask somebody, even a volunteer coach, that, no,
this is not working. I don't know if it's your
fault or my fault, but I just can't have you
talking like that with my kids. It doesn't make sense.

(56:37):
So if they use that kind of language on a
Friday night, we get a 15-yard penalty. So please don't
use it. And if it happens again, we're going to
have to make a change. So empowering them, giving them
the freedom of that, that's good.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
Chapter 10. your wife and your mom, Pam Lundeen, who's
in front of us now, being the wife of a
57-year football coach who cut his teeth sharing the gospel
in the Congo. I mean, there's a lot that goes
into this life you guys have had together.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
Chapter 10, Matt and or Dwight, what's that all about?

Speaker 6 (57:11):
Well, I think a coach has to give up a
lot of things to invest in other people's kids. And
so She was the wonderful mother that raised my three
kids wonderfully. She was a model teacher that... They all
went into education because they wanted to be like mom.
To me, I figured this out early. The best way

(57:32):
to show my kids that I love them is to
show them how much I love their mother. Because moms
are pretty special. They're amazing. And I can't get to
where she is. She's a mom that I can never
get to that part of their life. So I need
to show my kids that I really, really love her
and serve her. And then they can learn from that.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
Amen.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Matt, anything to add?

Speaker 8 (57:54):
No, she's the true hero in all of this. She
really is.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
How come dad's not? Just kidding.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Well, I mean, my chin was starting to quiver, likewise
for Coach here, so I had to break the ice
there a little bit with that one.

Speaker 6 (58:08):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
That was beautiful. Thank you for that.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
Lastly, the story of Chapter 17, the story of FCA,
Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Now, you're the son of a preacher, man.
And we talked about the mission trips that he took
and the time you spent in the Congo sharing the
gospel and fulfilling not the obligation, the honor of the

(58:33):
Great Commission, the biblical Great Commission, which is not for us,
it's for others.

Speaker 2 (58:39):
So that's been your life.

Speaker 1 (58:40):
But for FCA, the story of FCA, how did it
start and what led you to that?

Speaker 6 (58:48):
Well, I'm in a public school, and you've got to
be careful in how you say things and what you do.
But I can have an FCA, and I can invite
the kids, and we get all six churches in the
community that come to FCA. We get all the sports
teams that come there. And I can really talk to them.
On FCA, I can tell them, this is what makes

(59:11):
me go.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
So just quickly, you're meshing Protestants, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, everything.

Speaker 4 (59:19):
All of them.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
That is beautiful.

Speaker 6 (59:21):
And Christ is the center of that. And whatever else
is going on is okay. You can be that. But
let's make Christ the center of our life.

Speaker 2 (59:28):
And if that is.

Speaker 6 (59:30):
who you're going to be, you're going to be successful
in your walk in school, you're going to impact our school.
If I didn't think that FCA had a positive impact
on our school, I wouldn't have it. I've done it
57 years, and we're going to keep doing it until

(59:50):
the boots fall off. So we're going to keep doing
it because it impacts the school.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Lastly, so you're approaching age 80. clearly still sharp as
a tack. Your physical faculties still, you know, for this
age probably are beating the average of 79-year-old men.

Speaker 2 (01:00:09):
So now, with that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
Situation approaching 80, is it back to the Congo to
enact our duty as Christians and take seriously what's taught
via the Great Commission, consulting with football teams? Are you
going to write a book about Matt? What's next?

Speaker 6 (01:00:26):
Well, I know I won't go back to Africa because
my wife will never go with me. She doesn't like hot,
she doesn't like bugs, and she hates snakes. So that's
about all there is over there. No, I don't really
have it all totally planned out. I love pickleball, and
so I might use pickleball as a ministry. That's awesome. 70,

(01:00:51):
80-year-olds hanging around the pickleball court that I have this
little bracelet that I wear. They might ask me about that. Well, yeah,
God loves you. And all of that, we can get
discussion going over. And we still might argue if it's
in or out, but that's okay. That's competition. But I'll
play a lot of pickleball. I really enjoy golf. I
got a lot of activities to go to. I have

(01:01:12):
two kids in college that are playing college sports. I
have a whole bunch playing high school sports, so I'll
go to a lot of. grandkids games but whatever the
Lord has for me I'm open for it so we'll
see if there's something that I can share my book
with somebody a business if somebody would come and why

(01:01:34):
are you successful here and can I make it successful
in my business yep John Gordon, who I got interviewed
with the other day. Former Twins announcer? No.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
Oh, John Gordon, the Christian speaker.

Speaker 6 (01:01:46):
The speaker that writes books. Amazing man. I mean, that's
his ministry, to spread the gospel through his books. That's
a good deal.

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
Have you ever met John Piper?

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
Like, John Piper is a wonderful Christian speaker, and I
just learned within the last year that he's based in Minneapolis.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
I'm going to get down there and try to say
hi to him.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
This is a great honor, and I thank you for
the inspiration. I thank you for the enlightening, and I
thank you for the dedication that you've had to your wife,
your family, all the kids who have run through the
Becker High School football program, and for sharing what you
shared today. which matters more than anything, the gospel of

(01:02:29):
Jesus Christ. Thank you very much.

Speaker 6 (01:02:31):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:02:32):
Thank you too, Matt.

Speaker 4 (01:02:33):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
The Lundins, ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
That's one of the high points in the history of
my radio work at KFAM.

Speaker 2 (01:02:40):
Thank you very much. We'll be right back.