2019 Signing Day Focus: Concordia-St. Paul

Concordia-St. Paul's football program has struggled in the last handful of years. During current head coach Shannon Currier's first stint with the Golden Bears (2000-2003), they won a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title. After Currier's departure, the program struggled. When Currier returned to CSP two years ago, he started the process of turning the program around. The program's last winning season was in 2010. Last season they finished with a 5-6 record. Those five wins equaled their total for the previous three years. CSP's recruiting focus had to be adjusted with the increase in victories. "(Recruiting) is different than in years past," Currier said. "Our roster is a little stronger than it has been this time of the year the last few years. The bar has been raised and some of the kids we brought in have a chance to play when in past years we maybe had some kids on the roster that realistically won't play here. Going into 2019, we have a lot of kids that if they work hard, have a shot to help us out." Their success the previous year has allowed the program to be more selective when looking at potential recruits. "Recruiting is getting easier because we are not as desperate," Currier admitted. "When you are desperate you are paying more for kids. You are taking kids you maybe shouldn't because you are willing to put up with more stuff – maybe the kid is not motivated, or maybe his academics aren't very good. Now that the bar has been raised, to get a scholarship today, you have to be a lot better player and a better person than what you had to be when we first started. When we first started, we started thirteen true first-year students. Because we have quality people in the program, we are not interested in bringing kids in that are just as good. We are trying to get kids that hopefully can develop and be better." Currier thinks the group they brought in this season can develop into a solid group. "It is a high caliber group of kids. The average GPA is 3.2 as a group. We have a lot of kids that are looking for other ways of growing themselves while at Concordia. The spiritual growth of this group is more important. We have more Midwest kids in general, and we focused on the offensive and defensive lines. We got a couple of good running backs we like and got some defensive backs. There are some high-quality kids that are walking on that I think at some point can play for us." The staff stuck to their core recruiting philosophies. "We obviously looked at where we were weak," Currier explained. "Recruiting the offensive and defensive lines are always going to be something we continue to do. That is where games are won; that is where we start. Then we tried to strengthen our selves at wide receiver and in the defensive backfield. Finally, we are looking to get the best value – which kid can we get that are good football players that are great fits for Concordia that want to be great in all aspects of life – regardless of what position. We want to make sure we get kids that are interested in being a part of our university." They want kids who are in it for the long haul. "We are trying to recruit guys who will be retained," Currier told northstarfootballnews.com. "Retention is critical at all levels. We want kids that are going to be here for four or five years. Is he motivated to do the classwork? Will the financial package work? Sometimes when you are desperate – like we were a couple of years ago – we would take kids that realistically shouldn't be there because they couldn't afford it. Are they looking to be great? I am not going to tolerate kids that won't go to class." Like all schools, watching a kid on the field is only part of what the Golden Bears' coaching staff follows. "We talk to their high school coaches," Currier said. "How serious are they about playing college football? Everybody likes college football, but we are in the midst of a grind right now. From January through April we are five days a week getting up a 5:30 AM and that is a grind. That is not fun. Are they going to be willing to do the grind and not just show up to get through it or are they going to have some juice and bring some enthusiasm? Those are the types of things we look at." Currier – who is the all-time wins leader in Golden Bears' history - and his staff don't worry about if a specific recruit is a perfect fit for their system. They want the best athletes they can get. "If they are a good player, they can fit in any system," Currier explained. "We are looking for guys who can be the best in the league – guys who can develop into that. We can adjust what we do to the talent we have." The number of opportunities a Concordia-St. Paul graduate will have after their football career ends is a major selling point for the recruits the staff brings in. "We are in the Twin Cities, and there are nineteen Fortune 500 companies here," Currier said. "Concordia-St. Paul has more internships than we do students. We talk about if the kids want to live in the Twin Cities someday that it would be beneficial to go to college in the Twin Cities. You can create a network while you are going to college. All our kids get at least one internship. The school has a 15:1 student to teacher ratio and are a small Christian school in a big city so you can have the best of both worlds. We talk about the success we had the first time I was here – we won a conference championship. We are trying to repeat that." Concordia-St. Paul is a program on the rise. The program, like the kids in the 2019 recruiting class, is serious about getting back on top in the NSIC. "The group we have is serious about football," Currier concluded. "All the kids we brought in are kids that can play in our program, and that is not the case every year. Some years we are adding numbers just so that we can have depth and people on the scout team. All the kids we have will have a shot to play for us at some point."