College Football

How the Jackrabbits plan to reload on offense in 2024

By Chris Schad

The Brookings Register

Posted 7/25/24

Although its reputation has been elevated with two straight national championships, South Dakota State has established itself as a blue-collar program. But SDSU wants to capture a third straight national championship, their offense will have to be a big part of it.

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College Football

How the Jackrabbits plan to reload on offense in 2024

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BROOKINGS — Although its reputation has been elevated with two straight national championships, South Dakota State has established itself as a blue-collar program. But SDSU wants to capture a third straight national championship, their offense will have to be a big part of it.

Like many elite programs, the Jacks will have to find a way not only to build on to their success in 2023 but reload in 2024. A lot of SDSU’s turnover on offense was a natural progression. Isaiah Davis, who led the FCS with 1,578 rushing yards last season, and Mason McCormick, who was a two-time All-America selection, were NFL Draft picks.

Others such as Garret Greenfield, Jadon and Jaxon Janke and Zach Heins signed undrafted free agent contracts to attend an NFL training camp and others like starting tackle John O’Brian departed due to graduation.

Mix in the departure of offensive coordinator Zach Lujan, who took a Power Four coaching job at Northwestern, and the 2024 offense may look different than what fans saw a year ago. But the Jacks started the process by making Ryan Olson and Danny Freund co-offensive coordinators.

Olson joined the SDSU staff in 2021 and has overseen the offensive line for the past two seasons. While Olson will be the playcaller for the Jacks this season, Freund was a late addition after spending the past 13 seasons at his alma mater, North Dakota.

“They’ve done a really good job meshing as a staff,” SDSU head coach said of Olson and Freund. “I know it was a shock to some that Danny would come here not as the playcaller. But I think Danny came here to grow and see how things were done at another program.”

Rogers also went on to mention Freunds’s strengths both on and off the field as a reason he was added to his coaching staff.

“When I think back to the last several years of competing against any Missouri Valley school, UND had scored the most points on us than anybody. And so to try to get a guy like that on your staff that has a ton of experience and can help in the pass game I think it was huge for us.”

Despite the departures, Olson and Freund have plenty to work with at SDSU. The running game will be anchored by Amar Johnson, who had 815 yards and four touchdowns in a complementary role last year but will also feature Angel Johnson, who in the mind of Rogers would break a 60-yard run every time he touched the ball.

The Jacks will also have Griffin Wilde take on a larger role after a strong freshman season but will also rely on junior Grahm Goering and redshirt freshman Kentrell Prejean, who Rogers compared to former SDSU receiver Cade Johnson.

Rogers also has optimism at tight end. SDSU will enter the year with Davin Stoffel, Brody Gormley and David Alpers on the depth chart and Rogers believes the group can flourish as they continue to get reps.

“Although they’re inexperienced, our tight end group, I think, is one of our deepest positions,” Rogers said. “I think we have three players that have the caliber to play at the next level. They just need experience and they need to get reps.

“All three of those guys are over [6-foot-5] and over 245 pounds and they can really run and catch the ball like a wide receiver. They’re a unique skill set. We’re blessed to have some of these guys and the future is bright at some of these positions because of the recruiting we’ve had lately.”

There’s also the challenge of rebuilding the offensive line. Remington award winner and Brookings native Gus Miller will return at center and Evan Beerntsen, who Rogers called one of the best linemen in the country, will be back at right guard. But the improvement of Quentin Christensen, William Paepke and Ethan Vibert and the addition of Oklahoma transfer Marcus Hicks could all play a key role coming into the year.

“When you lose a group like that…there’s just going to need to be a growth period,” Rogers said. “I don’t know if it’s a dropoff in talent, it’s a drop off in rep counts that those reps create experience and that’s what we need to get those guys acclimated to and teach them the skill set that it doesn’t always need to be perfect. There’s a technique to it, but it doesn’t always need to be perfect.”

The acclimation process will give a lot of young faces an opportunity to break out in 2024 but it should be made easier with the return of Gronowski. While Gronowski was rumored to enter the transfer portal, those fears never materialized in part of the team’s belief in him.

“For me, it’s about making the best decision for the player,” Rogers said. “For him, we kind of weighed the pros and cons of things. Obviously, I wanted him to stay here. Everybody knows that. But in the end, I think if you don’t change people’s perception of you, he’s going to get an opportunity. And there’s a team that believes in him and there’s a team here that can take the next jump to win another national championship and he can lead us to that.”

It’s an opportunity that begins with the Aug. 31 opener at Oklahoma State and continues when the Jackrabbits play four teams that finished in the top 15 of scoring defense last year including a Sept. 7 against Incarnate Word and back-to-back games against North Dakota State and South Dakota in October.

The Jacks will need to be great in all phases to earn another national title. But if they want to get there, they’ll need to find a way to reload on offense.