HAUNTED BY GHOSTS: The athletes change, but Carroll's tradition doesn't waver
By COLTER NUANEZ
HELENA — The pressure brought on by the unmistakable prestige
builds before the performer even begins to dress. Before he sees the spacious
area filled with purple metal lockers, he is confronted with a wall painted in
rich history. A coated board made of wood covers a brick wall, the 40 black
inscriptions representing conference domination, the six gold dedications
signifying the ultimate conquest of a national title. As he begins to dress for
the anticipated act, the smell of sweat and hard work creeps into his nostrils.
He can feel the men that came before him, football men with names like
Gagliardi and Petrino. Ten steps from the locker room, and he's outside, the
crisp air of the Big Belt Mountains replacing the scent of the locker room. He
will make the 30-yard walk from the locker room to Nelson Stadium with his
brothers, the moment mounting as the cadence of cleats rack against the asphalt.
Once inside the 7,000-seat venue, there is no denying what came before. Six
national championship flags wave and the same six victories are noted on the
scoreboard and the side of the stadium, a constant reminder of the triumphs that
made kings in this small Montana town.
Complacency permeates any winning team. It's rarely an active choice.
Somehow, through more than a decade, the Carroll College Fighting Saints have
remained atop the mountain. Current players constantly ask Kyle Baker what it
was like to be part of one of the most dominant runs in the history of college
sports. Baker was Carroll's four-year starting center and a two-time All-America
selection on a team that won 56 of 57 games, including four straight national
titles. But the assistant offensive line coach doesn't like reminiscing about
glory days often.
"But Carroll is a place that sometimes, if not handled appropriately, can
feel like it's haunted by ghosts," Baker said. "You walk by the trophies. You
know the pressure. You can feel it. You walk into Nelson Stadium and there are
six banners that say national champions. You can use that at a starting point or
it can be something that overshadows
you."
Almost a decade later, the moment still resonates with crystal
clarity in Nick Milodragovich's memory.
Carroll College was in the midst of affirming its reputation as a
dynasty. The Fighting Saints were in a dogfight with St. Francis (IN), a nemesis
that would pop up again and again in Carroll's pursuit of greatness. It was a
war in 47 degrees, both teams covered in grass stains from the relentless
defensive struggle. The Cougars clung to a 14-12 lead with less than a minute to
play at Jim Carroll Stadium in the NAIA national title game in Savannah,
Tennessee that December afternoon in 2004.
A win would mean the Saints would claim their third straight national
title. Milodragovich was a true freshman cornerback. His role was to spell
veteran starter Matt Thomas, take the heat if Thomas ever stumbled.
The freshman out of Great Falls High was a backup on a team of stars, an
afterthought to most who remember the 2004 Fighting Saints.
As true freshman kicker Marcus Miller lined up for a 32-yard game-winning
field goal with nine seconds to play, Milodragovich looked on, his heart in his
throat, hoping his classmate would perform in the clutch. All of a sudden, the
freshman felt someone grab his hand. It was his mentor.
"Matt Thomas sought me out and he grabbed my hand ."
Milodragovich said. "We stood there, holding hands, watching what
happened next together. I will never forget that moment. In the heat of the
moment, Matt, a veteran and a senior, came to find me to show me he had
unconditional love for me and for my friend, Marcus. I believe that small act
and acts like that made a team that was slower than everyone, not as strong as
everyone so good."
Miller's kick split the uprights. Carroll came back to the Capital City
with its third of four straight national titles. The Saints would add NAIA
crowns in 2005, 2007 and 2010 and national runner-up finishes in 2008 and 2011.
Nine seasons after that faithful kick, the foundation upon which head
coach Mike Van Diest has built Carroll College's football program seems
unbreakable. Van Diest does not recruit the biggest, strongest or fastest
players. He recruits character. He recruits players with an appreciation of the
past and the desire to replicate the greatness that came before them. His staff
seeks out players who can fit into the fabric of the Saints' family. Because of
the brotherhood, the ghosts stay in the shadows and the winning tradition
marches on.
Carroll had its streak of 12 straight Frontier Conference championships
snapped last season, but the Saints are leading the chase once again this fall.
The No. 7 team in the NAIA is the highest ranked team among a powerful league
that's seen five of its members break into the top 25 this season. Carroll
sports a 4-1 record in league play this fall, moving the team's Frontier
Conference record under Van Diest to 109-12. Overall, Van Diest has led his
squad to a remarkable 169 wins in 196 games during his tenure in Helena.
"Once you get a taste of winning, you don't want anything else," Carroll
College senior quarterback Dakota Stonehouse said. "It's an amazing feeling
playing for a national championship, something no one will every forget. We want
it year and year out. That's what drives
us."
"When you come into this program, you see how the older guys operate and
you see what the expectations are, how hard you must prepare, how hard you must
work to get better," added two-time Academic All-America cornerback Mike
Siegersma. "It's all around you every
day."
Stonehouse is a much different signal caller than Carroll legend Tyler
Emmert, a Capital City native who led the Saints to the first four-peat in NAIA
history, just as Siegersma is a different talent than All-America pass catchers
Tyler Peterson or Kevin McCutcheon. The faces change. The drive for greatness
never does.
"When you are thinking about the teams of the past, you want to be like
them," said senior defensive lineman Dakota Amy, who remains a team captain
despite suffering a season-ending injury. "We have tradition to uphold. We must
do that. We take great pride in that."
Hall of Fame head coach Pat Riley coined the phrase the "Disease of
More" following his Los Angeles Lakers' 1987 NBA championship run. Riley
hypothesized that "success is often the first step toward disaster." Defending
champions want elevated roles as individuals. Complacency and entitlement begin
to creep into every aspect of the daily routine. Somehow, Carroll has avoided
anything of the sort.
Hanging in the Saints' locker room sits is a sign that reads, "Measure
Excellence by Performance not Reputation." Each season is a new campaign. Each
week is a new challenge. Everyone can and will give the Saints their best shot.
What happened in the past is irrelevant.
"These kids buy into what we teach because of what's been done before
them," Van Diest said "They have to check their egos at the
door."
Van Diest honed his ability to dissect the DNA of college athletes during
coaching stops around the country. The Helena native played at Wyoming. He had
coaching stops as an assistant at his alma mater, the University of Montana, the
University of Massachusetts and Northwestern University before taking over for
Bob Petrino Sr. in 1999.
Van Diest and his staff do extensive research into the athletes they
recruit. They talk to teachers, parents, coaches and members of the community.
Once on campus, the brotherhood begins to take shape.
When the Saints open fall camp, the team trudges through two-a-day
practices just like any football team. The difference is, between practices, the
Saints aren't allowed to go home. Players head to the PE center instead for what
the coaches deem as required team hang out time.
"In there, we got to know each other deeply. The shared experiences were
so crucial," said Milodragovich, who now is an entrepreneur who is part owner of
Pink Gloves Boxing, a fitness movement for women around the Treasure State. "You
develop things like brothers do. You become so close, you hate each other at
times, but you also would do anything for that man, defend him no matter
what."
Founded in 1909, Carroll College belongs to an elite, small corps of
Catholic diocesan colleges around the country. The school emphasizes the
philosophy of service learning, a method that combines classroom learning and
meaningful community service.
Van Diest mentions Carroll College in the same breath as
Stanford, Notre Dame and Northwestern. He calls Notre Dame head coach Brian
Kelly and former ND and Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham friends. It takes
a special type of student-athlete to fit in at each school, particularly one
with less than 1,400 students and academic standards as stringent as any
institution in the country.
"It's an indictment on our society if we don't feel like we can find
well-rounded kids who can compete at a high level academically and
athletically," Van Diest said. "It doesn't mean everyone makes the honor roll.
But if you come to Carroll, you better have your goals set that athletics and
academics go hand in hand. We have the combination of academics and athletics
that very few have."
Carroll College's unprecedented run isn't simply a product of a
winning culture. The Saints have had a slew of talented players to be sure. In
his 14 seasons at Carroll, Van Diest has coached 33 all-conference linebackers,
including seven that earned first-team All-America honors. Gary Cooper (2004,
2005), and Owen Koeppen (2007, 2008) did it twice. Cooper, Joe Horne (2001),
Marcus Atkinson (2003), and Thomas Dolan (2010) were named the Frontier
Conference Defensive Player of the
Year.
The two pillars of stability alongside of Van Diest have been offensive
coordinator Nick Howett and offensive line coach Jim Hogan. Each has been with
the head coach since he was hired in 1999. Van Diest said his trust in Hogan and
Howlett and the continuity they provide has been "the biggest factor in our
success."
Emmert, who has coached Carroll's wide receivers for seven seasons, was a
three-time first-team All-America and two-time NAIA National Player of the Year.
Baker, the 2005 Rimington Award winner as the top center in the nation, was an
All-America in 2004 and 2005 and now helps mentor the offensive line alongside
Hogan.
Baker, Emmert, linebackers coach Joe Dunning and defensive line coach
Mason Siddick are all former all-conference players for the Saints. Van Diest's
staffs have mostly been made up of a collection of former standout players. The
staff recruits players who want to learn and want to work and the players turned
mentors try to teach each new Saint the work it takes to reach the summit.
The last few seasons, Baker has led an initiative centered upon what it
means to wear the Carroll "C". It's intention is to teach players the
responsibility of what being a Saint is and engrain in them the standard of
excellence that has been set. Former players from around the country write
letters that each player reads.
"We are trying to pull the string tight throughout the tradition, but we
are also trying to teach these players that it's time to write their own
chapter," Baker said.
Van Diest has been named the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year nine
times. He was the NAIA Naitonal Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005 and the
American Football Coaches Association Coach of the year in 2003, 2007 and 2010.
He's posted an astounding 142-12 record since the turn of the century and his
teams are 36-6 in playoffs.
Suitors have come calling. Van Diest was thought to be the front-runner
for Montana State's head coaching vacancy in 2007, but pulled his name out of
the search after being named one of four finalists. His name has also swirled in
the rumor mill when the University of Montana had vacancies three times in the
last decade.
Before last season, he abruptly resigned, only to be coaxed back into his
position a week later. His ties to a school he grew up rooting for as a Helena
schoolboy are too strong.
"The private Catholic school we have here means a lot to me and my
family," Van Diest said. "I don't have a bucket list. I'm 60 years old. I still
think I'm young enough to coach. I don't necessarily want to be like Bobby
Bowden or Joe Paterno and be in this until I'm 80. But happiness comes from
being comfortable with where you are
at."
And why leave? Why leave arguably the most successful college football
program of this millennia? Why leave a quaint town like the Capital City? Why
leave everything he's spent more than a decade painting into a
masterpiece?
"Carroll College has never been the strongest team, never the fastest
team, never the biggest," Milodragovich said. "You hear speed kills and it
certainly does. We didn't have any. It was always amazing to me how we were able
to win. What it boiled down to was what Coach Van Diest had created and what the
younger leaders on that team had instilled in them, how that created a culture
of camaraderie and brotherhood. Those terms are overused, but there's no doubt
that Carroll football has had a unbreakable bond for more than a
decade."
Colter Nuanez is a freelance journalist living in Bozeman. He is the senior writer and co-founder of Bobcat
Beat (bobcatnation.com). He can be reached at BobcatBeat56@gmail.com and
followed on Twitter @Bobcat_Beat.