Football family members join Hall of Fame

With three members of our Blue Devil football family entering into the Hall of Fame this week, the win was very special for our program. Michael Wilson(’90) and his family were in town in time for Mike to address the team on Friday, and then again for our pre-game prayer on Saturday. As one of the first football players I coached to enter into the Hall of Fame since my beginnings in 1990 at UW-Stout, this game had special feelings for me as well. Mike provided some valuable insight to the team on what it means to be a winner, to be a Blue Devil and to represent UW-Stout forever.

Also joining Mike in the Hall of Fame ceremonies were former player Jack Voigt, and former coach Bob Bostwick. Other inductees included Mike Kundinger, Lisa (Schultz) Dormady and Greg Osterhaus. Larry Kuester received the Distinguished Service Award. Many friends, family and former players and teammates were in town to celebrate this great honor with the inductees of the class of 2007.

Blue Devils defeat Platteville

UW-Stout's offense didn't score a touchdown until the waning seconds of the game, but the way the Blue Devils' defense and special teams played, they didn't need to as UW-Stout defeated UW-Platteville, 28-7, Saturday at Don & Nona Williams Stadium in the annual Hall of Fame game. The Blue Devil defense intercepted four passes and returned two for touchdowns. Our defense is starting to come into their own, they are starting to understand Coach (Clayt) Birmingham's defense and are becoming confident in it and it shows in their aggressive play. Offensively, we are moving the football when we need to and not making big mistakes. The points will come as long as we continue to work hard and believe. Special teams have been doing very well, with Coach Bird and Coach Thomas continuing to lead the team in this area. Field position has been a big factor in what we do, and this past week is no exception. Field position and return yards played a huge role in the win.

A busy couple of weeks to open season

The past two weeks have been busy for our program. We have played two games, winning the first one at home 24-19 over Menlo College, and losing on the road last week 28-10 vs Missouri-Rolla. The trip to Rolla was a long one, 11 hours on a bus. The team played well after spotting them a 21 point lead, which is too much when playing a good team on the road. Missouri-Rolla has somewhere around 35 full ride scholarships, but we played them very competitively and look forward to the rematch next fall at home.

This week has found our team working hard on fundamentals in practice, and enjoying the bye week, as we have this week off. Team pictures today, practice at 6am Friday morning, then the team has off on Saturday and Sunday, back to work on Monday.

We are looking forward to our trip to Spokane, Wash, next weekend to play Whitworth College, a team that was ranked 16th in the country going into last weekend.

Thank you for your support. We hope to see you at our next home game on Sept. 29th, vs UW-Platteville, which is our Hall of Fame game, at 1:00pm. Former football player Mike Wilson will be a member of our Blue Devil Football family going into the Hall this year.

Blue Devils Open Camp

On Sunday, August 12th we open camp. We are very excited to get on the field and begin forming and shaping our 2007 edition of the Blue Devil Football Squad. Our staff has been busy getting organized and ready to begin working with the fine young men we have coming to camp. We will have some new and exciting players and some different looks to our Offense and Defense. This should make for an exciting year. We are excited about what the future holds, and look forward to representing our university, our alumni, and our community on the field this fall.

Touchdown Club Information

Our 2007 Touchdown Club Fundraiser is just beginning. The mailings will go out this week. Remember, we want you to become more involved in UW-Stout football. Support is not necessarily measured just in dollars. We are not concerned with that right now. We want you in the stands, we want you to listen to the games via the internet, or on the radio. We want you to check out our website, and to receive our Blue Devil E-Mail Updates. We want you to stop down on the field at practices, and after games. We want you to be a part of us and to be proud of Blue Devil football. For those looking to become more of a part of what we do, Touchdown Club info is available on our website http://www.uwstout.edu/athletics/football/td.htm

Golf Outing a Success

It was a great time, hosted by the wonderful staff at Whitetail Golf Course and was a day full of lots of fun, golf & prizes. We had six alumni teams between football and hockey, and enjoyed the opportunity to catch up. Alumni in attendance were Bill Uhlmann, John Selenske, Chris Palmer, Chris Lindner, Jason Berzinksi, Andy Caflisch, Ken Baratta, Mike Feller, Glen Harke, Bill Hiedeman, Bill Doyle, and Del Gunderson. Thanks to all of you for coming. Alumni interested in joining us next year, the tournament will be held on Aug. 2nd, 2008.

Blue Devil Golf Outing held at Whitetail Golf Course, Sat. August 4th, 2007

Come out and help support Blue Devil Football and Hockey. We are looking for more alumni teams. This past year, we had 36 teams of five. It is a great time, hosted by the wonderful staff at Whitetail Golf Course and is a day of lots of fun, golf & prizes. Interested alumni, round up some friends, bring your family and get entered, you won’t regret it. Currently we only have one alumni team, with John Selenske, Bill Uhlmann, Chris Palmer stepping up and challenging all other former Blue Devils to round up a team as well. Other alumni working on rounding up teams are Clint Greenbaum, John Hendricks, Matt Schaeuble, Chris Lindner, Jason Lehman and Doug Dieckman.

Coach Birmingham off to Japan!

About a week ago, Clayt received a call from Coach John Mackovich, a legendary coach who has been at Illinois, Wake Forest, Texas, Arizona, Kansas City Chiefs, and is now the Head Coach of the USA National Team. He asked Coach Birmingham to coach the LB’s on a team consisting of 45 players from Division I, IAA, II, and III. Three players from the WIAC will be playing as well. He flew out today for San Jose State and 2 weeks of practice. On July 4th, the team will be flying to Kawasaki, Japan, for 3 games in just under two weeks. They will play South Korea and Germany, and their success will determine if they play for the gold medal or for bronze. This is a great opportunity, and Coach Birmingham will represent UW-Stout with class.

7-7 and Big Dog Challenge

For those of you in the area this Saturday, June 23rd, University of Wisconsin-Stout will be hosting our annual 7-7 and Big Dog Challenge clinics in which we will have 18 teams competing for the championship in 7-7 and 12 teams competing for the title of Big Dog Champions. Attending and competing once again will be top teams from Minnesota and Wisconsin, including Wayzata, Coon Rapids, Eden Prairie, Lakeville and our hometown teams from here in Menomonie. There will be some great competition, feel free to stop and watch for a while.

Progress in the Classroom

As a program with 78 players, our team GPA for the Spring semester was up to a cumulative 2.83. In the big scheme of things, this is good, and great compared to many other football programs in the country, but not yet where we want it to be. With an overall goal of a cumulative 3.0 GPA, progress is being made within the team. Presently there are 36 players with a cumulative over a 3.0 GPA! Marshall Lehman, DB, Edgar, had a perfect semester with a 4.0, and currently holds an overall GPA of 3.973. WOW!

Spring Workouts Completed

On May 9th we concluded our Spring workouts and are very excited about where we finished up. We will have some new and exciting players and some different looks to our Offense and Defense. Combine these things with our veterans and the blue collar Blue Devil work ethic our kids have, and we will be fine. We have moved on, and are excited about what the future holds, and look forward to representing our university and our community on the field this fall.

Blue Devil Golf Outing August 4

Come out and help support Blue Devil Football and Hockey at the annual Blue Devil Classic Golf Outing, Saturday, Aug. 4. We are looking for more alumni teams. This past year, we had 36 teams of five. It is a great time, hosted by the wonderful staff at Whitetail Golf Course and is a full day of fun, golf & prizes. Interested alumni, round up some friends, bring your family and get entered, you won’t regret it. Cost of the 2007 classic will remain at $100.00 per person, or $500 per team. Registration form in the next update.

Blue Devils have been busy

The past month has been busy for our program. We have a few spring workouts left, and as a program are excited about the progress of our future. With a new coordinator on each side of the ball, there are some changes in our schemes, but our student-athletes have been working hard and are excited about each and every workout. Our team has started to “come together”. We see a huge difference in the mindset, demeanor, and attitude they have already. This will continue to grow and begin to flourish as we head into the summer.

Our student-athletes have been spending a lot of community time in area elementary schools helping with reading and recess time. This past Saturday, we helped serve breakfast as part of a fundraiser for a playground at a local elementary school. They were the celebrities who cooked and helped serve the meals. We also helped with the set-up and tear down of the Early Childhood Education Conference held this past weekend in the Sports & Fitness Center. We will be participating in the campus wide clean up on Wednesday with the rest of the athletic department, which is an annual event organized by our Student Athletic Advisory Council.

For those of you who made it to the Touchdown Club Final Four Get Together held in late March, the TD Club thanks you for your support. Our staff enjoyed the opportunity to meet a lot of new people, and we are excited about the support of the community, Stout alumni and friends. We especially enjoyed getting to know the “70’s” group and their wives in attendance, Jim Shore, Al Needham, and Ed Cody. Thank you to Scot Miller, Dean Babbitt, Jeff Hastings, Steve Lindberg, Brian Benrud, and Dean Sankey for setting up and running the event.

On Wednesday, May 9th from 6:00-8:30pm Williams Stadium we will be hosting our annual coaching drill clinic. Our current players will practice, and our staff will share our drills with hopefully around 150 area coaches. Anyone is welcome, please feel free to stop by and check out the coaching clinic.