Skinny on Falcon sports: A preview of Falcon football

By Don Richards
Posted 5/25/23

I was hoping someone would ask me to write a football column soon. But to my great surprise nobody did. Well, it's probably because people generally get kind of shy and tongue tied when they …

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Skinny on Falcon sports: A preview of Falcon football

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I was hoping someone would ask me to write a football column soon. But to my great surprise nobody did. Well, it's probably because people generally get kind of shy and tongue tied when they contemplate talking to a celebrity, especially one in their midst. So to prevent the embarrassment which would inevitably accompany a direct request, and to alleviate the consternation and loss of sleep among readers, regional and nation-wide, I've decided, despite the fact this is not football season, to belch forth some pre-season UWRF football information. My source is the Dean of WIAC football coaches, Matt Walker. The Dean? Yes, because when UW-Whitewater coach Kevin Bullis retired, Walker became the WIAC's longest serving coach at 12 seasons, in 2022. He has also been named WIAC and National Coach of the year, in 2021.

Walker says the coaching staff is as "excited about this group as any class we have ever brought in. The talent level for this group is as high as any incoming group I have ever been around." He adds that "the majority of this class is high school seniors. We believe this is the best way to build a program. However, the transfer portal has been successful for us and we have a few transfers on their way. And with our recent successes, the two Isthmus Bowl championships and winning records, have helped us in the recruiting process."

The coaching staff has been making recruiting trips to Arizona for the last few years. As a result of those trips, Coach Walker says, "Our entire out-of-state recruiting process has helped us for sure. Our roster is still primarily composed of Minnesota and Wisconsin athletes and it continues to be very important to me that this is the foundation of our team. If you cannot recruit your backyard then something is wrong. But everyone is looking for additional pockets and we have found a few that have continued to be good to us."

He says that his returning group this coming fall is as solid as any group we have seen and "there are no major holes we needed to address in recruiting. It is simply a year we needed to bring in the next stars at every spot and we have some legit candidates at every position in this class."

What about losing players by transfer? "It is not uncommon to see more than 20 players leaving a program during the recruiting cycle in the portal. We have lost one player," Walker says.

The coaching staff has begun running what are called Prospect Camps. These camps bring in players in grades 9-12 and show them what college football entails, including drills run by college coaches. The first camp was held on Sunday, May 7, and attracted over 250 participants. "The majority of our recruits last year were players who had attended one of our prospect camps," Walker says.

Other camps include the Minnesconsin Showcase Camp from 5:30-8:30 p.m. June 7 at the Falcon Center, and a Las Vegas Camp for prospects in the Nevada/Arizona area.

Details can be found online.

The Falcons recently completed their spring practice. Walker says the staff felt "great" about it. "It is a chance to master each system of offense and defense, a chance to evaluate young guys who may be in bigger roles, and a chance to see the new leadership group come into their own. All of these things happened and we are excited."

About scheduling Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) at home on the opener, Sept. 3, Walker says, "non-conference scheduling for the top 20 in Division 3 can be difficult. I give a lot of credit to non-conference opponents willing to take on the challenge of a talented and ranked opponent. But very few are willing to do that. We have talked to MHB for quite a while about this possibility and we are grateful they are willing to make the trip. Our players realize this is a unique opportunity. They are preparing now and are driven to prepare in summer workouts to play a top 5 team. MHB sure helps drive that preparation." 

Junior quarterback Kaleb Blaha, who gained WIAC second team all-conference honors last season, will return this fall to run the offense.Walker says that our returning running backs will help take the pressure off Blaha, who was necessarily involved in lots of running last season. He adds that "we also have a group of quarterbacks ready to back Kaleb up." 

About which WIAC teams are most likely to get into the playoffs, Walker "assumes that over half of the teams think they can legitimately win the league. This is unique and does not happen in other conferences."

Strength coach Carmen Pata recently resigned and Walker said it was a surprise to him and his players. Pata "has been here over 20 years and I owe a lot of our success to him. I think he is the best in the country. But we will find a great person to replace him."

This column has droned on long enough, but if you are still with me, you may remember Henny Youngman, dead comedian, at one time said his most famous one liner, "Take my wife...please." He also said about his grandmother, "She's over 80 and still doesn't need glasses – drinks right out of the bottle." Me too!

Skinny on Falcon sports, Don Richards, football, UW-River Falls, River Falls, Wisconsin