NDSU Hires From Within for New Coordinator

News broke earlier this week that the North Dakota State Bison football team was losing their Offensive Coordinator after the team won the National Championship this past season.

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Jake Landry is leaving Fargo for Iowa State to become the Cyclones new running backs coach.

NDSU has announced they were promoting offensive line coach Dan Larson as their new play caller. Larson joined the Bison staff in 2019 as the running backs coach, before shifting to coach the guys in the trenches.

This seems to be a great move for NDSU for a couple of reasons. First, Larson is already in the building, he’ll just need to move his office. That helps in continuity with the current team and the players that have been recruited by NDSU.

Plus, there’s not a rushed search for a replacement which brings with it the uneasiness for the team until a coach is hired.

Another reason why this is a good move is that spring ball, the 15 practices that teams can have in March, April and for some teams maybe in May, is coming soon. This is an important time for the development of younger players and to install any updates, changes, or additions to the playbook.

Landry’s leaving also opens the role of quarterback coach, which the Bison will also fill from within. According to the 24/7 Bison Report tight ends coach Joe Beschorner is expected to move to that role while Larson will add the tight ends and full backs to his grouping.

For football fans it may seem like the start of the season is so far away, but for coaches, it’s really just around the corner and they need everyone in place as soon as possible.

NDSU has always recruited good coaches that make moves like this a lot easier. As I wrote earlier this week, the offense for the Bison has a basic foundation, but it will be interesting to see what twists Coach Larson brings to the table.