MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – The NMU Wildcats officially announced their 2024 football schedule this week. This will be an 11-game test for the team under second-year head coach Shane Richardson as they look to bounce back from a winless 2023 season.
“We've kind of known how each team is going to play out for a while, and I actually shared with the team a while ago what to expect,” Richardson said. said. “I'm very excited. We have 11 games and we have a new opponent in the conference. It's really fun to get the GLIAC a little more packed. And it's also really nice to have a bye week. I think we have a great opportunity to come back and prove ourselves against a really strong opponent and then play GLIAC there after the bye week to close out the rest of the second half of the season. It's a great opportunity and it's going to be a really great match.”
The Wildcats will kick off the season on August 29th when they host the University of Minnesota Duluth. It's a rematch of the first game from 2023 and an opportunity for the team to have another offseason to show their growth.
“Football season, like many other sports seasons, you have to train and prepare all year long, but it kind of sits inside you until you get to the next season. The first time it starts, it's always really exciting,'' Richardson said. “And being able to see a team that's really hungry and excited and wanting to go out and enjoy the game is really important to us, especially considering how we did last season. I think it's really important to keep our team motivated and enthusiastic about what we're doing, so I think it's going to be really exciting to see that in the first game.”
The following week, the team will embark on its first road trip, traveling to Kentucky for the program's first matchup against Kentucky Wesleyan.
“At another school I coached, I was able to play against that program a few times. They're very athletic and have been very good thus far,” Richardson said. “Obviously, I think there's going to be a new coaching staff and they're probably going to be a lot different than the guys I remember, but that in itself is going to be a difficult feat. It's very difficult to travel in Division II. It's going to be a good opponent and we have a chance to go out there and prove what we want to be and do what we need to do and go on the road and prove what we can do. I will do it.”
While the team doesn't need to be reminded of its Oct. 26 matchup against Michigan Tech, Richardson said his first year as head coach in this rivalry will help the team approach future games. He said it taught him several lessons.
“I think one of the important things is to make sure the players have a solid grounding in how they approach the game,” Richardson said. “Maybe last year there was a lot of hype among the players and a little bit internally and maybe we put a little too much pressure on ourselves regarding the game. Some things that happened during the game. I think we need to address that, and of course we've done a really good job of retaining talent in this recruiting cycle and all aspects, so we've been more mature in a year, and we've been more mature in a year. Hopefully developing and adding talent will help. We still have to go into that game knowing that we want to focus on staying true to who we want to be. Away, with a team that hates you as much as you hate them, you know you've got a little extra inspiration sprinkled on top of that and you want to do your best in that game. I think the players understand that, but it's also an educational process to get the 18- to 23-year-olds to understand that as well.”
Although the Wildcats face tough competition in the conference, there is optimism going into the summer about how far the coaching staff can go in its second year.
“I still think it's very difficult. I think in general, GLIAC has a great reputation for being one of the best conferences in the country,” Richardson said. “I don't think we can take a week off. We realized that the hard way this past year and we knew every team was going to be very difficult for us. And they… Obviously we have a chance to play better this year and I think for us we can take it one game at a time. Of course, we filmed them before we got there. You get to see them, you get to know their personalities, you get to know them as a team, and so it helps when you go into those games, and every matchup is a good, tough battle. We're expecting that and we're playing in some of the best games in the country, so we're going to be in summer camp mode in June and July will be like the calm before the storm. It'll be here before we know it, and that's a really good thing. Time flies and before you know it, we're here at the Superior Dome on Game 1 against Duluth. We are preparing for it.”
