The winds of change are certainly blowing around the Superior Central football program. After going 1-7 in 2022 and 0-9 in 2023, the Cougars have opted to play as a junior varsity team during the upcoming 2024 season. They’ll also do so under a new head coach; Todd Spranger.
“I’m very excited, I’m looking forward to working with the kids, getting a staff together and building a winning program,” Spranger said of taking over the team. “Winning not only as far as our record is concerned but on and off the field too, just raising the bar for the boys. I’ve already seen some of them step up.”
The decision to play a JV schedule this fall stems primarily from the fact that they expect to have a roster filled with young or inexperienced players.
“The one thing I saw last year was we have a very young football team,” Spranger said. “It was pretty much a freshmen team, they need more experience and more time to grow. (Playing JV) is temporary, I think the school is looking at doing it for one year and then we will have a young varsity team (in 2025), but I think the possibility is definitely there for us to compete at the varsity level (at that point).”
Spranger, who is a pastor at Community Covenant Church in Skandia, has previous experience at Superior Central as an assistant coach with the varsity and as a middle school coach. In his playing days, Spranger was a standout offensive lineman and defensive end in Iowa. In high school, he played for hall-of-fame head coach Bob Timmerman, who helped guide the team to a state championship his junior season. His position coach, Greg Purnell went on to win multiple state championships as a head coach as well, and is also in the hall of fame.
Add in the fact that Spranger went on to play football at Coe College, and he has plenty of high-level experience to tap into.
“I had the privilege of playing in a really good program that won state championships and had hall of fame coaches,” he said. “I came away from football, especially in high school, with so many lessons that you don’t realize it when you are playing, you see so much more when you are older, looking back on your playing days.”
Still about five months ahead of the team’s first practices, Spranger has the added benefit of implementing his off-season plans. Those plans include everything from hitting the weights to just getting to know his players a little better. “Right now, I am really focusing on just developing these young guys,” he said. “These freshmen, who are going to be sophomores, (I’m trying to) keep them in good training habits. (I want to) expand the weight room at the school and have daily face to face contact with the kids and encourage them in the weight room and just get them used to what it takes to build a championship level football team.”
And while the Cougars haven’t won a playoff game since 2011 and haven’t had a winning season since 2012; Spranger is adamant that success can be sustained in the program.
“I don’t see why it can’t,” he said. “It is really just about getting the boys interested in football. My goals are to develop a program where kids who are in fourth and fifth grade can look out at the football team and be excited about playing when it is their turn and they are old enough to do that.”
This fall’s version of the Cougars may be young.
“There are some kids that have never played before, but I am seeing them develop already,” Spranger said.
But they’re ready to strap on the helmet and enjoy some high school football, and if things go as planned; they’ll pave the way for a successful varsity program in the future.
“I think the fall will be very fun,” Spranger said. “It will be a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun.”
