Three things to know from UND coach Bubba Schweigert's preseason media call
Aug. 2—GRAND FORKS — The Missouri Valley Football Conference held Day 1 of 2 of a coaches video conference call with media on Monday.
The first coach to speak was Fighting Hawks coach Bubba Schweigert. Here are three takeaways from what he had to say.
Although the question from the media may have been a little leading for Schweigert, who was asked how helpful it is to have two quarterbacks with game experience in Tommy Schuster and Quincy Vaughn, Schweigert didn't shy away from talking about using both quarterbacks in 2022.
"I think it gives you some options and a chance to run a different type of offense and really hone in on the skills of each guy," Schweigert said. "Tommy has been really steady for us. Quincy is a big, physical guy who gives us a different look back there.
"We're really encouraging all those guys to develop and learn the system because we'll play as many guys as we need to if we think it's effective and hard for teams to prepare for."
Schuster enters his third season as starter, although Vaughn played in every game a year ago, too.
Vaughn rushed 38 times for 134 yards and a touchdown. He completed nine passes on 17 attempts for 70 yards and three touchdowns.
Schuster completed a league-best 65.5 percent of his passes last season and passed for 2,493 yards. He also threw 13 touchdowns.
UND went with an inter-conference transfer to address depth at running back this offseason by adding former Northern Iowa back Tyler Hoosman.
On Monday, Schweigert was asked by a member of the media in Iowa if having MVFC experience gives Hoosman a leg up on his competition for playing time.
"I think it's always an advantage when a guy has played college football," Schweigert said. "He's played against conference opponents and knows the intensity of these games and the quality of play in these games.
"He's been really awesome this summer as far as work ethic and what we see. We're really pleased with him, and he'll have an opportunity to compete for a lot of carries and for that position on our football team."
After redshirting in 2017, Hoosman, a native of Plainfield, Ill., played for Northern Iowa for four seasons. His best season came in 2019, when he ran for 403 yards and four touchdowns in nine games.
In the fall of 2021, Hoosman appeared in 11 games but was limited to 68 rushing yards and a touchdown. He caught three balls for 23 yards.
UND's starting running back spot is completely up for grabs after the departure of Otis Weah, who entered the transfer portal in the offseason. Weah originally announced his intent to transfer to Missouri State but the offer was later reportedly pulled after learning of Weah's Title IX investigation at UND.
Schweigert was asked about the team's preseason regimen, specifically how it addresses the physical nature of the MVFC.
"We have a philosophy here that we have to take care of our football team," Schweigert said. "The most important dates on our schedule are the 11 games that we play. How we prepare our team is really calculated and health is the No. 1 thing. The younger guys will get more live reps, the ones we need to evaluate. The veterans, we need to give them enough to be ready but keep them healthy because they're key performers. The physicality in the league, we've known about it for a long time, and we've played in it two seasons now and we feel like we can be a really physical football team. The physicality is a challenge but we feel we stepped up to that challenge. But taking care of your team is really important."
UND's tentative fall schedule has its lone live scrimmage of camp coming Aug. 16.
