SIOUX FALLS — The Roosevelt Rough Riders have their new football coach.
Jason Stahlberg, who has been an assistant coach at Washington for the last 16 years, most recently as defensive coordinator, becomes the third head coach in Roosevelt history, following Brent DeBoer and Kim Nelson. Nelson, the state’s all-time winningest coach, stepped down after the season to join the staff at the University of Sioux Falls.
Nelson had also coached at Washington prior to his stint at Roosevelt, and that worked out well, so the Riders are going that route once again.
Stahlberg, 40, is a University of Sioux Falls alumnus who spent more than a dozen years on the Washington staff under Brian Hermanson, Chad Stadem and Ryan Evans in a variety of defensive roles, where he became a respected and well-liked member of the staff not just at Washington but within the area coaching community. He was also a finalist for the 2023 teacher of the year.
“I’m excited, it’s something I’ve been working towards for a long time,” said Stahlberg, a Montana native whose wife, Laura, played basketball at Roosevelt for the late Fred Tibbets. “I’ve had a lot of really great mentors from Coach Hermanson to Coach Stadem and the last few years working under Ryan Evans has been awesome. Sixteen years — it feels kind of crazy. It goes by really quick. I started off as a sophomore coach working for T-shirts and now here we are, man.”
Jason Stahlberg is the new Roosevelt head football coach after spending 16 years as an assistant at Washington.
Submitted
Stahlberg was a part of 10 trips to the DakotaDome for state championships in his time at Washington, in addition to playing under Kalen DeBoer at USF. His former bosses all express confidence that Stahlberg is ready for this opportunity and sure to be a hit on the west side of town, and Stahlberg says he’s a product of each of them.
“The last few years as a defensive coordinator has given me an opportunity to lead my side of the ball, and when you’ve been around really good coaches they give you an opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t,” Stahlberg said. “Those three (Washington) coaches are all very different, so you have so many different identities. You find out as a young coach that there’s no one way to do it. You’ve just got to be true to yourself.”
Stahlberg is in the process of putting together a staff. He takes over a Rough Rider squad that is coming off back-to-back 3-7 seasons that were in part attributed to losing a chunk of their roster to newly-built Jefferson High School. He was with the Warriors when the transition from Hermanson to Stadem got off to a rough start, though, and seems prepared for whatever challenges he’ll face at Roosevelt.
“Those experiences have given me a unique perspective of what successful programs look like, and that’s what we’re going to base everything on,” he said. “We’re gonna work our tails off. We’re gonna get better every day. Compete every day and take pride in who we are. As people buy into that then it becomes their own, and I’ll tell you this — the successful teams I’ve been a part of have been player-led teams. That’ll be the expectation and I’m excited about that opportunity.”
Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at [email protected].
2024-01-25 05:26:14
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