Bison football elevates Joe Beschorner to key leadership position

It’s yet another step for Beschorner, who came to NDSU in 2021 and spent his first three seasons as the team’s running backs coach. He takes the spot of Grant Olson, who was elevated to defensive coordinator when Tim Polasek was named the head coach.

The move has been in the works since Polasek accepted the position in late December. Call the last couple of months a tryout of sorts for Beschorner.

“I knew we would do something, it was just a matter of what,” Polasek said. “The announcement coming out this late was me just trying to get a grasp to see how he would lead with the positivity, the energy and getting the standard out there to our special teams. He’s a capable leader, he has a lot of relationships on this team and I think the move positionally has helped the special teams. He’ll do a great job.”

It’s not the first position of leadership for Beschorner, who came to NDSU from Minnesota State Mankato where he was the offensive coordinator for five years. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator for seven years at Simpson College (Iowa) and was the recruiting coordinator at the University of South Dakota from 2003-07.

“I’ve worked with every single unit and I’ve worked with every unit since I’ve been here,” he said. “From a career standpoint, you’re working with something that is a little bit different than offense or defense. You’re working with the skills to block people, the skills to get off blocks, the skills to tackle or the skills to break tackles. We’re looking for a core group of guys to be on all the units, like rangers. Excited to find guys who can continue to succeed in all of those roles.

“It’s exciting that coaches have faith and trust and belief in what you’ve been doing. I think what’s fun being involved in special teams is you’re working with everybody. It helps develop relationships with everybody in the program.”In everybody, that means players from every position group coming together for punt, punt return, kickoff coverage, kickoff return, field goal and extra point teams.

Coaching those groups will still be broken down with other staff members. For instance, Beschorner will handle kickoff return. Defensive tackles coach Nick Goeser will handle the punt return team with the punt team being broken up among defensive ends coach Carlton Littlejohn, safeties coach Devin Klieman and cornerbacks coach Will Johnson. Offensive line coach Dan Larson will be in charge of the field goal and PAT units with the entire defensive staff handling the field goal and PAT defense.

NDSU’s special teams last year had some deficiencies. The Bison were last in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in net punting and eighth in average kickoff return yardage. The Bison had some juice in the punt return game thanks to Jayden Price, who returned a couple for touchdowns. But Price has also graduated.

“All of our units will continue to improve,” Beschorner said. “We’ll evaluate our scheme and see where we can get better schematically, personnel, all that kind of stuff. It’s our job to put our kids in the best position to be successful and let them go play.”

As the special teams coordinator, he’ll have key veterans to oversee. Kicker Griffin Crosa is back for his fifth season and punter Kaedin Steindorf is a three-year starter. Sophomore Eli Ozik handled kickoff duties in eight of NDSU’s 15 games last season.

“That’s huge,” Beschorner said.