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MSU-Northern Lights begin spring drills under new coach Andrew Rolin

Posted at 11:24 PM, Mar 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-05 15:58:49-04

HAVRE — The Andrew Rolin era is under way in Havre after the MSU-Northern Lights completed their first day of spring football practice on campus. It was immediately clear to anyone in attendance: It’s not business as usual on the Hi-Line.

Rolin and his brand-new staff clearly bring a ton of energy to the field, and the players fed off of it on Day 1. After just two wins in the past three years, returning players believe the fresh start is exactly what the Lights need.

“Just having someone here who believes in us,” said quarterback Tommy Wilson. “And who’s giving positive energy to us, it motivates us to believe in the things that they have set for us.”

Rolin has been busy assembling staff, recruiting players and running offseason workout programs since he took the reins of the program in January, so getting the team on the field was a much-needed and necessary change of pace.

“We’ve been working since I showed up in January for this moment right here,” Rolin said. “I love football, these guys love football, the guys that our now still with us, they love football and they’re excited to be out here, and it’s just been a heck of a day.”

The Lights will practice 15 times over the next month, culminating with a spring scrimmage on April 21 at noon. There’s a lot of work to be done before Northern opens the 2018 season against Mayville State on Aug. 25, but Rolin is encouraged by what he saw on Day 1.

“We got some rust that we’re knocking off, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “There’s a lot of new offense, and a lot of new defense for these guys. But the effort was great, we always talk about continuous effort and continuous improvement, and that’s what we did.”