North Dakota State Bison head coach Tim Polasek has successfully navigated the program’s transition to the FBS, and more recognition could be coming.
The Bison once dominated the FCS with 10 national championships in 15 years between 2011 and 2025, so expectations were enormous entering the FBS this year. Polasek has the Bison off to a 6-1 start and bowl eligibility already, and NDSU could vie for the Mountain West Conference title, too.
Amid his success, Polasek has landed on the Paul “Bear” Bryan National Coach of the Year Award watch list. Polasek is among 28 FBS coaches on the list for the award named for the late Alabama head coaching great.
While most of the list consists of Power Four conference coaches, a few Group of Six coaches made the list. That includes a few coaches Polasek and the Bison have faced or will face: New Mexico head coach Jason Eck and Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun.
James Madison head coach Billy Napier also made the list as did former Dukes head coaches Curt Cignetti of Indiana and Bob Chesney of UCLA.
Tim Polasek Makes Admission on Jason Eck’s Bison IQ
Polasek will get to coach against Eck this Saturday when the Bison visit the Lobos in a game that could determine the Mountain West regular season title.
The second-year NDSU coach is well aware of Eck’s familiarity with the Bison program from his time on South Dakota State‘s staff. Eck’s Lobos are off to a strong start at 5-1 and boast one of best defenses in the country.
“Jason Eck obviously is a guy that knows our defensive system very well,” Polasek told reporters on Tuesday. “Has faced it multiple times in big, big moments. I think there’s a lot he can draw on there. That has us on the edge of our seat a little bit.”
“Their staff has a lot of knowledge about our football program, some of our schematics, and general concepts,” Polasek later added. “Their D coordinator [Spence Nowitzky] was at Illinois State from 2009 to 2017. He’s a fellow Wisconsin guy, and I have a great appreciation for Spence.”
“Both of their offensive coaches, Luke [Schleusner] and [Zach] Lujan, have experience against NDSU as well. So they have some guys on their staff that are good guys, good people who can coach ball,” Polasek concluded.
Tim Polasek Emphasizes 1 Area to Clean Up vs. New Mexico
NDSU committing penalties has been like off key music to Polasek’s ears, and the Bison committed 11 penalties for 98 yards last time out against Nevada.
“Well, last week I played Beethoven for 10 minutes, so they had to really lock in and communicate,” Polasek said. “Turned it way down, like how the dome is, real quiet.”
“Then I turned on some AC/DC and some rock and roll, and they couldn’t hear themselves talk,” Polasek added. “Then we had the leaders do what they want to do because we can’t punish them with push-ups or sit-ups or any of that. Looking at some different cadence things moving forward that can maybe help us.”
NDSU could get the crowd noise factor flipped at New Mexico on Saturday with a hostile Lobos crowd, and the Bison can ill afford yellow flags against the Mountain West’s first-place team.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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