ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TABOR COLLEGE
Mike Gottsch will return to his alma mater to serve as head football coach at Tabor College, according to athletic director Don Brubacher.
Current players were notified at a team meeting Monday evening.
“There are a lot of great, fond memories of when I played football and was a student at Tabor,” said Gottsch, a 1989 graduate. “And when the job opened up, I really believed that I had been groomed for this position.”
Gottsch was originally recruited in 1986 from Moorpark Junior College.
He was Tabor’s quarterback and varsity team captain for two seasons, earning all-conference honorable mention and academic all-conference honors before beginning his coaching career as a fifth-year student.
After graduating from Tabor, Gottsch traveled overseas to play
quarterback and coordinate the offense with the West London Aces, a semi-pro team in Great Britain.
Previous coaching experience includes: graduate assistant at Chadron (Neb.) State College; head football and spring strength training coach at Henderson (Neb.) High School; head football and strength training coach at Colby (Kan.) High School; offensive coordinator/assistant head coach at Upper Iowa University Fayette, Iowa; offensive coordinator, assistant head football coach and assistant athletic director at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College; and head football coach at Southmont High School, Crawfordsville, Ind.
Gottsch’s vision for the Tabor football program extends to the
classroom.
“We will continue to build on all the positive, exciting and great things going on at Tabor academically and athletically,” he said. “I
want to continue to build on the proud tradition of excellence in
academics and athletics, to continue to bring in the quality
student-athlete who has a passion to excel in the classroom and on the football field.”
To see that vision come to fruition, Gottsch will “work extremely hard at recruiting.” He will tap into his contacts in the football world to find recruits who will fit Tabor. He looks to the recruiting styles of
former Tabor coaches Tim McCarty and Mike Gardner as examples.
“They did an exceptional job of bringing in those high-caliber players who are committed to the classroom and committed to winning.”
He will also encourage his players to work hard in the off-season,
“making sure we have all of our players on the same page.”
Gottsch will begin his responsibilities Monday, Feb. 5, when he will
meet with the team and establish goals for the off-season and upcoming seasons.
“We have a lot of hard work ahead of us,” he said, “but it’s work that
I can’t wait to tackle.”
Tabor announces hiring of head football coach
