After phasing into a new offensive system under offensive coordinator Jeff Judge this past fall, it may be natural for the Simpson football team to brace itself for another potential system change after head coach Jim Glogowski’s resignation.

A search has already started for a new coach as practices got underway last week, although no announcement has been made of any potential candidates for the position or if a candidate will be drawn from the current assistant coaching staff.

The new hire will have large shoes to fill in regards to recruiting charm and connection with the players.

“It was very clear when we came to training camp last year and for about 95 percent of people that said it was because of him,” sophomore middle linebacker Galen Gist said. “He knows everyone by name and knows our school mascots. There is no way that he wouldn’t have known that it would be a shock.”

Offensive lineman Blake Bergstrom, who was recruited by Glogowski and played for him for four years, recalls the same as a recruit out of Ankeny.

“He was one of the biggest reasons I decided to attend to Simpson College to pursue my athletic career,” Bergstrom said. “He cared about his players and was very passionate about what he did.”

At a school where nearly 10 percent of the student population is comprised of football players who ultimately came to Simpson for the chance to play football, the thought of transferring for student-athletes is something you’ll often see in college athletics.

Gist recalls that Glogowski created that bond where he could call his coach “Pops” with comfort, but he doesn’t think the team will get disheartened with Glogowski’s resignation.

“I don’t think transferring is a big deal as he has really put in our mind that we are a team and more than just one person,” Gist said. “With him leaving it’ll be a big culture change, but he made it very clear that we don’t base our decision off of one person.”

Glogowski, who played was an All-American linebacker at the University of South Dakota and has had his whole professional career revolve around college football, continually emphasized his understanding of the perseverance his student-athletes had to endure each week.

Sometimes performance on the field lacked because of a heavy course load throughout the week or other stressful social situations, and he knew that.

“One of the greatest things is that he understood what it was like for us,” Gist said. “He picked up on my visit, who I wanted to be and what my goals were.”

The image of Glogowski leaping into the arms of one of his players after Simpson’s upset win over Wartburg on a blocked PAT in 2013 is etched into the minds of many upon seeing it on the background of a tab on the Simpson website.

The 2016 Simpson football team hopes that connection, bond and relationship is in place this year in the new coach. It certainly will be a challenge to reach that and reorient a program that has gone 7-13 over the past two years.

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