David Schoettler, a defensive tackle on the Mankato West High School football team in Mankato, Minnesota, failed to make a tackle as the offense scored a touchdown during a game in 1999.
As a result, the senior got benched for the remainder of the game by the defensive coordinator, Tim Walz, who went on to become the governor of Minnesota and the Democratic vice presidential nominee 25 years later.
Schoettler told The Epoch Times that Walz was tough but not aggressive, a “phenomenal coach” who held his players accountable.
The benching, he said, was Walz being like a “disappointed dad.”
“He wasn’t one of the coaches that yells and screams,” he said.
Another memory Schoettler recalled was that Walz came to a practice “bummed out” because his wife took away his Dreamcast, a video game console, for playing on it too much.
Before entering politics, Walz was a teacher who also coached school sports.
He coached basketball and track and field at Alliance High School in Alliance, Nebraska, and he coached at the junior high level in Mankato, Minnesota, where he and his wife, Gwen, settled in 1996.
However, since Vice President Kamala Harris picked the Minnesota governor as her running mate, most sports fans have focused on Walz’s time at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minnesota. There, in addition to being a teacher, he helped lead the football team to a national title in 1999, a year after the team went an entire season without winning a game.
Former Players at DNC
Ben Ingman, who had Walz as a basketball and track coach in the seventh grade, introduced the governor at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21 before Walz accepted the party’s vice presidential nomination.Ingman recalled the story of a high schooler in the district who was unable to pay for lunch and was running an expensive tab. Walz and his wife decided to help the student pay off the debt. One of the ways Walz helped make money to pay the debt was to become a coach for seventh-grade sports, where he led the track team to a state title.
“Coach Walz got us excited about what we might achieve together. He believed in us and he helped us believe in each other,” Ingman said.
At the end of Ingman’s speech, more than a dozen members of the 1999 football team appeared on stage.
Lance Resner, who was a linebacker, told The Epoch Times in an email that Walz is “a fantastic human being” and “a great leader—taking time to listen, leading by example, connecting with those around him.” He also said Walz “provides spark/energy, was/is inspirational, and was/is a positive person.
“He is fun to be around and made a big impact on me (and how I go about coaching my youth teams today) and many others that were lucky enough to call him ’teach‘ or ’coach,'” Resner said.
Walz went on from the high school hallways to the halls of Congress, representing Minnesota’s First Congressional District between 2007 and 2019 before becoming the 41st governor of Minnesota on Jan. 7, 2019.
“It was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I had hoped to instill in them. A commitment to the common good, an understanding that we’re all in this together, and the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors,” he said.
At the conclusion of his speech, Walz said the election is down to the wire.
“It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball. We’re driving down the field,” he said.
“Our job, for everyone watching, is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling. One inch at a time. One yard at a time. One phone call at a time. One door knock at a time. One $5 donation at a time.”
Schoettler said he will be voting for the Harris-Walz ticket on Nov. 5.
“I hate [the] majority of politicians in general, but ... I know who he is as a person. And he’s a relatable person,” Schoettler said.
