Jerome Souers hopes to bring Northern Arizona success to MSU-N

Ever since the resignation of former head coach Andrew Rolin, Montana State University-Northern has been looking for someone new to lead the football program. Over the past few weeks, MSU-N has interviewed several coaching candidates. On Wednesday at the SUB on the MSU-N campus, the Lights introduced their newest and the most accomplished of the candidates, Jerome Souers.

Souers was the former head coach of Northern Arizona University from 1998 to 2018. In his 21 seasons leading the program, he amassed a 123-114 record for the most conference wins in Big Sky history. He did retire, but didn't stay away, and after a season as the defensive coordinator for Southern Oregon University and some life events that made him take a new look at his priorities, he was looking for something new.

At a larger school like NAU, he had many other responsibilities outside of coaching. During that time, he believed he lost some touch with his athletes so he hopes he can find that again at a smaller school. He already has a connection to the state of Montana as he used to coach at the University of Montana and he still has friends here. He thought MSU-N would be a good opportunity for him because he believes it would be a challenge for him in his return to coaching.

"I'm anxious for an experience where it isn't going to be easy. I want a challenge," Souers said. "I want to experience where I get a chance to be coaching again but still have the administrative power to select and make decisions that are important."

Souers got his coaching career started in high school. From 1976 to 1983, he served as an assistant football coach for North Eugene High School and Willamette High School in Eugene, Oregon. In 1984 and 1985, he got into collegiate coaching as an assistant coach for Western Washington University-Bellingham and Portland State University.

Souers then got his first taste of Montana in 1986 when he was hired as a defensive assistant coach for the University of Montana. In 1989, he was promoted to become the program's defensive coordinator under legendary Griz head coach Don Read. In 1995, he was a member of the Griz's national championship team. Souers then left to join the NAU program in 1998, where he led them to an unprecedented level of success such as five appearances in the national playoffs.

If he were to be hired as the next head coach of the MSU-N football program, he would implement his identity on offense and defense. On offense, he wants to implement a balanced offense that can adapt to whatever defense they face.

"I've always had a balanced offense," Souers said. "I want our offense to reflect that we're going to go either way on you. You're going to pick your poison. If the defense gets too aggressive, we'll go over the top. If they're playing conservative posture, we understand how to attack that with patience and with discipline."

As a former defensive coordinator, he also plans to implement his scheme. At a smaller college with less staffing, he believes a 4-3 defensive formation with four defensive linemen will be easier to run. With his experience, he should make the MSU-N defense into a strong unit.

"On defense, we're going to play with great effort and physicality," Souers said. "We're going to create turnovers, we want to be a mess and we're going to have fun."

Outside of his changes on the field, he wants to build a strong culture in the locker room to bring the team together.

"I would like to create a culture of honesty and trust," Souers said. "I believe that camaraderie is the most important part of a football team and being accountable is important. We teach respect, self respect and respect to others."

The MSU-N football program has been down the past several years. While Souers has had success leading a program, turning around the Lights will be a hurdle. If he is going to do that, he will need the help of the seniors and the talent that is already here.

"I don't think the program was that far off. I think there were some really tough breaks," Souers said about the MSU-N program the past few years. "It's important to build a strong culture on top of the talent that's here and we have to have the buy-in of the upper class. Too many times in programs, those guys are ignored in the presence of new players. To think they don't fit us anymore is wrong. They've invested in a program, they've been here that long, we have to find a commonality where they've bought in and they're able to lead the program."