Feb. 21—VERMILLION — The relationship between new University of South Dakota football defensive coordinator Billy Kirch and head coach Travis Johansen has been fostered for over two decades.
The two first met when they went to high school together and played football in Blaine, Minnesota. The two went their separate ways following, but constantly stayed in touch, especially as the two progressed in their coaching careers.
Now, over 20 years after they played together on the gridiron, the two have reunited as Kirch begins a new role as defensive coordinator on Johansen’s coaching staff.
Before taking over Johansen’s old role, Kirch spent the last 10 seasons coaching at NAIA side Northwestern College (Iowa) and spent the last nine as defensive coordinator. Over that span, he turned the Red Raiders’ defense into one of the top units year in and year out.
In 2022, Footballscoop.com named him the NAIA Coordinator of the Year after helping to guide the Red Raiders to their first NAIA national title since 1983. He also coached four GPAC defensive player of the year award winners and 13 NAIA All-Americans.
The conversation between the two began almost as soon as Johansen was elevated to head coach following Bob Nielson’s retirement. Kirch had kept up with USD’s success over the past few years, especially since he and Johansen stayed in touch, discussing how games went and bouncing ideas off each other.
When he was offered the position, he felt it was the logical next step, even though the decision to leave Orange City was a difficult one.
‘To me, it’s important that I’m at a place where I can put my family and my faith, first,” Kirch said. “I need to be at a place that’s committed to winning championships and a place where I could surround myself with people that believe in the same process that I believe in. A place where I could develop professionally and personally.”
Although Johansen said the relationship between him and Kirch is an incredibly strong one, his results at Northwestern made him a clear candidate to take over as defensive coordinator.
“We’ve got a relationship outside of football, but it’s certainly not the reason why I’ve tried to get him here,” Johansen said. “He’s an excellent football coach, a national coordinator of the year, a national champion. We’re very like-minded in the game. We’ve spent the better part of the last 15 years talking defense, talking scheme and where we land in our schemes are very similar.”
Many South Dakota fans are already familiar with Kirch, just not in a coaching role. Before he began his coaching career, he was a standout linebacker for South Dakota State. He played for the Jackrabbits under John Stiegelmeier from 2002-05 and led the Jacks in tackles during his senior season. Kirch is also the second former Jackrabbit to be hired as a coordinator at USD in the last three years as former offensive coordinator and current Fresno State OC, Josh Davis, played and coached in Brookings before spending the last two seasons in Vermillion.
With Johansen at head coach, Kirch leading the defense and Tim Morrison promoted as the USD offensive coordinator, the Coyotes will have new faces in the three largest coaching roles next season.
Kirch said he has an immense amount of respect for the SDSU program and how it’s developed into a perennial FCS contender. Knowing that makes him more eager to coach against his alma mater.
“I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I developed, I was around great people there and great mentors. I’ve got a lot of respect for how that program was run and the way they’re currently doing things,” Kirch said. “I’m excited for the competition, the challenge and everything that comes along with it.”
When it comes to defensive identity, Kirch said his unit needs to be able to win games for USD when called upon, be great in critical situations such as in short-yardage or third down and be sound in every area possible.
“We want to put a defense on the field that plays inspired,” Kirch said. “[We need] guys that are smart, that are physical, that are tough. We need to put an emphasis and we will put an emphasis on being fundamentally sound and schematically sound. Limit the conflict in our players so they can play fast and play with confidence.”
Kirch has already talked to every member of the defense and fostered relationships with them, a highlight of his first few weeks on the job. He and the defensive staff are also deep in preparation and identifying focuses for spring practice, which will begin next month.
With the first opportunity to hit the field with his new defense quickly approaching, Kirch’s anticipation to see his unit in action is overwhelming.
“You can only spend so much time in the office and behind a computer. Thinking about being on the field with our guys, it’s exciting,” Kirch said. “I look forward to seeing our guys in action, lining up against our offense and executing our style of defense is something that is going to be a lot of fun.”
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