Kickoff at Perkins Stadium on Saturday is at 2:00 p.m.
(Reprinted from the Daily Jefferson County Union) By the end of this season, this senior class could be the one that gets the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater back atop the NCAA Division III mountain.
But before anyone gets the cart ahead of the horse, the Warhawks are going to recognize their seniors with Senior Day on the first game of the season instead of the standard celebration on the last home game of the regular season.
“I think it’s kind of a cool thing to change it up a little bit and be different,” said Jacob Erbs, a senior linebacker who is one of the four captains this season. “Hopefully then the parents aren’t crying because it’s our last game. Hopefully because it’s our first game we’ll hold back the tears and save that emotional thing for the parents. I’m excited for it, it’s a cool thing that we’re doing and hopefully we’ll get a win on Saturday.”
Kevin Bullis, the fifth-year head coach of the Warhawks, initially got the idea from UW-Whitewater women’s soccer coach Ryan Quamme, who considers the home opener an opportunity to launch the senior season. Bullis appreciated the logic and sees it as an advantage for seniors to declare themselves as leaders.
“Now that we’re doing that in the first game, it changes the whole perspective,” Bullis said. “It’s not about the end, it’s about the beginning of the senior year. It totally relieves any potential distraction. If anything, it gives them a little extra juice to get their senior year going. I don’t know if it gives them extra. They’ve had an entire year to think about their senior year.”
One other “byproduct,” according to Bullis is that it makes sure most of the seniors will be able to be on the field for their recognition. Last year, Jarrod Ware was injured in the first three weeks of the season. Instead of playing on senior day, Ware would have been in a boot and crutches had he not been injured early enough in the season to be redshirted.
Ware is back this year and should be in pads for Senior Day.
“That’s a great byproduct,” Bullis said. “Guys get to play on their Senior Day. … One of the biggest pieces of it from a coaching perspective, it’s showing everybody who our leaders are. It reaffirms it to our seniors that they are leaders. There’s also a sense of accountability to do that; I am a leader. In other words, watch me, because I am going to portray the characteristics that we demand of our program.”
Zweifel returns to Whitewater
Dubuque head coach Stan Zweifel will coach at Perkins Stadium for the first time since he left UW-Whitewater following the 2006 season.
Zweifel was the offensive coordinator for UW-Whitewater from 1990 until the retirement of Bob Berezowitz following the 2006 season. He has been the head coach since the 2008 season leading the Spartans to Iowa Intercollegiate Athletics Conference championships in 2011 and 2015.
“I try to keep up with how they do each week,” Berezowitz said. “It’s tough though to really talk much with coaches during the season because there is so much going on.”
Zweifel has been coaching football since he graduated from UW-River Falls in 1974. Bullis has credited Zweifel for getting him started in coaching when their paths crossed at University of Minnesota-Morris in the late 1980s.
Berezowitz laughed off the idea that Zweifel could be slowing down at this stage of his career.
“The one thing about Stan is that he always has energy,” Berezowitz said. “He looks forward to working with and teaching young people every year. With his energy, age is not a factor.”
