When North Dakota State head coach Chris Klieman stood in front of the team this summer to announce the 2018 captains, he called out a couple players to ask them something.
“Hey Aaron Steidl, did you come in as a full-scholarship guy?” Klieman asked.
The senior starting defensive tackle replied “nope.”
“Exactly,” Klieman said. “Hey Levi Jordheim, did you come in as a full-scholarship guy?”
The senior starting linebacker said “no.”
“There you go, guys. There’s proof that you don’t have to be a scholarship guy to have an impact on this team,” Klieman said.
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The head coach then went on to name Steidl and Jordheim team captains along with quarterback Easton Stick, safety Robbie Grimsley, running back Bruce Anderson and wide receiver Darrius Shepherd.
Those last four were heralded recruits who have been known names for a number of years throughout the Missouri Valley Football Conference and FCS. But Steidl and Jordheim arrived at NDSU as walk-ons. They took advantage of opportunities to not only earn scholarships but to climb the depth chart into starting roles and being looked at as leaders for the Bison.
Many people wonder what’s in the Fargo, N.D., water to create a program that’s won six of the last seven national titles. There are a lot of factors, of course. And the walk-on program is one of them.
“Here at NDSU, our coaches give each player an opportunity,” Steidl told HERO Sports. “No matter if you’re full-scholarship, half-scholarship or a walk-on, they all give us an equal opportunity in fall camp and spring camp. The big thing here is we get the opportunity to show ourselves.”
That’s not the case at every Division I program, where sometimes walk-ons can be an afterthought and aren't paid attention to in the weight room and do a lot of standing around at practice. Not at NDSU, where every player is given an equal amount of reps.
The Bison have had great success turning walk-on players into not only starters but all-conference players. Offensive lineman Joe Haeg is the golden example, someone who came in as a thin 18-year-old with a good frame and developed into a fifth-round NFL Draft pick and starter for the Indianapolis Colts.
Haeg is part of a long list of players who are the backbone of NDSU’s dynasty run.
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“Money is the hardest thing.”
Money.
That’s the No. 1 challenge for walk-ons, says Steidl.
Scholarship players don’t have to worry about the small details that typical college students deal with.
“You have to go to the bank and get a loan. Then you make sure the loan passes through. You have to go to the financial office and make sure everything goes through with FAFSA,” Steidl explained. “We have some guys who work during their free time. You have to manage your time around football. It’s a time-consuming aspect of your life. You don’t have a lot of time to earn money. So then it’s hard to get gas money just to drive around and get to practice. Money is the hardest thing.”
Steidl is from Carlos, Minn., a town of about 500 people, and went to Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Minn. He redshirted in 2014 and got into the defensive tackle rotation in 2015. As he went through the struggles of being a full-time student-athlete without any financial help in those years, he had upperclassmen to lean on.
“My biggest role model was (defensive tackle) Brian Schaetz,” Steidl said. “He was always behind my back helping me out. He told me the things that helped him when he was a walk-on. And I do the same thing with the DTs in our room like Quinn Alo and Matt Biegler. I tell them, ‘hey, this helped me coming in to help me earn my scholarship.’”
There’s also this: walk-ons sometimes come in with a different mindset than the full scholarship recruit.
“You have to work a lot harder to make yourself stand out,” Steidl said. “Coaches are always looking for a scholarship guy. And the walk-on guys are looking for an opportunity. When a guy messes up and coach (Nick) Goeser says, ‘Steidl get in there.’ That could be your one opportunity. And the biggest thing is you have to work your butt off just to earn that opportunity.”
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“It was one of the best feelings of my life.”
In the social media frenzy in today’s society where scholarship announcements are taped and published to go viral, NDSU and Klieman don’t take that approach.
As Steidl was entering his sophomore year in 2016, the head coach called him into his office for a 1-on-1 chat.
“It brought a tear to my eye when he told me they were going to put me on scholarship,” Steidl said. “It was really emotional for coach Klieman and I. It was one of the best feelings of my life when he told me, ‘you’re not given this, you’ve earned this.’”
The 6-foot-2, 292-pounder went on to start all 14 games that season. Last year, he earned All-MVFC Second Team honors. And in a talented class of 24 seniors, Steidl was voted a 2018 captain.
“I didn't expect to be a captain,” he admitted. “I can name five other seniors that deserve to be more than I do, I think. But that’s something that means a lot to me, knowing that guys like Levi and I and other walk-ons can have an impact on a program that’s been so successful. It’s awesome.”
Jordheim, like many of the former NDSU walk-ons, bided his time. The Dickinson, N.D., native redshirted in 2014 and played special teams in 2015 and 2016 before starting seven games last year. This season, he’s fourth on the team with 51 tackles.
NDSU’s ability to reload every season is due to depth. But depth isn’t created by just recruiting the right scholarship players. It’s also identifying talent and work ethic with preferred walk-on offers and giving those guys a chance to play a major role in the team’s success.
“Guys like Levi, he worked his butt off,” Steidl said. “Every single day, he was doing something hard and each time he had an opportunity he did the best with it. And look at him now. Examples like that are what makes our program different.”
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