University of South Dakota Athletics

Dating at least back to the Joe Salem era in the 1960s at the University of South Dakota, the Coyote football team has had an established representation from the state of Florida, where kids love the sport enough to leave home and pursue a college degree in an area of the country where they've had little or no previous experience.
 
It is looking like there could be as many as 16 Floridians heading into fall camp for the Coyotes with several of them expected to make a significant impact on the 2019 season. This includes established contributors like senior wide receiver Dakarai Allen and senior defensive lineman Luis Peguero, as well as a host of up-and-comers aiming at breakout seasons up ahead.
 
"Coming from Florida where football is such an important sport – I'm glad I came from that kind of environment," said linebacker Jonathan Joanis, a sophomore next fall who graduated from Boone High School (Orlando) and is expected to do big things in 2019. "You get pushed and you go up against a lot of players who are as talented as you are or even more so."
 
What comes through in talking with the players from the Sunshine State and the coaches who recruit them is that the chance to play Division I college football can make up for anxieties that might exist regarding the climate – yes, South Dakota has colder winters than the southern part of Florida.
 
Those temporary discomforts quickly take a back seat to being part of an environment where student-athletes are confident they can succeed both on the field and in the classroom.
 
"I really saw this as a chance to get away from Miami and all the things that go on there," said running back Kai Henry, a former star at Northwestern High School who ran for 509 yards last year as a sophomore for the Coyotes. "Coach O (Phil Ockinga) took me in when I first got here – he's a great guy. If you're feeling down or your homesick, you can call Coach O.
 
"Besides that, my teammates are awesome," Henry continued. "They took me in when I got here, they took me into the brotherhood. It really felt like the right move for me."
 
Ockinga has been the Coyotes' primary recruiter in Florida during Bob Nielson's time as head coach, landing future impact players every year to date. He is now being aided in his efforts with the addition of Abdul Hodge to the staff. A native Floridian who was an All-Big Ten player at Iowa and an NFL player, Hodge is a perfect fit to be able to sell talented players on the benefits of coming north for school.
 
"Day-to-day it's always going to come down to trust," Hodge said. "In a state like South Dakota which is miles away from Florida, coaches and parents want to know they're sending their kids to a program with coaches they can trust who are going to take care of their kids once they get on campus."
 
Joanis got here before Hodge was hired but his recruitment pretty much followed the same playbook in regards to selling the university.
 
"Even though I was leaving my family in Florida, I was going to make a new family here," Joanis said. "I really wanted to play football. And if that's what I want to do, I have to be willing to take some risks."
 
Ockinga, who has spent years on the recruiting trail within the state of Florida building that kind of trust, sees a place full of talented football players who genuinely covet the chance to play at a high level. The cold? It's not nearly as big a deal for most kids as one might think.

"You explain that all these other young men – going back at South Dakota to long before I got here – have had a great experience at USD," Ockinga said. "You get them on campus and they begin to understand what a great place this is. And most the moms fall in love with USD. They realize their kid is going to be safe and have a good place to live."
 
Ockinga will go through potential recruits position-by-position and eventually arrive at a list of players who warrant the attention of the Coyote football program. The fact that Ockinga has been recruiting the area for more than 15 years has given him an expanded number of high school coaching contacts.
 
"A lot of the Florida kids don't have the training resources that we have here in the Midwest so they don't reach their peak until they've been here for a few years," Ockinga said. "I love the Florida kids because they come in here hungry as can be about getting an opportunity to play football."

Ockinga is anxious to bring Hodge into the recruiting mix in the state for several reasons, most of them obvious.
 
"No. 1, Abdul is a great guy – there isn't anyone who would ever say anything negative about him," Ockinga said. "And then his base of knowledge. He knows coaches I know and others I don't know. He's from the area, he came to South Dakota, he played in the NFL – there are so many things where it helps to have another person on the staff like him."
 
In short, Hodge has been in their shoes.
 
"Most of the kids are just looking for a chance to go to a place where they can be around great people, they can get a great education and they have the opportunity to play at a high level," Hodge said. "Being in the Missouri Valley helps with that, as does playing in a dome but it's always going to come down to trust and opportunity."
 
And ultimately, it's no different in Florida than it is anywhere else. The best recruits are the ones who can help themselves and their teammates while they're also helping their school.
 
"I don't think I've ever made a better decision," Henry said. "It was a major decision in my life – probably the biggest – and it's working out great."