Leading tackler Seevers joins Hall of Fame family

All-American linebacker Jack Cochrane just completed a fine Coyote career with 327 tackles, an incredible number, but it never threatened the program’s all-time mark. That’s because Tim Seevers left the bar at 437 when he walked off the field in 1991 and there it’s stood for more than 30 years.

437. In 42 games. The skill, desire and durability it must take to reach that stratosphere is immeasurable. That’s why Seevers will join a select group of Coyote athletes Friday when he is inducted into the Henry Heider Coyote Sports Hall of Fame.

Talk to any member of the Coyote Brotherhood – a group of USD football alums – and they will tell you this is an enshrinement way past due. And they are right. It won’t make Friday any less special or memorable. The Brotherhood crowd will ensure of that. It also comes as Seevers’ oldest child, Marin, has begun her freshman year at her father’s alma mater.

Family is a fine place to start in the Seevers’ story. Tim is the son of Gary Seevers, a college football player in his own right who coached collegiately at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska. Gary and Phil, Tim’s brother, are in the Concordia University Hall of Fame. Gary is also enshrined in the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.

“Both my brothers, Paul and Phil, were exceptional quarterbacks, but I played more running back and linebacker in high school,” said Tim. “We only had one football in the house and my brothers never let me have it, so I guess I had to do something else.”

Sacking those quarterbacks must’ve quickly become that something else.

Seevers played every sport growing up. You almost had to in Blair in the 80s to have enough athletes to field a team. He loved playing them all but knew playing football in college like his dad was the goal.

Coyote football in the 80s was going through its heyday under coach Dave Triplett. The Coyotes won 10 games and made the playoffs in 1985. They reached the Division II national championship game the following year in 1986. Seevers arrived on campus in 1988.

“I was aware of those achievements, but honestly the reason I went to USD was because I enjoyed talking with Coach Triplett and my linebacker coach, Dave Cheesebrough, when they came to my school. Then I went on a visit, met some of the players and knew it was the right decision – the culture, the people, the town of Vermillion, the University. I liked it all.”

One of those players Seevers bonded with right away was Doug VanderEsch, who in 1988 was just wrapping up his own Hall of Fame career. While Seevers redshirted his first fall in Vermillion, he watched VanderEsch become the program’s all-time leading tackler with 430. VanderEsch would be nominated for the Harlon Hill Award, the Division II College Player of the Year, that year and was NCC MVP.

Ask Seevers what made him such a great linebacker and VanderEsch is sure to come up.

“I played with Doug for one year, my first year, and if you look at the tackle list, he’s the person I passed,” said Seevers. “I can’t explain to people how much he taught me about playing football at the collegiate level. His work ethic, effort, and knowledge of the game were off the charts. At the same time, coach Cheesebrough was there to reinforce those attributes and it really allowed me to take my game to the next level.”

That’s saying something from someone who grew up the son of a coach in a football family. Seevers assumed VanderEsch’s role within the Coyote defense as a sophomore and produced tackle totals of 132 in 1989, 141 in 1990 and 114 in 1991, a season with just nine games due to a blizzard knocking out a 10th.

South Dakota’s offense produced just 104 points Seevers’ senior season, and all-America honors aren’t handed out to teams with one win. Seevers’ skill must’ve spoke volumes then because it was after that senior season that Seevers was named all-NCC and all-American.

“I haven’t looked at it that way before, but I certainly was honored to be named an all-American,” said Seevers. “You just show up every game, you grind and do your best to give as much effort as you can.

“My fondest memories are with my teammates. I can’t speak highly enough of them and I’m sure that after 30 years, they had something to do with making this night happen for me. I enjoyed every game – the wins against ranked teams my junior year and the “game of the century” win against State. Fond memories with the guys I played with.”

As for life now, Seevers lives and works in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. In addition to his daughter, Marin, his son, Will, is an eighth grader who is carrying on the family tradition of playing football for his dad.

Seevers’ wife, Shannon, also graduated from USD. She worked as a lifeguard at the pool inside the DakotaDome and Tim admits he found his way to the pool more often than not. Sadly, Shannon passed away suddenly in late 2019.

“The last time I was in Vermillion was the first Coyote Brotherhood event that I went to and that was about a year before Shannon’s passing,” said Seevers. “She came with the kids and we had a great weekend. I started doing more and more with them.

“In my case and with my teammates, it’s been great just to get invited back. People are looking to come back and the events they have, the invitation, it’s something that’s been good for everybody I think. And they’ve helped me out. They’ve been supporting me, that’s for sure.”