South Dakota head football coach Bob Nielson has announced a set of captains and associate team captains for the 2023 campaign.
 
The six team captains feature three offensive returning starters and three defensive returning starters. The seven associate captains represent five different position groups.
 
"The depth of leadership that we have on our football team this year is different, and as a result, our team's desire to win and ability to meld together has also been different," said Nielson. "There is a lot of passion in this football team right now, which I'm really excited about. Coming off the year we had, I think that tells you something about the character of our team."
 
Heading the list of captains is sixth-year senior linebacker Brock Mogensen (Farmington, Minnesota), who is a returning captain from last season. He is joined by fellow linebacker Stephen Hillis, a fifth-year senior from Hartington, Nebraska, and fourth-year junior cornerback Myles Harden (Miami Gardens, Florida). All three are preseason all-Americans.
 
The three offensive captains include sixth-year senior offensive guard Isaac Erbes (Urbandale, Iowa), fifth-year junior running back Travis Theis and sophomore quarterback Aidan Bouman (Buffalo, Minnesota) who is in his second season with the team.
 
Starting safeties Josiah Ganues (Miramar, Florida) and Dennis Shorter (Daytona Beach, Florida) are associate captains. Both are fourth-year juniors. Fifth-year junior Blake Holden (Watertown, South Dakota) and sixth-year senior Micah Roane (Chaska, Minnesota) represent the defensive line. Fellow senior Brendan Webb (Buhler, Kansas) is moving from defensive end to rush linebacker this season.
 
Wide receiver Carter Bell (Bettendorf, Iowa) and starting center Joey Lombard (Anoka, Minnesota) represent the offense. Both are fifth-year juniors.
 
South Dakota opens its 2023 campaign Thursday, Aug. 31, at Missouri before hosting St. Thomas in its home opener Sept. 9 inside the DakotaDome.