From Offensive Scout Team MVP to Harlon Hill finalist to now associate head coach and offensive coordinator, Wesley Beschorner has been the class of South Dakota football since he arrived on campus as a student in 2001. The 2015 season is his 10th on the coaching staff, seventh as coordinator and fourth as associate head coach. He also works with the quarterbacks.
Beschorner's coaching career follows a brilliant playing career in which he became one of the all-time great players in USD history. Beschorner was a first-team All-American and national player of the year finalist as a senior in 2005 when he threw for 3,000 yards and combined for 47 touchdowns (39 pass, 8 rush) against four interceptions. The Coyotes were NCC champions and finished with a 9-2 record.
In three years as the starting signal caller, Beschorner passed for 6,240 yards and 64 touchdowns - both USD records. He also racked up 23 rushing touchdowns, giving him a school-record 87 total career touchdowns. In a 59-14 win against Omaha in 2005, he became the first Coyote to record 500 or more yards of total offense in one game (519). Beschorner set 33 records in all during his four-year career.
Beschorner served as a graduate assistant for the Coyotes and worked with the wide receivers in 2006 and with the running backs in 2007. He was hired as the quarterback's coach in 2008 and one year later was promoted to offensive coordinator. When Joe Glenn was named head coach in 2012, Beschorner added associate head coach to his list of titles.
Beschorner's list of achievements as a coach continues to grow. He worked with USD's all-time receptions leader Brooks Little in 2006, helped Amos Allen lead the nation in rushing in 2007 and helped guide the nation's fourth-highest scoring offense in 2008 at 37 points per game.
In 2009, the Coyotes ranked fifth in the nation in total offense (460 ypg) and posted more than 40 points five times. In 2010, South Dakota picked up perhaps its most historic victory in program history when the Coyotes knocked off the Big Ten's Minnesota, 41-38, in Minneapolis. Quarterback Dante Warren threw for four touchdowns and added another on the ground against the Gophers. He would go on to earn all-Great West honors after passing for 2,100 yards and totaling 24 touchdowns.
South Dakota was nationally ranked for 10 consecutive weeks in 2011 following the team's 30-17 win against defending national champion and then-No. 1 Eastern Washington in the season opener. The Coyotes were undefeated at home and had 11 players earn all-Great West honors.
The 2012 campaign was the Coyotes' first as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The season saw all-conference receiver Will Powell set USD's career touchdown receptions record. In 2013, the Coyotes made the move to Kevin Earl at quarterback and won three consecutive games in the MVFC including a 38-31 double-overtime win at No. 13 UNI that put the Coyotes near the top of the league standings.
Beschorner, a native of Lohrville, Iowa, earned his bachelor's degree in history education from USD in 2005. In 2008, he completed his master's degree in health, physical education and recreation at USD.
Wesley is married to former USD track standout Kiki (Smith) Beschorner. They have two sons, Burke and Rhett.
