What began as a 12-person fantasy football league in the early 2000s has morphed into a support group of South Dakota football alumni with a defined purpose—to stay engaged with the university, specifically the football program, and pay it forward whenever possible. The Coyote Brotherhood, as the group is known, now totals into the hundreds, but is just beginning a more formal outreach of connecting football alumni both past and present.

Among the leaders of The Coyote Brotherhood is John Russell ’77, a linebacker from Levittown, Pennsylvania, who competed for the Coyotes in the mid- 1970s under Joe Salem and Beanie Cooper. He made a living in real estate development and currently resides in Florida. His database includes more than 150 alums, but knows there are more than 1,000 past players that the group would like to hear from.

“Our focus is to get people back involved, but that is low-hanging fruit,” said Russell. “We think we can create something here that’s not only good for the person individually, because they will be able to connect with teammates and some of the old players, but it will also be good for the university. Getting guys back and sharing stories will lead to the next step of support and helping in the community.

“We have a good leadership team, guys who have been good supporters of the university and are active now, and the feedback has been nothing but positive,” he continued. “The best friends I have made are the ones I made at South Dakota. We are still in contact on a regular basis and it just makes your life a whole lot more fulfilling.”

Hurricane Katrina, 2005

The idea for forming a brotherhood came to fruition in the fall of 2005. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast that August, just before a small group of football alums from the 1970s were set to reunite in Vermillion for the annual Dakota Days game.

As they watched the news on Katrina, they felt a need to help. In conjunction with USD and the Community Food Banks of South Dakota, those past players helped sponsor a hurricane relief food drive at the DakotaDome on Dakota Days weekend.

“We started a fantasy football league called The Coyote Brotherhood back in 2002 that gave us a base of guys,” said Russell. “When Katrina hit, we were all coming back to campus anyway, and that ignited a whole lot of energy where we camped out in the Dome. We were out there all night long collecting food for people. It was not only a fun time, but a great way to get everybody back connected with each other.”

From there, the support system grew. In addition to tracking Coyote football, players shared birthday wishes, well wishes, flowers for funerals and prayers. Then a whole lot more.

"We are football players, and that's who we support as a program, but we also love the university." - David Hultgren, '79, The Coyote Brotherhood member

On a football trip to Missoula, Montana, for the season opener of the 2012 season, Tom Theobald ’74, a member of three NCC championship teams in the early 1970s, learned he needed a new kidney. He wrote a letter to friends, many of them former teammates, stating that fact, and according to a story in the Argus Leader, the University of Minnesota transplant staff received 27 calls in one day—a department record—from people wanting to see if they were a potential match for Theobald.

Joe Trudeau ’73, a record-setting tight end from Jefferson, South Dakota, and a year older than Theobald at USD, was of those who called and ultimately became a match for his longtime friend. In the winter of 2013–14, the surgery was complete.

A similar story was told two years later in the fall  of 2015 when Kelly Higgins ’81 donated one of his kidneys to Hall of Famer Doug Smith ’78. The two were teammates at USD where Higgins played tight end and Smith was an all-NCC safety. The inspiration for the idea, Higgins told the Sioux City Journal, came from Trudeau.

Weber State and Championship Rings

The Coyote Brotherhood
Weber State Athletic Director Jerry Bovee (far left), South Dakota Athletic Director David Herbster (far right) and Sara Hill (second from left) meet with Dave and Paula Hultgren during halftime of a 2018 football game. The Hultgrens helped raise $10,000 for Hill's battle against cancer.

David Hultgren ’79, a key member of the 1978 USD NCC championship team, was researching the Coyotes’ opponent for their 2016 home opener when he came across an article that broke his heart. Sara Hill, wife of Weber State head football coach Jay Hill, had been diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma. The headline hit home as Hultgren’s mother and father-in-law were lost to cancer.

“I researched the story a little bit and called their ops guy to learn more,” said Hultgren. “I went on  the fan board first, and one guy said we could form a GoFundMe page.

“Our goal was to raise $5,000. There was a huge crowd for the tailgate because it was gorgeous weather for that game. Between the tailgate and the GoFundMe page, we raised more than $10,000. It was unbelievable, and after the game we made the presentation to Coach Hill, his father and Weber State Athletic Director Jerry Bovee.”

That story made headlines then, and resurfaced again this past September when the Coyotes made their return trip to Utah. At halftime of the game, Sara, who couldn’t make the trip to Vermillion two years earlier, presented an autographed Weber State football to Hultgren and his wife, Paula.

The response from The Coyote Brotherhood to that situation gave Hultgren another idea earlier this year when he was chatting with USD head women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit. Her Coyotes had just turned in the Summit League’s first undefeated conference season in 24 years and the second-year USD coach wanted to reward her team with championship rings. The athletic department typically picks up the tab for rings, but Hultgren insisted.

“Give me 48 hours,” Hultgren said. “We are football players, and that’s who we support as a program, but we also love the university. So I threw it out to the group and we raised $10,000 to buy rings for Dawn’s program.

“We want everybody, from the time they leave campus the first year, to sign up and stay engaged with the university, the athletic department—specifically football—and to pass on stories. It is a healthy network. I know there have been a few people with kids, or friends of kids, looking for work and people use connections to put them in interviews. It’s a feel-good thing, and in the long term, if they are able to give back, then maybe the university benefits.”

The Coyote Brotherhood with the Women's Basketball team

Coyote Athletic Director David Herbster, a Division I student-athlete in his own right, takes tremendous joy in watching former players reconnect and reminisce through The Coyote Brotherhood. So many of the members come from those championship teams of the late 1960s and 1970s, but this push to connect players from all eras, old and new, adds a new level of excitement.

“The most rewarding part for me is interacting with players when they come back, hearing their stories, and learning how much their time here at USD meant to them and the bonds they share with teammates,” said Herbster. “Some are connecting with teammates they haven’t seen or heard from for 30 years and are building friendships with players from other eras. It has renewed or enhanced their pride in USD, and for me enhances what a special place this is then and now.”

All USD football alumni are encouraged to join The Coyote Brotherhood, and can do so simply by emailing Russell at [email protected].

Please include the last year you played, the city and state you live in, the position you played, cell phone number, email and whether or not you currently support the Howling Pack.

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