Above:
Scott Oliver
Below: Shannon Stassen
Current head football coach Scott Oliver will soon take on a new role at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC). Effective July 28, 2002, Oliver will resign as head football coach and will be appointed as an associate development officer with responsibilities of fundraising for UMC athletics. Shannon Stassen, currently assistant football coach and offense coordinator, will serve as the head football coach for the 2002 season.
According to UMC officials, the change will be “budget neutral,” meaning no new funding will be used. “There is precedent to adjusting staff assignments and responsibilities,” said Chancellor Don Sargeant, “and the simple truth is that in order to be viable and competitive in Division II athletics, we need to reorganize our resources to meet those needs and to improve efficiency. We needed to find a creative way to move forward with athletic fundraising, and I think we have.”
The appointment will be for one year, renewable, and the major goal of the change will be to bring the amount raised annually for UMC athletic scholarships from $170,000 to $250,000 over the next three years. Sargeant said, “The UMC Golden Eagles Football Team has improved each year. Scott has obviously been successful there, and I’m confident he will continue his success in the arena of development for all our athletic programs.”
This coming academic year will mark UMC’s first as a full-fledged member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II. The campus became an official member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) on July 1, 1999, and has been a provisional member of the NCAA.
“If we are ever going to advance UMC’s athletics programs, we need to take this step,” added Bob Nelson, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. “This is a real opportunity for Scott to build on his coaching success and to further develop connections with alumni and others. I am also confident in the choice of Shannon Stassen to serve as head football coach. He deserves a great deal of credit for the recruitment of several strong athletes over the past few years and for UMC’s competitiveness in the NSIC,” said Nelson.
“I feel good about this move,” said Oliver, “because it’s going to be a real win-win situation for both development and athletics. I also feel good about where we’ve taken the UMC football program. I’ve been with the program over transitions from two-year status to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and then up a few notches to NCAA Division II, and I’m proud that we’ve been competitive over each of these transitions. I also think this will be a great opportunity for Shannon Stassen. He would have been a head coach somewhere, and we’re fortunate that he’s going to do that here at UMC.”
Oliver will also maintain some direct ties to UMC’s coaching staff. He will serve as assistant hockey coach, working with current head hockey coach Gary Warren. Oliver said, “Back when UMC played junior college hockey against Bottineau, Gary and I were rivals. I got to know him through collaboration on Team North Dakota, a showcase for recruiting North Dakota hockey players. It will be exciting to work with him again on the same team.”
Oliver first came to UMC in 1987 as head hockey coach. In his nine years coaching hockey at UMC his teams took two national junior college championships and compiled an impressive 81% win-loss record. Since then, he has served as the defensive football coordinator and then as head football coach beginning in 1995. Oliver's overall record for coaching football at UMC is 36-35, and in 1997 he led the UMC Golden Eagles to the NAIA playoffs for the first time in school history.
Oliver is a 1983 graduate of Moorhead State University where he was a football captain and a three-year starter at inside linebacker. He went on the play football in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts before coming to UMC.
Shannon Stassen has served as an assistant football coach for UMC since 1998. As a college student, he had attended UMC, playing football for two seasons. He transferred to Brainerd Community College and received his associate’s degree in 1991. He earned his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education in 1995 from Valley City State University, where he played football for two years and coached receivers and running backs for three years. He then went to North Dakota State University, where he coached offensive line, tight ends, and outside linebackers for two seasons. He will complete his master’s degree in education and athletic administration this year.
Posted 07/02/2002
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435