MSU-Mankato Interim Head Coach Aaron Keen has directed the Mavericks to 2 straight unbeaten regular seasons and a #1 national ranking along the way. Unfortunately for the Mavs, they fell short of the D2 National Championship game on both occasions. In the process Coach Keen was awarded with the NSIC Coach of the Year twice.

Despite the accolades, Coach Keen is still listed as the "interim" head coach of the Mavs as the grievance between ex-Mavs Coach Todd Hoffner and MSU-Mankato wraps up.


MW: First off Coach, you are the 2-time NSIC Coach of the Year. Any word on when you might get this interim tag lifted?
Coach Keen: That's a situation that I don't worry myself about really. To my understanding..things are still being resolved.

MW: Fair enough. Doing some digging into your past, you were at Illinois College in Jacksonville Illinois. I can tell you that I'm from Chicago and I knew nothing of the school. What can you tell me about it and that experience? How's it different than Mankato?
Coach Keen: That's the neat thing about the NCAA, there are many different levels you can coach at. Illinois College is in lower-middle part of the State and has about 1,000 students and is Division 3 Liberal Arts based institution. When you work at a bigger school with 15,000 students we have a more diverse group of students and student athletes. Obviously the quality is a little bit different and that comes with being able to offer scholarships. Each of my stops have been very different ones, and each has helped shape me as a coach. All tremendous experiences.

MW: Previous to Illinois College, you quarterbacked and coached at "the Harvard of the Midwest", Washington University of St. Louis. What brought you there from your native Wyoming?
Coach Keen: Washington University was a place where I could continue playing football, along with getting a great education. I'd looked at a lot of Ivy League schools, but being in the Midwest it seemed like a better fit for me. Quite honestly it was the first school that started to recruit me as a football player as well. They were also willing to let me play quarterback and play for a great coach, Larry Kindbom, who still remains there today. Coach Kindbom has been a very big influence on my life. Washington University will always hold a special place with me.



MW: I'm curious, having spent a lot of time in the St. Louis area, did you end up becoming Cardinal fans?
Coach Keen: Yes, my wife is from Illinois and all her family is big Cardinals fans the southern part of the state.

MW: Eh boy. I've been a life-long Cubs fans, which has it's own set of challenges. Anyway, I was hoping you weren't going to tell me that Coach. This interview just went the wrong way..haha..
Coach Keen: Ha! Yes, I'm sorry to report that to ya. I go back to when Joe Torre was the Coach and they had artificial turf. In college I could get a $7 ticket and sit in the center field bleachers. Ray Langford was in center then and was one of their best players.

MW: Yes, he was solid. Needless to say, your Cardinals have won a little bit more than my Cubs during our lifetimes. Anyway back to football. Speaking of Illinois, I see you have another decent crop of kids from that state again this year. It looks like you have a pretty good pipeline there. What were the immediate needs you saw to address with this recruiting class?
Coach Keen: With us, we aren't looking to have freshman come in and play right away. So what we are looking at is what are the program needs 2 or 3 years down the line. We want to bring in a quality class and allow them to red-shirt. For example, we have some depth on both lines but will need more bodies in a few years to fill those spots. We will be graduating plenty of our offensive line.

MW: Speaking of your offensive line, the State of Nebraska has been a spot you've been getting them for this run you guys have been on during these last few years. I couldn't help but notice that you don't have any kids from Nebraska with this incoming class..
Coach Keen: With any program you're going to send your coaches where you have connections and areas where you can recruit well. We have areas that we think we need to hit, and Nebraska is one of those areas. So yes, we are actively recruiting that area but it's an interesting dynamic. We had a coach previously in Mike Cunningham who had great success recruiting that area, due to some tremendous connections there. Now what we are finding is that there's a lot of competition for those players in the region between schools like Sioux Falls and Augustana, with other NSIC schools also, along with the MIAA schools. So the competition in that area is fierce and that fact that we didn't get any Nebraska kids this time around maybe speaks to us targeting some guys that ended up in other programs. It wasn't for a lack of effort in recruiting the area. We also don't want to bring in kids, or be reaching, and taking them only because they are from a certain state. We need to make sure guys are a fit for our profile and our needs.

MW: Looking at the players that your Mavs team will lose to graduation is like who's who of the NSIC All-Conference Team. You are losing first team All-Conference players such as Jon Wolf, Dennis Carter, Chris Schaudt..along with Isaac Kolstad, Jordan Hale, Andrew Essman, and your kicker Sam Brockshus. These are some of the most high-profile players in the conference and guys who people identify with these last few seasons. Who are you then looking to shoulder the load with all of these departures?
Coach Keen: I was just talking with someone this morning. We didn't know exactly how good Jon Wolf was going to be years ago, and he's now leaving us as the Offensive Player of the Year in the conference. Certainly we have to continue to develop our existing talent and we will look to have guys step up. As you said, we are graduating some guys who had a tremendous impact on our football team and the success of this program. It will be a fun Spring for us to have some competition and see how it all shakes out.

MW: Looking specifically at the quarterback position, next-guy-up Mitch Brozovich, who's also from the South Suburbs of Chicago (like Jon Wolf) has stepped in on a few different occasions over the past 2 years, notably against St. Cloud early in 2012 and lead you guys to a win against your rival. How is Mitch different from Jon Wolf? Should we expect to see the same offensive scheme?
Coach Keen: Mitch started 3 games for us during the last 2 seasons and had good experience as you mentioned against St. Cloud. He got to go through some pressure moments and showed continued improvement in those starts. Against Augustana he played very well and we might've had our best offensive output in 2012. He's been successful here as a quarterback. He's not Jon Wolf. You aren't too many Jon Wolf's out there, ya know. You aren't going to find too many 6-4 and 230lb kids who might be the fastest kid on the field, who also plays quarterback. We can look to play to Mitch's strengths offensively, but we also plan on having some other guys looking to compete for that position as well. We need to find out who our best guy is there and how the team responds to them. Certainly the great thing is that we have a tremendous offensive line that will help any newer quarterback out. We also have our running-backs coming back with great experience as well. Very good tight-end, good receivers.

MW: Speaking of receivers, I'd read that Jameer Jackson from UND is coming your way. Obviously UND has a fair amount of defections due to a regime change there and such. Jameer was a on a FCS Freshman All-American Team in 2012 and is 6-3, 240lbs, and athletic. He's big enough to play defensive end in this league. What are your thoughts on Jameer?
Coach Keen: Yes, Jameer is here on campus and enrolled in class. He has all the physical tools and we are going to find out a lot more about him at Spring football. The nice thing is to have a transfer come in who's had a good amount of success at a high level, he's caught over 100 passes in his 2 years at UND, and we think we know what kind of player he's got the potential to be. He's excited to be in a stable program that's also a bit closer to home. He's looking to compete to win some championships. He's a hard worker and we're looking forward to see what he can add to our program.



MW: I think the immediate reaction from many inside the conference was "the rich keep getting richer" with that pickup.
Coach Keen: We were very fortunate to gather in transfer like that who can help your program.

MW: While on the topic of North Dakota, your long-time Defensive Coordinator Joe Klandermann has left to pursue a job with NDSU. While you haven't named a coach just yet, are you looking to continue on with that attacking 4-3 scheme or are you looking for something new?
Coach Keen: Our goal is to maintain the same identity defensively. We've recruiting to a 4-man front. Any coordinator will have the freedom to put their stamp on things, but we are looking to stay with the same approach.



MW: How long until we see a new DC for the Mavs?
Coach Keen: We will have someone here rather shortly, and an announcement here very soon.
(As mentioned by Coach Keen, there DC spot would be filled shortly..like later that day shortly. The Mavs hired the Augie DC Jake Dickert, which makes sense. The Vikings also ran a 4-3 and were a top defense in the league during his 1 season with Augustana.)

MW: Looking ahead to the 2014 schedule, I've heard you have a pretty interesting week 1 matchup. Great start to the year for the conference. I've heard maybe Friday night, maybe Saturday. St. Cloud returns to Blakeslee stadium. Anyway, what exactly happened in that last game of 2013 versus St. Cloud? You guys just didn't seem like the Maverick team I'd seen all year?
Coach Keen: Well....that's a good question. Haha. We've gotten that question a few times of our coaching staff and players. It's one that we need to sit on an entire off-season. What's good for us is that we get to play them right away in week 1 and we will need to handle our emotion in that opener. I think in that playoff game against our rival we could've handled that emotion a little better. I think in our preparation leading up to a game like that we'd like to tweak some things. What it really comes down to is you have to play your best in every opportunity if you want to win a National Championship. We didn't think we played our best and we caught a team who played very well offensively and a quarterback who definitely played at a high level. It had a lot to do with what they were able to accomplish in that game, it's not all about us.



MW: Lastly, there's been some talks and a proposal (above) of a new football field and facilities upgrade. You must be excited about this, yes?
Coach Keen: Very much so. It would be a turf-field. The proposal for a top-notch stadium would be a great assist with recruiting, branding, and offer a better game day environment for the fans.

MW: Appreciate the time Coach, looking forward to seeing you during the year.
Coach Keen: Thanks Matt, sounds good.