SEPTEMBER 2013
SUNRAYS | 57
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
You’ve coached in Indiana and, be-
fore that, in Iowa and Minnesota―
how did you end up in Georgetown?
Some of the coaches on my staff first
found out about Southwestern adding a
football team, and about the potential for
the school. We had rebuilt the football
team at Hanover College, and things
were going well―it was going to take
an awesome fit for us to want to leave.
I looked into Southwestern, and I first
looked into the quality of the school.
Southwestern is one of the top 100
schools in the country; that was very
attractive. To be able to build a team in
Central Texas, with how good the players
are, how football-crazy the area is―that
was attractive. The thing that really put
it over the top for me was the commit-
ment the school was making to football.
They’re doing things in a very first-class
manner, with the facilities they’re build-
ing, with the staff they’ve allowed me
to assemble, with the schedule we can
play to be competitive nationally―they’re
doing things the right way. It was a com-
bination of things that I couldn’t really
say no to.
After 62 years since Southwestern
had a football team, this is truly a
comeback story. How does it feel to
be starting from scratch?
The way I put it is, an empty cupboard is
better than a messy cupboard. As a coach,
a lot of places you go, you have to clean out
the cupboard and you’ve got to get out the
8-year-old box of mac’n’cheese hiding in the
back. You’ve got to find all of the things you
don’t want and get rid of them―and then
you’ve got to restock. For us, it’s already
empty. Now we have to build the shelves
and do all that; so, to a certain extent,
doing it from scratch is sometimes easier
and sometimes more difficult.
Are the players new recruits?
We’re 100 percent recruited. We’ve got
about 90 new players this fall, and all
of them are here for the combination of
academics and football. I think that’s one
of the things the school realizes―we’re
bringing in a whole different segment of
the population that Southwestern hasn’t
been able to attract before. These guys
were going to go play football somewhere
and now it can be Southwestern.
The team must be really excited to
get playing in September.
They are! I try to temper their expecta-
tions to a certain extent, in that 18-year-
olds don’t always beat up 22-year-olds. So
it’s going to take time for us to physically
mature as a football team. We’re not go-
ing to look like a finished product in our
first game. [We] also want the players to
understand that they’re going to go in
at times a little bit overmatched, but the
nice thing about our guys is that I don’t
think they’ll be under-skilled. We’ve got
some really talented young players.
Switching gears, howhas the reaction
been from the community?
It’s been really outstanding. There’s a
lot of excitement in Georgetown. It goes
back to Central Texas football mentality;
but, if you look at Williamson County as
a whole, the sense [I get] is that they’re
really happy to have a hometown team.
It doesn’t matter if you live in Sun City,
the Georgetown High district, or the
East View High district, or if you’re in
Round Rock or Leander―everyone can
be a Pirate!
And the Sun City residents are awesome.
I think Sun City can be one of our best
fan bases. If you look at the community,
they just seem to be sports fans. Whether
it’s the high school sports, whether it’s
basketball in the winter or football in the
fall, they’re people [who] have the energy
and enthusiasm to be really supportive.
Everyone
can be a Pirate!
SU Football Coach Joe Austin talks about our
new hometown team
As told to Maggi Jones
After 62 years, Southwestern University has reinstated its football program, led by Head
Football Coach Joe Austin. Austin was most recently the head football coach for Hanover
College in Hanover, Indiana. Prior to his work at Hanover, he served as the oensive
coordinator at the University of Dubuque in Iowa, and began his career as the assistant
oensive coordinator at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
FIRST GAME
Saturday, September 7, 7 p.m.
Georgetown High School
Birkelbach Stadium
SC resident season tickets $30
