Christian Sopkowiak/Winonan

Almost on the grounds of the Winona State University, Verizon Wireless Stadium there is a tall building filled with people working hard to bring the right young athletes to Winona State.

One of the men who tries his best to convince high school football players to play for Winona State is head football coach Tom Sawyer.

“Matching their academic choice with their personal educational and athletic goals. Showing them all of our facilities, community and educational programming. That is what we do to convince them,” Sawyer said.

The importance of getting to know the students is what drives the football staff, Sawyer said.

Making sure that each student is academically and mentally prepared to commit himself is what Sawyer sees as vital to his team and to Winona State.

Recruitment does not begin with home visits and campus tours. Assistant coach and recruitment coordinator Zac Barton mainly focuses on the recruitment portion of the offseason.

“We start with contacting the high school coaches in February. We collect information such as phone numbers and home addresses. Then, we try our best to bring them on campus,” Barton said.

The process of getting the students interested, giving them a tour, and calling them is what Barton and the other coaches are currently focusing on.

In the near future, Barton, Sawyer and the other coaches will try their best to get the men on campus and have them participate in a football camp.

“We are trying to get to know them and make them comfortable with us. We are pushing all the positives we have,” Barton said. “We are trying to get them as interested as possible. We have until the summer, because then, they are gone.”

Barton knows how long and tough the process can be. The coaches will spend an entire spring and some of the summer trying to get dozens of players to come to Winona State.

“All recruiting is hard work. It’s that simple,” Barton said. “It’s crazy competitive.”

With all of Division II vying for some of the same athletes, there is a certain allure to hearing a young man say yes.

“My favorite part is when they say yes. After travelling all over the Midwest, to hear them say yes is rewarding,” Sawyer said.

The young men will spend hours hearing from every school interested in them. Their spring will consist of home visits, football camps, daily calls and schoolwork. The recruits must narrow down their choices to their top three, and then they will decide.

According to Barton and Sawyer, it is all worth it when they finally decide.

“It’s a big deal. It is a lot of hard work culminated into our end goal. When they say yes, that is the best part hands down,” Barton said.

Sometimes the young men will call, visit, email or even text the school to tell them their decision.

With only some men saying yes, there is bound to be men who say no.

“It bothers you. You cannot take it personally. Never get upset with a kid. Just wish him good luck and move on. Essentially you lost, but love the ones you get,” Barton said.

Sawyer agrees with Barton as he struggles with getting to know the families and then hearing rejection. He sees it as a long, exhausting but fun process.

Yet, Barton believes that no matter the athlete, Sawyer has created an encouraging culture at Winona State.

“What coach Sawyer has developed here is the character of a young man. If you are good at football, that is great. But grades are vital, and it’s the character that is the extremely important to us here,” Barton said. “You are here for four years, so being a good young man, good student and loving football is what we look for and what we expect.”