HOLLAND, Mich. — At Hope College, football is fun again and perhaps no one is having more fun than head coach Peter Stuursma.
“Coach sets the tone for this team and we follow,” explained senior quarterback Mason Opple.
At every practice, the 48-year-old veteran coach has as much energy as his players. He’s always on the go, he’s always talking, and he's loving every minute of it.
“This is a family,” says Stuursma. “I know people talk about things like that but this is.”
But when the former East Grand Rapids coach first started four years ago, this family was in rough shape. The Flying Dutchman were coming off a 2-8 season and they hadn't made the playoffs since 2006.
“I remember, at first, no one went to the games,” Senior outside linebacker Nick Holt remembered. “It was just kind of like a different. Now it's exciting.”
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Hope's resurgence was how quickly it happened.
“Coach had a huge part of it,” said Holt. “He's always be the first to say that players win the games and he's kind of there to give us the best shot.”
In Stuursma's first year, the Flying Dutchman won seven games—five more than the season before. Now in Stuursma's fourth year, Hope won the conference title after going 9-1 during the regular season. More importantly, the Flying Dutchman are back in the postseason for just the fifth time ever.
“I guess I never thought we couldn't,” said Stuursma. “That was the first thing [I felt]. But number two I felt like, Hope has everything you need in a small college. I think this college is unbelievable."
On Saturday, Hope will try to win its first playoff game in program history. Stuursma says it would be a great accomplishment, but he adds there are much bigger goals on his team’s mind as well.
“We always want to think big. We are in the field of 32 to win the national championship,” said Stuursma. “If we do the things and execute the things that we can do and play at an extremely high level. We got a very good chance of winning.”
History may not be on Hope's side, but they have a coach who most definitely is.
RELATED VIDEO:
Other stories on 13 ON YOUR SIDE:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.