“We’re very excited to follow Coach Grubb and the Huskies,” says BVU Head Football Coach Austin Dickinson ’10, an alumnus who also played for the Beavers for four years. “It’s great to show our student-athletes and recruits how a BV graduate, who was once in their shoes, is now at the center of the national championship.”
Boustead smiles and recalls helping Grubb move to Brookings, S.D., for his stint as a graduate assistant with the Jackrabbits. “Ryan went from making a decent living to making $600 per month, but doing something he loved,” Boustead says. “I wasn’t sure how he’d make ends meet, but I knew he’d make it.”
Mathers resided with Grubb in Sioux City two decades ago as the latter designed sweeps, screens, and slants for the Kingsley-Pierson Panthers, gearing up for battles against Class A and Class 1A high schools like Lawton-Bronson, Woodbury Central, and West Monona
“We would talk about doing this at the highest level, on the game’s biggest stage,” Mathers says. “Buena Vista is NCAA Division III, so we put in the work because we loved the game. That hasn’t changed. I know how hard Ryan has studied, researched, and surrounded himself with the right people to help make himself the best he can be.”
On Monday night, he’ll have company in his booth at NRG Stadium; a quarter-century of Xs, Os, and grit on his shoulder, orchestrating a fast scheme and his talented, hardworking players, moving as one, helping their Huskies make waves.
