By Mark Medina

Staff Writer

Bill Schroeder heard of the opportunity to help out as an assistant coach for Saint Norbert College through the grapevine.

Retired after playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just last year, Schroeder could pack it in, living off the wealth accumulated during 11 years in the NFL. But this opening proved too good to pass up.

Schroeder’s duties include coaching a group of wide receivers and on occasion, the special teams. Though his players may be talented, they probably won’t play on Sunday after graduation. Schroeder’s responsibilities of breaking down game film, running practice with the wide receivers and coaching the games require 12 hour workdays – all as a volunteer.

At first glance, the job seems far from glorious, especially in Schroeder’s position. But not many NFL players have Schroeder’s mindset. Not many Division III programs operate like Saint Norbert College, either.

‘How many other D-III schools go to a Packer practice any time they want?’ said Bob De Keyser, Saint Norbert special teams and defensive backs coach. ‘How many D-III schools practice in the (Don) Hudson center when it gets cold outside? How many D-III schools go to the Packer offices and watch their film?’

Saint Norbert College does. Located in De Pere, Wis., the Green Knights have built a solid relationship around the hometown football team in Green Bay. The city consists of a near 100,000 population – a population that, no matter if it currently stands 1-4, lives and breathes the Packers.

Saint Norbert College built a 47-year relationship with the team. Since 1958, the Packers have used Saint Norbert’s facilities for summer training camp. Schroeder, in particular, fondly remembers when he slept in the dorms and ate in their dining halls followed by team meetings in the school’s classrooms.

Saint Norbert has unprecedented access to the Packers facilities, as well. Over the years, the Packers have donated their older workout and football equipment to the school. Senior defensive back Anthony Triners said he’d often see Packer players working out at Saint Norbert. And it’s not unusual, such as when Triners ran conditioning drills with wide receiver Donald Driver, to make small talk with the Packers. This year, the Green Knights have Schroeder to give them pointers.

‘Obviously you can’t get better advice than from a guy who played 11 years in the NFL,’ Don McConville, a senior wide receiver, said of Schroeder. ‘At first you don’t know what to think, but he jelled into one of the guys. He didn’t come in as being arrogant and saying this is the right way to do it or you’re doing this the wrong way.’

‘I try to help and add on to the things the coaches have out there already,’ Schroeder added. ‘I don’t try to say my way is better or their way is wrong. Certain things are better and certain things aren’t better. I learned a lot of things from Coach (Jim) Purtill and Coach (Todd) Bierowski, and they learned from me too. One thing you need to know as a coach is there is more than one way to teach it the correct way.’

Schroeder isn’t there to revive the Green Knight program. It already is a strong program. Before his arrival, Saint Norbert capped six consecutive league titles and qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs five times.

Schroeder isn’t the first Packer to assist Saint Norbert College, either. The Packers drafted Al Groves in 1968 after playing for Saint Norbert, and he now serves as the running backs coach. Former Packer safety Johnny Gray even helped out at defensive backs coach.

Though it certainly welcomes Schroeder’s input, Saint Norbert is blessed with volunteer assistants from all walks of life. De Keyser serves as a guidance counselor, wide receivers coach Todd Bierowski works as a sales associate and defensive line coach Jerry Weid is a local entrepreneur. The assistant coaches take pride with the diverse backgrounds they provide because they think it gives the players a glimpse of post-graduation life.

‘When you have good people, there are things about them that make them unique that players can associate with them or benefit from,’ Bierowski said. ‘That’s huge as far as getting morale on a football team. They’re getting coached by people who care and they’re also getting coached by people who know what they’re talking about.’

The coaches take whatever opportunity they can to credit the program’s success to the players. These are kids who never earned an athletic scholarship, but joined because their heart was in it. These players also don’t hesitate to run extra routes and throw passes after practice, Bierowski said. And the way Saint Norbert’s practices are set up, it would be tempting to hit the showers as soon as possible. The way Triners puts it, ‘We’re pretty much on a horn system.’

Typically practices run four days a week, two hours a day. They look like an assembly line as players move to and from different drills. With exception to water breaks, the coaching staff provides zero down time in between; they want to keep the players moving constantly, so that when game-time approaches, it feels like a walkthrough.

Then there’s the man who oversees the entire program, head coach Jim Purtill. He modestly points to his recruiting success due to the attractiveness of the location and features Saint Norbert has to offer. Overall, he explains his role on the team in a larger context of community, coaching, playing and alumni support.

But players and coaches point to his work ethic and emphasis on academic and athletic accountability as significant factors that have bred success the past six years. Bierowski and De Keyser said that if you walk past Purtill’s office window between midnight and 1 a.m. on weeknights, the light is on as he breaks down film and prepares his weekly game plan.

‘If you give me any credit, it’s that I picked the right school to apply,’ Purtill said. ‘I could go to another school and work as hard and not have that success based on the community.’

Syracuse (+13) at Pittsburgh

Saturday, Noon, ESPN Regional

Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson and Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt entered the helm at their respective programs with hopes to repeat as Big East champions in 2004. Both coaches came with prior NFL experience with hope to establish consistency and relevancy in an irrelevant Big East conference. But SU has played horribly even against mediocre teams. Meanwhile Pittsburgh lost its first three games, including an embarrassment to Ohio, but has rebounded to 3-1 since. Neither team looks sharp, but the Panthers have made at least some effort to win in games they are supposed to win – including this week’s game against the Orange.

Pick: Pittsburgh 36, Syracuse 17

No. 17 Tennessee (+3.5) at No. 5 Alabama

Saturday 3:30 p.m. CBS

The SI cover jinx is at it again, this time infecting the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama is still undefeated at 6-0, but barely came out with a win, 13-10, over Ole Miss a week after appearing on Sports Illustrated’s front cover. Tennessee also has some questions after a disheartening 27-14 loss to Georgia on Oct. 8, leaving the Volunteers all but mathematically out of SEC’s East Division race. Both teams should rebound in a close game that will ultimately go to the undefeated team.

Pick: Alabama 21, Tennessee 17

No. 2 Texas (-16) at No. 10 Texas Tech

Saturday 3:30 p.m. ABC

We all anticipated an outstanding year from Vince Young. But we didn’t know it would be (italic!!!!!!!!!!)this(italic!!!!!!!!!!) good. It all started with that dazzling playmaking against Ohio State, capped off with near-perfect performances against Oklahoma and Colorado. So far, he has thrown for 1,357 along with 12 touchdowns. The Young factor equals yet another victory for the No. 2 Longhorns

Pick: Texas 32, Texas Tech 20

No. 7 LSU (-6.5) at No. 16 Auburn

Saturday 7:45 p.m. ESPN

The Tigers staged a second half rally over Arkansas by beating them at its own game with a strong running attack. This week, Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville can’t depend on switching his game plan against LSU in the locker-room at halftime. Sure, Tennessee came from behind after trailing 21-0 to LSU, but that was three weeks ago before it really keyed on its defensive stops.

Pick: LSU 24, Auburn 10

No. 3 Virginia Tech (-11) at Maryland

Thursday 7:30 p.m. ESPN

After upsetting Virginia two weeks ago, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen took the game all in context and knew that that game couldn’t be the high point in the season. Not with games against Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Boston College. The time has come this week for Maryland to try for another ACC upset, this time against the Hokies.

The Terrapins have certainly improved but have often made too many mistakes, which should leave the possibility of an upset this week pretty doubtful.

Pick: Virginia Tech 32, Maryland 17

Published on October 17, 2005 at 12:00 pm