"We're 100% bought in": Joe Stoffel on NDSU's mindset with new head coach Tim Polasek

hi this is Jay stemon I'm uh with flag family medium here with tight end Joe Stuffle Joe it's been a while since we talked to you uh you wrapped up last season on the road in Montana and obviously that left a better taste in your guys' mouth so uh what was the mindset going into the offseason get ready for this season uh yeah uh I mean Montana game was a really tough one um not how we wanted our season to end for sure um so you know we go on our little whatever break we had after that but I know once guys got back to campus and you know back in the weight room with Kramer our mindset was 100% knowing the score of that game and knowing that we have a job to do this season when it comes to your offseason then obviously um you kind of got yourself more and more integrated into the passing game as the season went along uh what have you worked on this offseason to kind of get you more prepared for this season and your role in this offense uh one of the biggest things is definitely a leadership role first of all um trying to step up as um a big voice on the offense you know trying to get all the you know tight ends along even you know o line along all those young guys but uh you know with some of our stuff that we do in the summer I've been trying to you know watch our receivers um see what they're doing um kind of learn from them how they see defenses and you know how I can bring that over into my game um um and in the past game so what did you take away from last season that you know you felt like you really kind of developed in over the course of that season kind of going off from uh that that previous year down in fris we had a chance to talk to you down in Frisco we heading into The National championship game last year you had that bigger role so what did you take away from last year of your experiences how did you improve over the course of last season um I think it was more or less you know knowing who we're playing um being able to be extremely confident going into games um knowing what kind of defense is showing up what I can expect from them what kind of players I can expect um and that really gave me the confidence you know to Contin to go out there and just you know do what I do so that's that that was probably the biggest thing you go into this year you got a brand new head coach new offensive coordinator uh how has that changed the atmosphere at NDSU has it changed the energy here what has been the biggest difference with Coach Paul charge um I think it it definitely has changed energy and I think it's it's something new and I know a lot of we're all behind him all the guys are behind them um and you know right away it was really hard you got to get to know people it's change change can be scary sometimes um but once you know once we got to get to really know coach paek and Coach Landry it was one of those things where it's like all right we're 100% % bought in we're excited let's roll you get to go down uh to Colorado this year go to Boulder uh playing a FBS program a power four conference if you will a team uh what are you looking most forward to taking on the Buffs in Colorado this year um I think it's just you know the challenge um that surrounds it um it's an FBS team um I know we don't really get a lot of those teams on our schedule so it's always one of those where you can um really challenge yourself as a team to see you know where are we you know like where are we um also you know it's just going to be a great atmosphere really fun they got some incredible players down there um so it's going to be really fun to see um how we match up with them do you think that that early season test because obviously we've seen a number of FCS schools knockoff FBS schools especially in in that week one matchup but do you think that's a good barometer of where this team is at and what you guys may have to work on as you get into your other non-conference games and then you head into to the conference season yeah I think 100% you know it's a really really good team that we're going to be facing so you know of course it's game one you know Energy's high levels are high people aren't as banged up um you know as they are in late season so it's definitely one of those games where you can sit back look back learn from a ton of stuff you know a ton of stuff that's going to happen um and hopefully spring us to where we want to be you know in January uh looking at this season obviously tough conference as always uh sdsu's pick to win it you guys are picking second USD is right behind you UND is uh fifth uh it really shows the strength of the Dakota schools and uh what do you think just in general terms about the conference it looks like it's going to be another strong year for the valley yeah I mean we're excited there's no uh there's no week really when you want to go into a game you know it's like oh you know these guys aren't that good it's kind of going to be one of those games no you never really look for that we always look for those games that are going to be challenging and you know those are just the fun games you get to you know the atmosphere is crazy um you know everyone wants to be the leader of the dtas um and you know last year we did not come near what we wanted to um our expectations so we're definitely a little hungrier this year um to to go play those games well Joe uh best of luck this season we look forward to seeing out on the field catching some touchdown passes this year so uh best of luck uh there's been Jay stemon alongside Joe Stuffle for flag family media