The four captains of the football team from top to bottom: Dan Pittman, Butch Herzog, Tim Moinet, and Alex Fogt. The captains recap the season and give advice to freshmen.
Overall, how do you guys feel about the season this year?
Pittman: We set out a lot of goals, and I think we came up short on a couple of them. We had a lot of injuries and had plays that didn’t go our way, but overall I couldn’t be more proud of our team. I think a lot of people would have counted us out with all the injuries, but we were in every game.
Herzog: It hurts when you put all that effort into a common goal, and you fall short, especially your last season, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
What were some of the goals you set this year?
Fogt: Coming in every year, our biggest goal is to win the GLIAC conference, that’s one of the big ones, and obviously with our record that didn’t work out, but on a personal basis the guys get better every day, that’s one of the big things everyone did pretty well at this year and continued throughout the year and never gave up.
Moinet: We all had common goals – my freshman and sophomore years we won GLIAC rings, and we had potential to do that [this year], so to fall short in that was disappointing.
Did you have more injuries this year than usual?
Fogt: It always seems like that, it just keeps building up, but there were more key injuries this year, guys we lost that were going to be a big factor for us because of how young we were, guys who had the experience went down early. That made some of the younger guys who weren’t as experienced come in and play a big role for us.
Would you say over all four years it’s hard to balance football and academics?
Pittman: It’s not easy, you’re balancing two full-time jobs. We’re there for about 6 hours between film and practice. Freshman year was the hardest, especially first semester, just because it’s a new place and we’re not used to how Hillsdale does everything, and then you have football. After that you kind of get into your own routine and figure things out and learn how to balance it, and it’s not too terrible.
Moinet: Very first semester you come in and it’s mind-blowing, you don’t know how to time-manage well. But after your freshman year, you learn how to pace yourself and plan ahead. I find I focus more on time-management when we have football, whereas in the spring semesters I push things off.
Herzog: I’m still recovering my GPA from first semester freshman year. After you pass the core classes and get into the stuff you really like, it makes everything easier, whether you’re in football or not. Taking classes and doing football – it’s a grind, it’s definitely a grind, but you get in a groove. You get used to it. You just have to find whatever formula works for you.
Do you have any advice for freshmen?
Pittman: I would just say the biggest thing is that four years goes by a lot faster than you’d think, so take every opportunity as a gift from God. We’re so blessed and football is the greatest sport and you’re never going to be around people who love and support you more. Just really embrace it and cherish it.
Fogt: We had a lot of guys who had a chance to play this year, so the biggest thing is to stay hungry. We’ve had two losing seasons in a row, and with the team coming back [next year] we have guys with a ton of experience, and a lot of guys that are still eager to go out there and win and have a love for the game. I’m excited, I have huge expectations for next year. We’re pretty excited for what we have in the future. It’s a good program here. At the banquet all the seniors talked and it was obvious how special this place is and how special our program is.
Moinet: Just keep grinding. When you first get here it’s easy to feel bad for yourself and want to quit, but knowing the rewards you’re going to get from playing football here and getting an education here, it’s definitely worth all the hard times and all the struggles. Go through that grind every day and put your heart into it, that’s the biggest thing.
Herzog: Keep your mouth shut and just work hard – nothing is going to replace hard work. They have so much talent and I couldn’t be prouder of how much they’ve grown so far. Stay humble. It feels good to know you can do something hard, you know, like you can accomplish something now. Once you finish something like that you definitely have confidence in your abilities after college.
What do you plan to do after you leave Hillsdale?
Fogt: I’m planning to go to grad school, I want to go to Ohio State for physical therapy.
Pittman: I’ve always wanted to go to law school, I have to take the LSAT, and I guess we’ll see after that. I’m pretty sure I’m going to do the WHIP program next year, and see if politics is something I’m interested in.
Herzog: I’m getting a finance degree, I plan on being a financial manager down the road.
Moinet: I’m getting an exercise science degree. I want to go to physical therapy school after Hillsdale.