BleedGopher
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per SI:
It’s funny how things sometimes tend to work out.
Just ask Eden Prairie High School football coach and athletic director Mike Grant, the son of legendary Vikings head coach Bud Grant and a 43-year coaching veteran with over 350 victories and 11 state titles on his resume who counts Giants linebackers Ryan Connelly and Carter Coughlin among his former students.
Connelly, then a quarterback, and Coughlin helped Grant and the rest of the team to win the 2013 state championship.
“Connelly was amazing. He helped us complete a four-peat and was our quarterback in one of them as a sophomore. He was a pretty good player but still just an average-sized 180-pound kid,” said Grant during an exclusive phone interview.
Then there was Coughlin, who played defense for Grant but, who, the coach admitted, in retrospect wasn’t used to his strengths the way the coaching staff at Minnesota later would deploy the young man.
“We had a need at inside linebacker, so that’s where we put him,” Grant said in explaining how Coughlin came to be the team’s inside linebacker. “His strength isn’t as a fast-twitch player reading and reacting like Connelly. It’s at the second level as a pass rusher.”
But, again, it’s funny how things have a way of working themselves out, as Connelly and Coughlin would later find out.
www.si.com
Go Gophers!!
It’s funny how things sometimes tend to work out.
Just ask Eden Prairie High School football coach and athletic director Mike Grant, the son of legendary Vikings head coach Bud Grant and a 43-year coaching veteran with over 350 victories and 11 state titles on his resume who counts Giants linebackers Ryan Connelly and Carter Coughlin among his former students.
Connelly, then a quarterback, and Coughlin helped Grant and the rest of the team to win the 2013 state championship.
“Connelly was amazing. He helped us complete a four-peat and was our quarterback in one of them as a sophomore. He was a pretty good player but still just an average-sized 180-pound kid,” said Grant during an exclusive phone interview.
Then there was Coughlin, who played defense for Grant but, who, the coach admitted, in retrospect wasn’t used to his strengths the way the coaching staff at Minnesota later would deploy the young man.
“We had a need at inside linebacker, so that’s where we put him,” Grant said in explaining how Coughlin came to be the team’s inside linebacker. “His strength isn’t as a fast-twitch player reading and reacting like Connelly. It’s at the second level as a pass rusher.”
But, again, it’s funny how things have a way of working themselves out, as Connelly and Coughlin would later find out.
How a Pair of Giants Teammates Had Their NFL Destinies Shaped in High School
Giants linebackers Ryan Connelly and Carter Coughlin were high school teammates for Mike Grant, son of the legendary Bud Grant, at Eden Prairie High School. Here's the story about how those two charted the courses to the NFL.
Go Gophers!!