The Bisons men’s football head coach Stan Pierre has stated that preparations for the 2025 season are going well as the team looks ahead to the season opener.
“We just finished our two-week training camp and completed an exhibition game last night. So we’re moving forward and the team is coming together, and we’re looking forward to our start next week in Vancouver.”
Pierre outlined the steps needed to successfully integrate both experienced and young athletes. “It’s a balance of catching the new guys up but trying not to lower the veteran players’ expectations about some of the things we’re going to do.” He added, “It’s a balance, for sure, but the bottom line is we have to make sure we’re preparing our most inexperienced players, because it’s going to be, frankly, harder for them to transition.”
He noted that the exhibition games played so far have been valuable for the team’s development. “We’re learning lessons every day. That’s basically what we’re doing with the [players], finding ways to make them better and teaching them ways to do things better. So, there’s always lessons, win, lose or draw, in a football game, and the [players] will be in here at noon, they’ll be watching the film and trying to improve.”
Pierre hopes to guide the athletes with his experience while also looking forward to learning in his new role. “My experience hopefully will help me guide these players, especially in some of their life situations. I’ve seen a lot of different situations with our student athletes over the years, but I think I’m experiencing a lot of new things in my new role as well. So there’s lots of learning for me to do as well. So I think we’ll spend a lot of time learning from each other this season.”
According to Pierre, the upcoming season will witness “a team that’s very competitive, that will play very hard, be very disciplined [and] will represent the university in a positive light.”
Pierre continued, “It’s the beginning of my chapter as head coach. So hopefully they’ll set the foundation for the future years of what the expectations are now to play for the U of M.”
Pierre stated that the team will remain committed to hard work and preparation for the season. “Every week’s a new challenge, a new team, and it always seems like we’re bustling to try to get prepared for the next week. So, the one thing I will promise you is we will work very hard to try to make sure that we’re prepared.”
The Bisons men’s football team will play the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in their season opener in Vancouver on Thursday Aug. 28 at 8 p.m. CT.
