By Keith Grabowski
The transfer portal has reshaped the expectations young athletes bring to football programs. Many now believe that long-term player development should happen quickly—and when it does not, the instinct is often to look elsewhere. This shift in mindset pressures coaches at all levels, including high school and Division III, even if their players never enter the portal. In this transfer portal era, emphasizing patience and developmental coaching focused on steady growth has become more critical than ever.
Mike McElroy, head coach and defensive coordinator at Bethel University, organizes his program around four core ideas that support consistent and intentional player growth: soil, nourishment, patience, and pruning. These principles remain steady regardless of the shifting trends in football and coaching environments.
Creating the Right Environment for Athlete Development
McElroy tells his players, “Every 18-year-old is fragile but full of potential. Your environment determines whether that potential grows or dies.”
Soil represents everything a player walks into each day: the tone in the locker room, the expectations set by veteran teammates, and the consistent messaging from coaches. When the coaching environment is organized and steady, players understand what is required of them and can progress accordingly. However, when the environment is unclear or inconsistent, player development slows. Coaches play a direct role in cultivating the soil—the foundation for successful long-term player development.
Nourish the Roots: Building Athlete Habits for Lasting Growth
“Nourishment” comes from routine habits that underpin improvement. McElroy explains it like this: “The stuff you put in determines the fruit you produce.”
Film study, recovery, communication, and attention to detail all feed the roots of development. These player habits foster ownership of growth and reinforce the idea that progress is the product of steady work—not shortcuts. This daily nourishment is essential to building a sustainable football program focused on building athletes over time.
Wait Well: Why Patience is Key in the Player Growth Process
In today’s culture, immediate opportunity is often expected, but meaningful growth rarely follows this accelerated timeline. McElroy reframes this period for his players: “Transformation happens in the waiting.”
He shares the story of a future All-American who did not see the field in his first two seasons but remained committed to the process. His eventual success came from preparation and persistence. Teaching athletes to wait well—recognizing that waiting is not inactivity but an essential part of their player growth mindset—gives teams a competitive edge.
Prune the Distractions: Focus on What Supports Football Program Development
McElroy reminds his team, “The things that sort of work are the most dangerous.” Distractions come in many forms for players and coaches alike. Pruning is about cutting away habits, distractions, and inconsistencies that do not serve the player or program.
This clarity allows athletes and coaches to focus on the coaching standards and structures that support improvement and execution. Maintaining this focus is critical to football program development and building strong teams.
Why Long-Term Player Development Matters Most
The transfer portal era has encouraged a culture of short-term thinking, but the principles that build strong football programs remain unchanged. Long-term player development depends on clarity, steady work, and an environment that supports patient growth. When players begin to see progress, they stay committed—and when they stay, the program becomes stronger than anything built on chasing immediate results.
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About Mike McElroy
Mike McElroy is the head football coach at Bethel University, continuing the program’s strong tradition of developmental coaching and consistent performance. Before taking the helm in 2024, he served as Bethel’s defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2023 and spent time on staff at Minnesota and Concordia–St. Paul. A former defensive back at Southern Illinois, McElroy brings a clear, steady approach to leadership, guiding Bethel to a 20–3 record and a MIAC Skyline Division championship since becoming head coach.
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Week 5 D3 Coach and Coordinators of the Week – Brent Allen, Chris Sapp, Mike McElroy
Balancing Head Coaching and Coordinating Roles
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Podcast transcript
Mike (00:00)
the idea for us of cultivating is I want to take something fragile but with potential and put it in an environment where it can flourish, And so that’s every 18 year old kid I’ve ever met, And so our job is to put him in an environment where he can flourish.
And so we talk to our guys all the time about men are four action words that come with that. the four things we call our guys to is this idea of like the soil that you’re in matters, planting where you’re planted is a big deal. And so you get to choose it.
So we call our guys to choose the soil that they’re in So part of that is, where you’re going to go to school, hey, who you’re going to hang out with in the locker room, matters. know rich soil produces 30, 60, 100 times more crop But it’s still grimy. It’s still gross, Still you got to get buried into that thing. And that’s uncomfortable for guys at But the soil you’re in being planted in the right spot is a big deal. And the second thing we tell our guys is, what are you nourishing I put a seed in the ground.
I’ve got to put something in, I got to nourish it with something. this could be from a film study standpoint, this could be from your faith walk, this could be from in your work life. The stuff that you are putting in affects the we tell those guys, your job is to produce rich
John Snell (00:58)
Next up, we go to Bethel University where defensive coordinator head coach, Mike McElroy and his unit delivered a dominant performance in a 49 to seven win over Carlton. The Royals controlled the line of scrimmage, flew to the football and set the tone early with disciplined aggressive defense that never let Carlton find any rhythm. Coach, congratulations on a complete defensive effort and being named our defense coordinator of the week, even though you are the head coach. Before we get into specifics,
We want you to have an opportunity to give some props to your staff as well, Mike.
Mike (01:33)
Yeah, thanks. Big deal for us in this program and grateful for all you guys do for Division III football. ⁓ Again, our staff does a great job. We got two full-time guys with me, Kyle Kilgore and Tavian Swanson, who both played for me. So that’s kind of fun. Back when, before I was a head coach in just DCN and then a couple of part-time guys in Tyler Krebs, Brady Bomsta and Brooks Bird that do a great job helping us kind of solidify that unit and fun guys to be around have been here for a long time.
Those guys are unbelievable and lead to the success that we have here.
John Snell (02:07)
Well, ⁓ as we said, Mike, you guys do a great job there. You’ve taken your team to the national tournament and you’ve solidified your AQ. So congrats on that. But ⁓ we ask, as you know, our speakers are recipients to talk a little bit about some coaching idea that they can share with our listeners. And you mentioned ⁓ essentially transformational coaching as opposed to transactional coaching.
How about you share a little bit of that with our listeners?
Mike (02:37)
Yeah, I think one of the biggest challenges in today’s game and working with ⁓ kids these days is like, how do you do this in a way that is not going to be transactional and not going to be short lived? think some of the challenges with that is like transactional stuff is usually a way to get good fast, right? Like if I can pay enough NIL money or take enough transfers or do enough of this stuff, ⁓ I could probably get good really fast, but is it going to last? And so we’ve had to really do a lot of work on like, how do we do this in a way that is
John Snell (03:00)
Thank
Mike (03:07)
kind of a long standing, we’re looking at this thing for years to come that we can be successful and continue to build on the success that coach Jay left here is 30 years of unbelievable run of being a head coach. so for us, ⁓ for us, it’s just like, man, how do we get our guys to buy into this idea that like things aren’t going to happen fast and overnight and success, real success is like, how can I do this well for a long period of time and really be transformed in the process.
John Snell (03:34)
Well, it’s a great concept. I’m sure you’ve read the book Inside Out Coaching where that concept comes from. ⁓ Joe Erman really hit it on the head when he talked about the difference between the two. Anything else, Mike, that, you know, maybe one specific thing that you guys do that you feel is, in a sense, transformational?
Mike (03:40)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, so I think one of the big things for us and it’s really come from this idea of this one word that we talk about a lot in our program and guys kind of roll their eyes because we talk about it so much and every talk at the end of practice about it is this idea of cultivation. So can I, the idea for us of cultivating is I want to take something fragile but with potential and put it in an environment where it can flourish, right? And so that’s every 18 year old kid I’ve ever met, fragile but full of potential. And so our job is to put him in an environment where he can flourish.
⁓ And so we talk to our guys all the time about men are four action words that come with that. And I think again, this proves well for being a football coach. This proves well for me being a dad. I got three little boys. I think it’s huge for our guys, whether you’re in the classroom, whether for us, there’s a faith development piece here that we’re keen on. It’s big there. It’s big in your academics. And so the four things we call our guys to is this idea of like the soil that you’re in matters, right? The planting where you’re planted is a big deal. And so you get to choose it. ⁓
So we call our guys to choose the soil that they’re in all the time. So part of that is, where you’re going to go to school, hey, who you’re going to hang out with in the locker room, who you’re going to date. The soil matters. know rich soil produces 30, 60, 100 times more crop when it’s in the good soil. But it’s still grimy. It’s still gross, right? Still you got to get buried into that thing. And that’s uncomfortable for guys at time. But the soil you’re in matters. So being planted in the right spot is a big deal. And the second thing we tell our guys is, what are you nourishing it with? I put a seed in the ground.
I’ve got to put something in, I got to nourish it with something. So again, this could be from a film study standpoint, this could be from your faith walk, this could be from in your work life. ⁓ The stuff that you are putting in affects the fruit. And so we tell those guys, your job is to produce rich fruit. ⁓ And that is the fruit is never for the tree, right? The fruit is always for the community to sustain life around the tree. And so our guys call is like, are you producing rich fruit? And again, that depends on what are you nourishing it with.
when we talk about the tree planted by the stream never ceases to bear fruit and it doesn’t feel the drought. So in tough stuff, when tough times hit, where your planting matters and what you’re soaking up matters. And so really hammer our guys on that a lot. And again, that bleeds into practice, that bleeds into their social life, that bleeds into academics. Those two things are a big deal. ⁓ Once you plant something and you water it, the next thing is like, you gotta wait, right? Like no one plants a tree and it comes up the next day. And I think in today’s society,
And in a transactional society, if that’s where you’re living in and that’s what you’re looking for, waiting is going to be really hard. That’s why there’s 7,000 kids in the transfer portal ⁓ every year is because it’s hard to wait and it’s uncomfortable to wait. ⁓ And again, our call to our guys is like, that’s where transformation happens. It happens in the desert, it happens in the waiting time. That’s where you get refined. ⁓ We have cool stories all through our program of guys who didn’t play for us as freshmen and sophomores. And last year we had a unanimous first team All-American who didn’t play a snap as a freshman and a sophomore.
John Snell (06:41)
Thank
Mike (06:45)
but guy stayed and he waited and he developed and he became a really good player. And so for our guys, like, can you wait well? And that’s not sitting on your hands. It’s a, we talk about patient endurance is like, I’m preparing as I wait and I’m waiting really well. And then the final thing again is like for our guys and it’s again, the theme of, of cultivating is like, can you prune off the distractions? ⁓ So like, if you’re going to be transformational and you’re going to think long-term, you got to prune off the stuff that’s not giving you life. And can you prune off the things?
that maybe sort of work. This is really good for us as coaches. We have a talk every Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Like what are the things in the playbook this week on the call sheet you got to prune? Like the stuff that almost works, but maybe you don’t love, get rid of it. Let’s not practice it because you’re going to waste time. You’re going to distract yourself. And so it’s called for our coaches, it’s the call for our guys. But I think when you do these things well and we can call our guys to it and it’s over and over, it’s not just we put it on the wall and we never talk about it again. It’s like doing this idea of like cultivating and investing in our guys’ hearts and their talents.
is gonna lead to man, I can stay in this thing, even when it’s hard, even when I’m not playing, even when I get beat out. ⁓ We’ve got like a 90 % retention rate here of guys who come here and stay ⁓ because I know we’re gonna care about them and they know like, if we can get through this idea of like, hey, it’s not gonna happen right away, it’s not gonna happen fast. But man, when you stay, look at the fruit that’s produced and look at the type of tree that you’ve produced and the shade that you’ve provided for people that come in after you.
If guys can understand that, man, there’s a buy in, that’s unbelievable. And so I think that’s what’s been so cool for our guys, like they bought into that. And it’s not perfect. Like I said, it’s like the soil is still soil, still dirt, still grimy. And you’re in a people business, people are messy, right? And so, but again, it’s like, can we align on this idea of like, our job is to cultivate your hearts and your talents and your job is to stink and be in and nurse that stuff with good stuff and then do those actions as we do and our jobs to remind them daily of that stuff.
John Snell (08:33)
Mike, that is absolutely phenomenal. ⁓ And correct me if I’m wrong when I repeat your four thoughts. Soil matters, nourishment, nourishing it, weight or patience is the third concept, and then prune off the distractions. I absolutely love how you put that. ⁓
Mike (08:51)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. Yep.
John Snell (09:01)
For me, there’s a biblical sense to that, which I think is outstanding. And ⁓ that is part of your ⁓ philosophy or set up at Bethel, correct? Which I think you’re, yeah, you’re, you’re, you’re,
Mike (09:03)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yep. think it. Yep. Yeah, that all stems from us from like men in
in sorry, in Genesis two talks about men men was put in the garden to work it and to keep it and that where work is protecting that we’re keep us to cultivate and so for our guys, that’s the call like what what’s your job is like meant to cultivate and then to keep and then protect this locker room what this university stands for what’s your last name on your jersey stands for and so
That’s been the call to our guys and we want to be attractive to those guys. And I think when we are and we’re attracted to coaches that buy into that, I think the sky’s the limit for what we can do as far as a girl’s standpoint and how we care for our guys.
John Snell (09:51)
Well, obviously it’s working and it’s working pretty well, Mike. And I commend you for ⁓ that philosophy. I commend you for pursuing their lives, not just from a football perspective, from a life spiritual perspective. ⁓ That’s a great job on your part. And again, we congratulate you on the success that you’ve had. We wish you the best and
just appreciate your time and your sharing.
Mike (10:25)
Yeah, I appreciate it. Again, thankful for, I think, what you guys do for Division III football is fun. And again, always a joy to listen to and hear people on here and their thoughts and how they’re running programs and running their sides of the ball is just, it’s encouraging to me.
John Snell (10:40)
But we appreciate it as well. And again, we look forward to seeing your last regular season game and how things turn out in the national tournament.
Mike (10:51)
Absolutely.