Rothsay has ties to the NFL

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, February 25, 2008

Gerhard Meidt was head football coach at Rothsay High School in the fall of 1972 when his Tigers won the first ever nine-man state football championship in Minnesota. In those days Rothsay was a powerhouse, with Meidt’s teams winning eight Little Valley Conference titles over a 10-year-period.

In the state championship 9-man football game, the Tigers overpowered Cotton, an Iron Range team, 64-12.

Quarterback Kevin Carlsrud led a senior-dominated Tiger squad that also included Joel Aaberg, Jack Boyer, Roger Sundby, Roger Hanneman, Dennis Brandt, Larry Morris, Mark Skugrud and Greg Nord.

Meidt, who compiled an astonishing record of 80-7 into the 1972 season at Rothsay, later moved with his family to Minneota in southwestern Minnesota. His son, Chris, played quarterback for his father.

The younger Meidt led Minneota to state football championships in 1986 and 1987. He was named the Associated Press Minnesota Player of the Year in 1987.

Chris Meidt played football at Bethel University in St. Paul where he received a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1992. Prior to his coaching and teaching career, Meidt was a computer systems analyst at Burlington Northern Railroad in St. Paul.

Meidt came to the St. Olaf College football program, in Northfield, following a successful tenure at Bethel where he served as offensive coordinator from 1995 to 2001.

In six seasons, St. Olaf head coach Meidt compiled a 40-20 record. His father, Gerhard, served as the St. Olaf special teams coach.

In the mid 1990s Chris became a friend of Jim Zorn who was quarterback coach for Jim Wacker at the University of Minnesota. Zorn, a former NFL quarterback, later served as an assistant for the Seattle Seahawks. He was instrumental in developing Matt Hasselbeck into a Pro Bowl player.

Earlier this month Zorn was named head football coach for the Washington Redskins. Always impressed with Chris Meidt’s coaching ability — and the mentorship of his father and former Rothsay coach Gerhard Meidt — the new Redskins coach tapped the younger Meidt to be his new offensive assistant.

Zorn and Meidt will spend a lot of time with Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell as he makes the transition from the power game of Joe Gibbs (former Redskins coach) to the Mike Holmgren (Seattle coach) version of the West Coast offense.

The move for Meidt is a big one. His wife, Allison, is a fifth grade teacher in Northfield.

Their three children attend school in Northfield and his father, Gerhard, lives close to the St. Olaf campus.

With Chris Meidt moving from the St. Olaf football program to the Washington Redskins, Rothsay — at least indirectly — has some ties to the National Football League. Many Tigers fans still relish Rothsay winning the first-ever 9-man state football title back in 1972, and the leadership of coach Gerhard Meidt.

Journal reporter Tom Hintgen’s column appears Mondays.