Winona State football head coach Tom Sawyer to retire after 26 years
WINONA, Minn. — Winona State University is a part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, a Division II football conference.
The Winona State Warriors did not play a game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now they are back in the swing of their football season in 2021. They are one of the highest scoring teams in their conference. In their first game of the year, they put up 47 points and later in the season followed up with a 49-point performance.
Winona State put up 48 points against The University of Mary in a high-scoring affair. The Warriors were led by graduate senior Owen Burke who threw for 286 yards in the game. They found themselves down at halftime but were able to rally behind those 286 yards from Burke to complete the comeback for a 10-point victory. Burke鈥檚 favorite targets all year and in this game were Ethan Wittenburg, who had 113 yards receiving, and Jaylen Schleicher who had 101. This was the only game of the season where two different receivers had over 100 yards receiving in a game.
The Warriors are continuing to have a good season in what will be the last for head coach Tom Sawyer. Sawyer has been the head coach for Winona State for 26 years but will call it quits at the end of this season.
The head coach remarked on his lengthy career as a football coach at Winona State University.
鈥淢y relationships with the players and coaches. That has been so important to me from day one and I have been blessed and fortunate to be surrounded with terrific people,鈥� Sawyer .
He has had one of the best overall careers in all of college football with a current record of 190-86 in 24 seasons at Winona State. He touts an impressive winning percentage at 68% that reflects the consistent success over his career in arguably the strongest Division II football conference in the nation. While it will be the end of an era for Winona State football and Sawyer, he is still focused on finishing this season out strong.
鈥淚 have been truly blessed to lead this amazing program!鈥� he . 鈥淏ut to have one more opportunity with this very talented team, the 2021 season will be the best gift any coach could wish for. It is a great day to be a Warrior!鈥�
In the Warriors鈥� last game, they defeated Upper Iowa University in a blowout contest where Winona State put up 40 points as Upper Iowa could only muster 12. This win ensured Sawyer鈥檚 22nd season out of 25 in which he would lead the Warriors to a winning record. Their next game will be the last for the career of Sawyer as the Warriors take on their longtime rivals in Minnesota State. It is sure to be an emotional game where the Warriors will do all they can in their power to come out with a win for their coach.
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