Re-Release: Matt Christensen's Football Life (July 9)

The Brandon Valley Lynx have reached their third state championship game in five years under head coach Matt Christensen after taking over for the late, legendary Chad Garrow in 2021. This is a re-release of Happy Hour's conversation with Christensen back on July 9.  There is more than meets the eye and ear with Brandon Valley football coach Christensen. A brawny and bass-voiced 6'4 former defensive end, Christensen carries an imposing presence. But his approach to players and students is far from it. Instead, he is empowering to all, with his football players being assigned to follow his example of kindness to other students who are not as athletic and popular. "The strong just have to take care of the weak," the Yankton High and Augustana alumnus said. "That's the way our American society has to function. It just has to function that way. And, it can, because we have so many blessings and resources to do that. "If kids are awful to teachers, they just won't play." Christensen dropped plenty of pearls from his over 20 years of teaching and coaching in a 75-minute chat about his life and career at the Gateway Lounge. He played for former South Dakota all-time wins leader Max Hawk during the Bucks' dynasty in the mid-1990s, when they won 28 straight games, but also finished his career in the loss that snapped the streak — a state championship drubbing from ESD rival Watertown. Those kinds of peaks and valleys served Christensen well at Brandon Valley, where he has been since 2003, a year after he graduated from Augie following four years playing for Jim Heinitz and defensive coordinator Mike Freidel, both well-respected local leaders. The Lynx were a good-not-great outfit when Christensen arrived. A year later, defensive coordinator Chad Garrow took the head coaching reins and began a gradual build to becoming a constant state championship contender. Christensen walks through that climb to the mountain top with state championships in 2018 and 2020 as defensive coordinator before Garrow started feeling the effects of brain cancer just two weeks after celebrating that second title. Garrow pegged Christensen to take over the program, and Christensen describes the delicate transition — and difficult yet powerful personal moments — while Garrow was sick and unable to talk. Garrow died just a couple of months after Christensen led the Lynx back to the DakotaDome. What did Christensen learn in those nearly two decades with Garrow and how has he chosen to lead the Lynx in his own way the last few years, which have been marked with BV's consistent presence as one of the Class 11AAA titans?