Happy Hour with John Gaskins

We start with the 38-point pummeling and where series is headed then move to flopping — how it hurts the NBA and all of basketball. But is the game overall better today than those glory years of the 80's and 90's so many pine? Enjoy a bigger picture Wolves & NBA chat.

On a Thirsty Thursday in Orion Pub, John Gaskins & Trent Singer react to South Dakota native Isaac Bruns choosing Southern California as his NIL landing spot for his final year of eligibility after a few prolific years at USD. Plus, what did a Miami Dolphins executive say about SDSU legend Mark Gronowski after signing the former Jackrabbit and Iowa Hawkeye to an undrafted free agent contract.

Everything matters in constructing a college football juggernaut.
 
Recruiting, talent, coaching, culture. It all matters and it all adds up. And, oh, yeah... money matters, in case you haven't noticed. The higher the level, the more NIL matters.
 
But how much does scheduling — who you play, when you play, and where you play them in a season — matter? SDSU coach Dan Jackson gave the Happy Hour host a thoughtful response to that question, plus these queries: What constitutes an ideal schedule for success at the FCS level, and how he feels the 2026 slate suits his squad?
 
The Happy Hour host goes through both the Jackrabbits and Coyotes schedules. Whose is more favorable to yield the best record and higher potential for a Missouri Valley championship and high playoff seed?
 
As far as those other things go — recruiting, talent, coaching, culture — Augustana's Jerry Olszweski has inarguably mastered that mix in his first 12 seasons. The Vikings are building on seven consecutive winning seasons, won back-to-back NSIC titles in 2023 and '24, and won their first nine games before finishing 9-2 last season.
 
How have they done it? What is in place in '26 to keep the Vikings rolling? It starts at the top and "Coach OJ" walks us through it. 
 
This includes a glimpse into the new faces on the coaching staff and elevations of two long-tenured defensive assistants to co-defensive coordinator roles to replace Mark Sipple, who took the DC job at FCS Drake. Then, there's the quarterback battle between two talented and now proven gunslingers in Gunnar Hensley and Rich Lucergo, Jr.
 
But a bulk of the discussion lies in the things Olszewski does to keep and raise the bar — decisions like having two co-coordinators instead of one, why he acts as a true "CEO" style head coach instead of calling plays and leading the offense or defense, his approach to recruiting (how much more time is spent on transfer targets than a few years ago?), and how Augie deals with whatever twists come in Div. II with NIL and transfer temptations from Div. I schools for his best performers.
 
Plus, get inside the headset. How does an 18-year head coach make the biggest decisions — punt or go for it, kick a field goal or go for it, go for the tie or for the win — during the heat of a pressure-packed game?
 
As always, OJ leaves the listener feeling better about life and football when the conversation is over, whether that listener is an Augie fan or not.

Recruiting, talent, coaching, culture — Augustana's Jerry Olszweski has inarguably mastered that mix in his first 12 seasons. The Vikings are building on seven consecutive winning seasons, won back-to-back NSIC titles in 2023 and '24, and won their first nine games before finishing 9-2 last season.
 
How have they done it? What is in place in '26 to keep the Vikings rolling? It starts at the top and "Coach OJ" walks us through it. 
 
This includes a glimpse into the new faces on the coaching staff and elevations of two long-tenured defensive assistants to co-defensive coordinator roles to replace Mark Sipple, who took the DC job at FCS Drake. Then, there's the quarterback battle between two talented and now proven gunslingers in Gunnar Hensley and Rich Lucergo, Jr.
 
But a bulk of the discussion lies in the things Olszewski does to keep and raise the bar — decisions like having two co-coordinators instead of one, why he acts as a true "CEO" style head coach instead of calling plays and leading the offense or defense, his approach to recruiting (how much more time is spent on transfer targets than a few years ago?), and how Augie deals with whatever twists come in Div. II with NIL and transfer temptations from Div. I schools for his best performers.
 
Plus, get inside the headset. How does an 18-year head coach make the biggest decisions — punt or go for it, kick a field goal or go for it, go for the tie or for the win — during the heat of a pressure-packed game?
 
As always, OJ leaves the listener feeling better about life and football when the conversation is over, whether that listener is an Augie fan or not.

Everything matters in constructing a college football juggernaut.
 
Recruiting, talent, coaching, culture. It all matters and it all adds up. And, oh, yeah... money matters, in case you haven't noticed. The higher the level, the more NIL matters.
 
But how much does scheduling — who you play, when you play, and where you play them in a season — matter? SDSU coach Dan Jackson gave the Happy Hour host a thoughtful response to that question, plus these queries: What constitutes an ideal schedule for success at the FCS level, and how he feels the 2026 slate suits his squad?
 
The Happy Hour host goes through both the Jackrabbits and Coyotes schedules. Whose is more favorable to yield the best record and higher potential for a Missouri Valley championship and high playoff seed?