Northfield's Sullivan Teaching More Than Football

For nearly half of his life, Bubba Sullivan has been football coach. He's won more than 150 games during the past 22 seasons, and sent more than 100 athletes on to play college football.

He's accomplished what he has in the sport by staying focused on what's most important: Not football.

“The thing I've enjoyed most over the years, even though we have had a lot of success, is keeping the focus on the fact that, if all we're trying to do is win football games, then maybe we're not being as successful as we can be,” he said. “Hopefully we're impacting futures and teaching kids lessons that will help them later in life. That's what high school sports are all about.”

Sullivan learned much of what he knows about being a coach by watching his dad, former longtime football coach Bob Sullivan.

“One of the things I truly believe is that kids are motivated by positive things,” Sullivan said. “(Staying) positive is a better motivator than getting chewed out.

“My dad was very similar. Quite a bit of what I do is from watching him coach as a kid. When he was a high school coach and at Carleton, he was a very optimistic, positive coach. He was an eternal optimist, and I think that served him well at Carleton, where they didn't always get the top talent. He always got the most out of those kids.”

Sullivan was still practically a kid himself when he was handed the reins by then-athletic director Kevin Merkle.

“We knew it was a little bit of a risk on our part, because he had no coaching experience,” Merkle said. “I wish I could tell you I knew he was going to have the success he's had. But what we did know is that the assistant coaches would rally around him, and that's what they did.”

Longtime assistant coach Mike Allen said the reason so many Northfield assistants have stayed with Sullivan for so long is twofold.

“He has great vision, and he doesn't have much of an ego. (Assistant coaches) are able to have their own way of doing things, so it's not like it has to be his way and only his way,” Allen said. “It's not about him. He allows guys to coach.

“In addition to that, he's also a good 'X's and O's' coach. He covers the fundamentals, covers all the bases. If we get beat, it's going to be by a team that's faster or physically stronger. We're not going to lose because we screwed up.”

Sullivan admits there was some trial and error involved early in his coaching career.

“I was the classic rookie coach,” he said. “I lacked experience, but I came in with a lot of great ideas. I was able to implement some of them, and some worked but most didn't.”

Breaking through

It took Sullivan three years to earn the first big win of his coaching career.

“In 1989 we won two games, and in 1990 we didn't win any,” he said. “In 1991 we got things turned around. We were around .500, and we pulled off the big upset of Hutchinson, who was ranked No. 1 that year.”

Lakeville became another measuring stick opponent those first few years.

“The year we were 0-8, we lost 65-0 to Lakeville,” Sullivan said. “The kids who were sophomores that year came up to me after the game and said, 'coach, that will never happen again.'

“The next year we tied them 0-0 and got beat 3-0 in overtime, and in 1992 we upset them.”

Since those humble beginnings, Sullivan's teams have put up some impressive numbers, including 11 second titles and seven Missota Conference titles.

“We've had some years where within the conference we had two or even three teams in state,” he said. “The league itself has had some great years.”

The Raiders also have one state championship in that span, in 1997.

“That was kind of a culmination,” Sullivan said. “We had been to state (every year) since 1993. We were the runners-up in ’93, ’94 and ’96, and ’97 was when we were able to break down that final barrier.

“That group of seniors was one of those special groups, and the junior class filled in (the gaps) very well.”

Sullivan said winning a championship was great for the players, but also a nice reward for the coaching staff.

“For the kids it was great,” he said. “In previous years (I'd told them) obviously everybody but the champion would have traded seasons with us. I told them they may not remember many games, or even a lot of (the championship) game, but you will always remember that you were state champions.

“And for the coaches that had been through it all, it was nice to win that championship.”

Personally, Sullivan said there was one drastic difference between leaving the field at the Metrodome as a state champ than as a runner-up.

“The walk up the stairs to the locker room, other years it seemed a lot longer than it did that year,” he said.

While the team has made more than its share of state appearances since then, the Raiders have never had another run of sustained success.

“Now it's more typical where we have a good year or two, then fall off, that kind of thing,” Sullivan said.

Football, families

Sullivan said talented players and good assistant coaches have been two keys to his success.

"We've had a lot of great athletes from great families that love football,” Sullivan said.

The family name that comes immediately to mind is Setterstrom. Four Setterstrom boys—Ryan, Brent, Chad and Mark—came through the program, and Sullivan said all four were dominant for the Raiders.

Mark Setterstrom, one of about a half dozen former Raiders who went on to play Division I football, spent four years with the Minnesota Gophers, then played five seasons as an offensive lineman with the NFL's St. Louis Rams.

Sullivan also named Matt Geiger, Jason Holm, Kyle Thomforde and Cole Jirik among the other top athletes to have come through the program.

While many of his players have gone on to bigger and better things, Sullivan has resisted the pull to try to do the same.

“Along the way I have been contacted by different schools, but this is a great place,” he said. “I love it here. It's a great school. I don't feel that desire (to go to a 5A school).

“There have been some college openings I've thought about, but when it comes down to the day to apply, I decide that I still really love what I'm doing and that I'm going to keep doing it.”

Sullivan said the third key to his success has been a supportive family.

“My wife Julie has basically been a single parent during the football season,” Sullivan said. “She and my three daughters are all very supportive, and I try to make it up to them during the summer and the off-season.”