MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama assistant football coach Mike Bangtson sat down with USAJaguars.com to answer five questions entering his first season as a member of the Jaguar staff.
Bangtson came to South after two years on the staff at Virginia Tech, first as a graduate assistant then as a quality control coach last fall. During his time with the program, the Hokies were 19-8 overall — going 11-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference — while making back-to-back appearances in postseason bowl games. He was also a graduate assistant at Memphis in 2015, helping the Tigers go 9-4 while earning a postseason bowl invite. Bangtson was originally a student-athlete at Iowa State, but injuries led to him moving into a student assistant role with the program for three years while he earned a degree in communications studies. In 2013 he was a graduate assistant at Northwest Missouri State, helping the program go 15-0 on the way to the NCAA Division II national championship, and the following season Bangtson served as an assistant coach at Upper Iowa.
1: What led to your decision to become a football coach?
MB: I was injured early in my playing career at Iowa State, I had two knee scopes within six months of each other. I had a conversation with my head coach at the time, Paul Rhoads, and my offensive line coach, Bill Bleil, and they saw that I was possibly interested in coaching and talked me into a student assistant position. I did that for three seasons, that's how I got into it, and I got my first GA job after that.
2: What is your coaching philosophy, and which mentor has played an influential role in your professional development?
MB: I would say it is doing the little things right, those little things lead to the big things whether it's academically or on the football field. That four-inch or six-inch step could play a big role in the play, getting your hat in the right position, hand placement, those are the little things on the field. I learned from [head] coach [Justin] Fuente at Virginia Tech and Memphis organizationally how to run a program and do things the right way, knowing how to work and working hard, not just putting time in but being efficient with your time to get everything done.
3: What are your goals for the program and how do you go about accomplishing them?
MB: I have big goals for the program. First we want to win the first one, we want to go 1-0 every week. I want to do it by doing things the right way in recruiting, meetings, on the field and academically. When you recruit someone they have to take care of all those things, recruiting for us is getting the guys we want who want to be here. If we recruit the right way and put the time into it, that will take us where we want to go.
4: If you were not a football coach you would be a ___, and why?
MB: I have no idea, I really don't know. I was a communications major, but I did that to coach football. I really don't see myself doing anything else, maybe I would be a basketball coach because I enjoy basketball quite a bit too.
5: What is the most interesting personal fact about you that can't be found in your bio?
MB: I play a little piano and guitar. I like music, I always have music going in my office. I like to come in and get music going in the morning and drink some coffee to get my day started.
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