GOLDEN — When Bob Stitt first arrived at Colorado School of Mines in 2000, the program had only two winning seasons in two decades. So in Stitt’s inaugural year, when his Orediggers went 2-8, the goal was to just win some quarters.
Starting his second stint as Mines’ head coach this fall, his and the Orediggers’ goals are much larger than that. But Stitt is focused on making sure his players don’t get ahead of themselves.
The Orediggers, now a Division II powerhouse, didn’t make the playoffs last season after consecutive national championship appearances in 2022 and ’23. And that’s cause for concern around Golden these days — partly because of what Stitt built during his first stint at Mines, and also because of what followed in his wake.
“We had a really good football team last year, but it’s almost like the sky was falling at Mines to go 8-3,” Stitt said. “Our goal this year is not looking at a record, and the accomplishments that are down the line. We’re just trying to play really good football.”
“… It was an us-against-the-world mentality back then (in 2000), because people kept telling us we couldn’t do it, and we kept proving them wrong by continuously getting better. We need to have that (mentality) back this fall.”
The engineer of the Mines juggernaut remains the program’s all-time wins leader with a 108-62 record over 15 seasons. He initially left Golden to become the head coach at Montana, where he coached for three years. He returns after spending last fall as the offensive coordinator at Valor Christian High School — and watching as the Orediggers program reset after an unprecedented run.
With quarterback Joe Capra at the helm, Stitt’s installed a more flexible offense this season. As Capra explains, “he’s the offensive coach, but I feel like we’re the offensive coordinators.”
“We’re going to be able to change things more up at the line of scrimmage than we have in the past,” added redshirt senior wideout Flynn Schiele. “Joe’s going to have a lot more freedom to play Madden out there, and have the (controls) in his hands.”
Capra, a Denver South alum, is the first Colorado high school product to be Mines’ starting quarterback in eight years. The redshirt sophomore appeared in seven games last year, with two starts. Now he’s being counted on to lead the Orediggers back to the Division II postseason after losses to RMAC foes Colorado Mesa, Western Colorado and CSU-Pueblo cost Mines a spot last year.
In addition to Schiele, Capra’s other top targets at wideout will be redshirt junior Nick Stone (Mountain Vista) and redshirt sophomore Pierce Richards in the slot. Stitt believes an experienced offensive line will allow the Orediggers to create balance with the run game behind a pair of tailbacks in redshirt senior Landon Walker and redshirt junior Braelon Tate (Legacy).
“The key to everything is the offensive line, and those guys are playing really well this fall,” Stitt said. “Our run game has to be able to force people to stop the run, and when they do that, Flynn is going to get singled up sometimes, and he’s tough to cover. He’s going to have another huge season.”
Schiele is planning on just that after posting consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns.
“If the defense isn’t going to put two guys on me, I’m going to make them pay,” Schiele said.
Mines has plenty of experienced playmakers on defense, too.
Up front, a pair of redshirt sophomore defensive linemen in Eli Krawczuk (Summit High) and Jacob Sanders will provide punch, as will redshirt senior Dominic Caggiano. And the Orediggers will be able to defend the pass, too, with redshirt senior cornerback Jackson Zimmerman headlining.
Zimmerman, a Valor Christian alum, was a first-team All-American in 2023 before offenses stopped throwing his way last fall. He says the difference in a couple of Mines’ losses in “the failure of a season” that was 2024 came down to communication.
“There were two to three plays that defined those games against Western and CSU-Pueblo,” Zimmerman said. “We did not talk on defense and had some busted coverages. I’m intent on making sure that does not happen this season.”
While the Orediggers aren’t looking past their season opener at West Texas A&M on Sept. 4, the end goal remains the same.
“The mentality is just different,” Eli Krawczuk said. “Last year, we were so focused on the successes of the past that it overwhelmed what we were doing in the moment. We’re a lot better at being where our feet are at this year, and understanding what it takes to get back to a level like that.
“We’re not trying to ride on the coattails of (QB and Harlon Hill Award winner) John Matocha and guys like that from recent teams that were really successful. The ultimate goal is a national championship, but we’re locked in on that first game on Sept. 4, and we’re not thinking about anything after that.”
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