UND football opens fall camp with quarterback competition underway

GRAND FORKS (KVRR) – Fall Camp is underway in Grand Forks as the University of North Dakota football program prepares for the upcoming season. And there is a full blown quarterback competition going on and deciding who will lead this team.

“Trying to keep the focus on individual improvement, team improvement. And when it is time to make decisions as we get ready for our opener, then we are going to make those decisions. But we haven’t set a timeline, at some point we’ll have to make that decision but it’s a ways off yet.” said UND Head Coach Bubba Schweigert.

The Fighting Hawks are gearing up for a difficult opponent in Week 1, taking on Iowa State on the road. The offense has a new coordinator leading the group. Isaac Fruechte is in charge and he is also the quarterbacks coach. He and his staff will have many eyes on the QBs, trying different combinations and situations to see who will come out on top as the starting quarterback. 

The coaching staff mentioned three of them are doing a great job, but didn’t provide names of who is at the top of the QB competition. However, during practice players like Jerry Kaminski, Simon Romfo and Trey Feeney took reps with the first team.

“At the end of the day we’ll look at the end of Fall Camp and look at their numbers and how efficient we are. How explosive we are. And then we’ll make a decision from there. A lot of them are doing great things and they are getting better every day. Their attitudes have been great, it’s exciting to work with those guys.” said Fruechte.

Overall, there are many battles across the Fighting Hawks in different position groups. The coaching staff say it is important for this roster to start off strong as they prepare for the long season ahead of them.

“I feel like this team is really hungry. A lot of our seniors and our leadership counsel did a really great job throughout the summer time. Feels like they are really hungry and we need to be hungry. We want to do special things in this program. To do that, you really have to have that desire to get better each and every day.” said Coach Schweigert.

UND is coming off a close loss to Sacramento State in the first round last season. And, in fact, the last time the Fighting Hawks made it past the first round was back in the 2021 spring season that was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But this is a new team, a young squad looking to make some noise in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

“Feels great to be out here. Early start this year. I believe this is the first time we’ve ever practiced in July. The guys are ready to go. They had a good summer. It’s just different when you put the helmets on, get out here and go offense and defense for a number of periods. So a lot of fun.” said Coach Schweigert.

Before you know it, Week 1 will be here and the Fighting Hawks will be taking on Iowa State on August 31 in Ames, Iowa.