Oct. 8—VERMILLION, S.D. — There are many duties that include being the middle of a faculty soccer offense.
There are the bodily traits, after all. The snaps need to be clear. Blocks need to be made. Defensive linemen need to be moved. However on the College of South Dakota this season, redshirt freshman Lucas Feldkamp has taken on the duty as the person in the course of the Coyotes' retooled offensive line.
For a participant who had by no means taken a collegiate snap coming into the 2026 season, Feldkamp has rapidly turn out to be the voice of the Coyotes' entrance 5, figuring out defensive fronts, speaking calls and serving to get the complete offensive line and offense on the identical web page.
It’s a tall job for a younger offensive lineman. Feldkamp, although, has embraced it.
"I’m so grateful to be taking part in at such a younger age and I didn’t assume I used to be going to be taking part in already," Feldkamp stated. "However I nonetheless have so much to study. I simply switched to heart a pair months in the past full time, so it's nonetheless a bit new to me and I nonetheless want to enhance. It has undoubtedly been a problem at occasions to get everybody on the identical web page, as a result of now it's not simply my job anymore. I’ve to fret about getting everybody on the offense on the identical web page, and I'm getting higher at it as I’m going alongside."
That final half could also be an important piece for Feldkamp. The Coyotes knew they had been going to need to rebuild their offensive line coming into 2026 after 4 starters from final 12 months's playoff staff moved on. 5 new starters finally emerged up entrance to start out the 12 months, placing a giant duty on first-year offensive line coach James Bain and the group he took over.
Feldkamp has turn out to be the anchor. Via six video games, he has began each sport at heart, making him the start line of each offensive snap. With Caden Ellingson at proper guard and Nick Herzog at left guard alongside him, Brock Woolf returning to the beginning lineup at proper sort out over the past two weeks after beginning there a 12 months in the past and Brendon Crispe manning left sort out, the Coyotes have discovered an unlikely supply of stability in a gaggle that entered the season with so many questions.
And the outcomes have adopted. USD is tied for third within the Missouri Valley Soccer Convention in sacks allowed, giving up simply seven by way of six video games. That safety has helped first-year beginning quarterback Austyn Modrzewski settle into the offense whereas permitting him to persistently assault downfield.
USD is averaging 14.61 yards per completion, eighth-best within the FCS, whereas scoring 39 factors per sport, which ranks sixth nationally. The Coyotes' speeding assault can be averaging 196.3 yards per sport, good for fifteenth within the FCS. USD has scored at the least 35 factors in 4 of its first six video games, together with three 40-point performances, all coming contained in the DakotaDome. The Coyotes had simply 5 35-point video games in all of 2025 in 15 video games.
On the heart of that transformation is a participant who was not even positive the place he would match on the offensive line when the 12 months started. Feldkamp spent a lot of the spring competing for a sort out spot, whereas additionally getting work at guard and heart. He was primarily a bit the teaching employees may transfer round wherever it wanted him.
USD coach Matt Vitzthum stated that flexibility was a part of the rationale the employees didn’t instantly decide on heart for Feldkamp.
"Your first response a whole lot of occasions isn't to place a freshman at heart, as a result of we need to attempt to take a few of these issues off his plate," Vitzthum stated. "So, we didn't have Lucas there a ton all through spring ball, however about midway by way of got here we decided to check him there and I cherished it. He's a really clever younger man and has simply been a pure match for us there."
The extra Feldkamp performed heart, the extra apparent the match grew to become. His soccer IQ allowed the teaching employees to belief him with the duties that include the place, and the expertise he gained as a redshirt final season in his first 12 months at USD was big, too.
"The power employees did an awesome job for me in my first 12 months, and studying the offense on the scout staff final 12 months was crucial for me to be prepared this 12 months," Feldkamp stated. "And all through the spring I used to be competing at practically each spot, however I actually discovered myself being at my finest at heart. So, I used to be simply finding out the playbook always to be prepared wherever they determined was finest for the staff."
Now, the job is his. And it’s a job that extends effectively past the snap. Feldkamp is answerable for serving to talk the calls throughout the offensive line, significantly with the 2 gamers instantly beside him. Ellingson, a sixth-year participant, and Herzog, a fifth-year switch from Northwestern, carry extra expertise to the inside, giving the younger heart a pair of trusted voices when issues break down.
"The inside guys proper subsequent to me with Caden and Nick are who I’m speaking to essentially the most they usually have performed a whole lot of soccer in order that has helped me a ton," Feldkamp stated. "Their expertise inside the sport of soccer is phenomenal. However our total group has been superior to work with, and our offense has actually been buzzing this 12 months."
Feldkamp's path to Vermillion additionally makes his emergence a bit extra becoming. He’s, in each sense, a South Dakota product. A Brandon Valley Excessive College graduate, Feldkamp grew up in Sioux Falls and initially dedicated to Augustana as a result of he wished to stay dwelling and play school soccer in Sioux Falls.
Then USD got here calling. Former Coyotes offensive line coach Jeff Nady recruited Feldkamp late within the course of earlier than ultimately leaving Vermillion to affix the employees at Vanderbilt. When Nady departed, James Bain stepped in, bringing with him two seasons of expertise as an assistant offensive line coach at Minnesota.
For Feldkamp, the transition has been a straightforward one. He has cherished working with Bain and what the brand new offensive line coach has dropped at the group, significantly his data of the place and the sport as an entire.
And now Feldkamp is getting the prospect to stay out what he wished all alongside: taking part in Division I soccer with out leaving the state he calls dwelling.
"I’m simply so grateful to play Division I soccer, and I’m a giant South Dakota man," Feldkamp stated. "I’ve lived right here my complete life. I used to be not going to depart the state. It didn't matter. I didn't have a ton of Division I gives, however I wished to play within the state of South Dakota. I like being right here. It's my state. I don't plan on leaving anytime quickly."
