A peek behind the curtains of how and why Mark Gronowski stuck with the Jackrabbits
A few days before the National Championship, then SDSU OC Zach Lujan informed the team he would be leaving for the same position at Northwestern.
12 hours later as Mark Gronowski strolled into the locker room, a popular tune from 2007 suddenly began playing — ‘Homecoming’, sung by Chicago native Kanye West.
Realizing what was occurring before him, Gronowski shook his head in ridiculousness before giving a slight chuckle as his teammates burst out laughing.
By 4:07 p.m. the coming Sunday, their title had been successfully defended, the first undefeated season in school history was complete, and now it was time for Captain 11 to answer a few questions.
As he stood speaking into the microphone above thousands of SDSU faithful atop a stage in Frisco, Texas, three words rang louder than the rest — And they hadn’t come from his mouth.
Reverberating around the stadium from his Jackrabbit teammates came the chant “One more year!”
“I really felt the love, that was a really special thing, but I kind of almost felt uncomfortable,” Gronowski said of the moment. “You knew that everyone was kind of thinking about it that entire week, and it was almost like a forbidden topic around the fans.”
While the fans steered clear of the subject, his teammates had a bit of a different approach. Occasionally briefing him on what he planned to do, Gronowski repeatedly stated that it wasn’t important right then, and that Montana was the only focus. Evidenced by a conversation with his parents a day after the Lujan announcement, he wasn’t kidding.
“When we talked, he said, ‘were going to talk for 30 minutes, and after the 30 minutes I don’t want to be asked about it until after the national championship, I don’t want to hear about it,’” Ray Gronowski recalled of a conversation with his youngest son.
With the season now finished, taking a day to enjoy it all, the Gronowski’s dove into gathering information with the belief Mark had just a few days to make a life altering decision. To their relief, they soon learned with Mark set to graduate in May, the portal deadline did not pertain to graduate transfers.
With time now on their side, they began to map out the most important factors, and the most immediate component was the vacancy on the SDSU coaching staff. Mark knew staying in Brookings meant likely working with a new position coach, but would it also mean learning a whole new offense? The in-house promoting of Offensive Line Coach Ryan Olson to O.C. answered that question. With the announcement of Olson’s promotion also came the news that Danny Freund, a former North Dakota assistant, would join the staff as co-offensive coordinator and the latest quarterback coach.
A typical method used as a way to introduce the new coaches (in this case just one single coach with Freund being the only newcomer on the staff) to the entire staff, they all gathered as one for dinner. Yet this year, Gronowski and Chase Mason were also invited to join the meal. Rather than waiting until the spring to build relationships, Freund began to get to know a few of his gunslingers from day one.
With the questions marks surrounding the coaching staff resolved, Gronowski began to look deeper into the existing realities outside of Brookings, and what better way to start than to hear from someone who’d just gone through the entire process themselves?
Speaking with former UAlbany quarterback Reese Poffenbarger, who has since transferred to Miami (FL), and former Holy Cross quarterback Matthew Sluka, who has since transferred to UNLV, the two painted a picture of what jumping into the portal was really like.
Among the many details they shared, the two explained the unenjoyable chaos from the dozens of calls and texts he would receive from the very moment of entering the portal. The soon to be fifth year QB would certainly have his fair share of suitors, and one of the programs most interested in securing his talents would be the Northwestern Wildcats.
Growing up 40 miles west of Northwestern’s campus, the Naperville, Illinois native dreamed of playing Big Ten football. And better yet, with almost his entire family still living there, and most of his hometown friends returning to the Chicago area to live full-time after recently graduating college, choosing to rock the purple, black and white would be quite the homecoming. Enticing as the situation appeared to be, Gronowski’s decision would be based on one factor above the rest.
“I kind of had to start reassessing the goals that I now have in front of me,” Gronowski began. “Yea, Big Ten football would be so cool to play, but is that going to be the best thing for me with my long-term goals of being in the NFL? Playing at a Big Ten school isn’t my dream anymore. The next level is where I really want to be.”
With that in mind, Gronowski sought the opinions of individuals with NFL intel, and SDSU Head Coach Jimmy Rogers was more than willing to help with the process.
“He was super supportive throughout the whole thing, which was kind of cool from your head coach that you have the opportunity to leave,” Gronowski stated. “I feel like a lot of coaches wouldn’t have handled it that way, but he tried to do everything in his power to help me make a decision. He helped me get a hold of agents connected with scouts so that I could ask them all kinds of questions to get feedback.”
The agents explained some scouts wanted to see a bit of a quicker release and smoother foot work, some pointed more toward improving accuracy on his intermediate and deep ball throws to help give receivers a better chance for YAC (yards after catch), but one consistent message he received was the importance of playing. To transfer somewhere and sit would obviously do him no good.
After a few conversations with Lujan, someone who became not just a coach, but a mentor and friend of Mark’s, the Walter Payton Award winner began studying the Northwestern QB’s with an engineer-esque type approach. From where they were once ranked as recruits, to their 2023 statistics, to beat reporter write-ups, Gronowski jotted line after line of information. And there was another piece of the puzzle to acknowledge as well - The offensive line. It didn’t take long to realize the Wildcats had given up 51 sacks in 2023, while the Jackrabbits have surrendered just 29 sacks over the past two seasons.
As the weeks went on, more Power Four teams from the Big Ten and ACC began showing interest, but with Mark not in the portal, teams were not permitted to have direct contact him. Therefore, whether it was ‘friends of friends’, an agent, or a QB guru who was connected in the world of college football, the individual would reach out to Ray making it clear so and so university had real interest in Mark.
Some conversations were more general, others offered a specific six figure dollar amount, and one expressed the school was willing to pay whatever it took to bring Mark into the fold. The conversations were short, telling Ray if Mark were to enter the portal, talks would continue then.
Like he had with Northwestern, Mark did his homework, even occasionally getting a hold of players from the respective programs to try and get a feel for the culture and coaching staff of the schools showing interest from afar.
All the while, his family and girlfriend Katherine Jones, an SDSU soccer player, continued to keep their message a simple one. “Sometimes after talking about everything, I’d want to know more of what they thought, I’d ask them to give me more of their opinions,” Mark began, “but they never tried to be too involved and were just supportive. They had my back no matter my decision and that was huge for me.”
As march neared, there was still nothing settled. Gronowski told Rogers (now the only coach still on staff from when he first arrived on campus) he planned to make a final decision on his future sometime through spring ball, wishing to first see how the offense progressed with Olson and Freund.
It all made for stepping out in public a bit uncomfortable at times, and he wasn’t the only one receiving constant questions about his future. With college coaches stopping by at Neuqua Valley High School (The high school Mark attended in Naperville, Illinois) to recruit players for the class of 2025 and 2026, they made sure to ask Head Coach Bill Ellinghaus (head coach since 2012) if he knew if or when Mark would be entering the portal. Jones had also gotten her fair share of questions with people wondering if she too would leave SDSU (Jones has one year of eligibility remaining with the soccer program) if Mark was to depart.
As time passed and the options were weighed, the more Mark began leaning towards remaining a Jackrabbit. “We would lay out all the facts and he would say ‘the grass is pretty fricking green here Dad, it’s pretty fricking green,’” Ray Gronowski said with a laugh. The friendships he’s formed, the trust established between himself and Rogers, the two straight national titles with a roster built to take dead aim at a third, and the superb community support would be difficult to walk away from. “If they didn’t pack the stands, it would make it easier to leave,” Mark stated, “but the people here are so behind us as a team and a program, and that matters.”
And there was yet another piece of information coming from the NFL scouts that colored the grass at South Dakota State even greener.
“They look at SDSU as either a top Group of Five team or a lower tier Power Four team, that we can compete up there,” Mark began. “To hear that from an NFL scout that has no relation to SDSU makes it feel a bit different.”
Feeling more than content with life in Brookings, Mark gave Lujan a call to inform him he didn’t plan on entering the portal.
“Not that we won't have any relationship in the future, but it was a hard conversation with Lujan, it felt like you were breaking up with someone that you’d known for four years,” Gronowski said. “Lujan has taught me so much and there’s even more he can teach me, he’s such a smart dude, but a part of my development might be to learn from a different coach and see what other coaches have to offer with their teaching styles.”
The exit door remained ajar when a Top 10 ranked team in America began expressing real interest in Gronowski in late March; but feeling more comfortable by the day in Olson and Freund’s offense, he seemed destined to remain put. Even if Gronowski wanted extended time for pondering, it would no longer be available. The NCAA announced a rule change in mid-April stating potential grad transfers now had a deadline of May 1 to enter the portal.
On the second to last day to do so, Gronowski took to X announcing he was back (as if he ever left), via a letter originally released in March of ’95 from Chicago icon Michael Jordan when he returned from baseball to play basketball once again for the Chicago Bulls.
“Being able to make a final decision, it felt so good, I couldn’t stop smiling all day,” Gronowski expressed. “Just knowing that SDSU has done so much for me during my years here, they believed in me from the start, I almost feel in debt to South Dakota State.”
This season will be Mark’s last as a Jackrabbit, and it could be one for the ages. Looking to move to a combined 8–0 against NDSU and USD, he stands 13 victories away from becoming the all-time winningest QB in FCS history. He also has the opportunity to become the third athlete to ever win back-to-back Walter Payton Awards.
But make no mistake, the coming season surrounds a singular focus.
The 2024 Jackrabbits will look to climb to heights few have ever seen. Only three programs— NDSU, Appalachian State and Minnesota — have ever won three consecutive national championships in Division I college football; and South Dakota State has plans to become the fourth.
With trips to Cedar Falls, Fargo and Grand Forks on the schedule, it certainly won’t be easy.
But with Captain 11 back in the saddle, you’d be a fool to bet against the boys from Brookings.
