歪歪漫画

BEMIDJI 鈥� Dylan Chmura always had an inkling that he wanted to be a coach. But it wasn鈥檛 until his senior year at Michigan State that he fully caught the bug.

Chmura, the son of Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame tight end Mark Chmura, was out with an injury during his final playing season and wandered over to the offensive line room to inquire about coaching opportunities. Nearly a decade later, he鈥檚 very glad he did.

鈥淚 had to medically disqualify; I had a handful of concussions and various different injuries over my time at Michigan State,鈥� Chmura said. 鈥淥ne of my mentors, Mark Staten, was the offensive line coach at the time. I was working as a bouncer in East Lansing, and I remember texting him and saying, 鈥楬ey coach, I think I want to get into this coaching thing. Would it be okay if I came along into the O-line room for the season?鈥�

鈥淎nd I want to say within 10 seconds of the text, he FaceTimed me, and we had the conversation. He's like, 鈥楢bsolutely. I want you to be part of it. I was hoping that this is what you wanted to do.鈥欌��

Chmura played tight end with the Spartans, then shifted to a student assistant role working with the offensive line. That started him on a roundabout path that led through Fresno State, Iowa, Northern Michigan and Bemidji State. Now, after one year as the Beavers鈥� offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, he鈥檚 joined College Football Hall of Famer Eddie George as the offensive line coach at Tennessee State, a Division I program in Nashville.

Chmura migrated to BSU after spending two seasons at Northern Michigan, where he advanced from position coach to offensive coordinator. He eventually served as the Wildcats鈥� interim head coach in 2022 after head coach Kyle Nystrom鈥檚 resignation late that year.

NMU鈥檚 staff was not retained after the 2022 season, leading Chmura to Bemidji State. He thoroughly enjoyed his time with the Beavers, but serving as Northern Michigan鈥檚 head coach to finish out 2022 planted the seed for bigger things in the future.

鈥淢y goal is and always has been to coach football at the highest level that I possibly can,鈥� Chmura said. 鈥淢y ultimate goal is to one day get back to where I can be a head coach. I was fortunate to have the opportunity when I was at Northern Michigan to be the interim head coach at the end for two months. That really confirmed for me that I knew that I wanted to be a head coach again one day.鈥�

Contributed

As he transitioned to the next stage of his career, working for a Hall of Famer was a chance he couldn鈥檛 pass up in pursuit of that long-term objective. He sees similarities between Tennessee State鈥檚 program under George and Bemidji State鈥檚 under head coach Brent Bolte.

鈥淭he opportunity to coach with coach George, to learn and continue to grow and get to go compete at the Division I level (was appealing),鈥� Chmura said. 鈥淎 handful of different things (enticed me). The commitment and the vision, what coach George wants and is instilling in the program, (it鈥檚 a) high standard of excellence and what we want to achieve as a group.

鈥淐oach Bolte holds the Bemidji State program to such a high standard of excellence. Seeing the fact that he's been the winningest head coach in the (NSIC) since COVID, 29 wins in three years, it's phenomenal. Continuing to develop in a system with coach George having the same vision and standard moving forward, that's probably the best way that I can articulate it.鈥�

Chmura credited his time at BSU with setting a foundation for his future career goals. He highlighted how working alongside Bolte enabled him to grow as a coach while charting the next phase of his career.

鈥淐oach Bolte (is) a guy that the players love to play for and the coaches love to be around,鈥� Chmura said. 鈥淚f I had a son, I鈥檇 want him to play for coach Bolte in the sense that you know he's going to be held to a high standard. You know that he's going to be cared for. You know he's going to be helped to become the man that he wants to be. There's a reason why there's been so much success.鈥�

He left off by noting that though his time with the Beavers was brief, his connection with BSU will remain wherever his career takes him.

鈥淚 loved my time at Bemidji State,鈥� Chmura said. 鈥淚'll always be a Beaver. I hope they'll continue to allow me to root for the green and white. I am going to watch as many games as I physically can. It鈥檚 interesting, it was really hard the last couple of days. I got to come back up to move out. I was sitting there after I got everything moved out of that place and just reflecting on how much the community and the area means to me.

鈥淎s somebody who came in as an outsider and was only there for a year, the love and support that this place has is unlike any other. The community rallies around the university, and that support also allows for the success of the program.鈥�