Football | 1/10/2022 2:43:00 PM

Saturday's NCAA FCS national championship game featured two individuals with ties to the Minnesota State University Moorhead football program.
 
One of those individuals was Montana State defensive coordinator Freddie Banks, who was a Dragon assistant coach in 2011 and 2012; and the other was Ean Deno, the director of football recruiting at North Dakota State who served as director of operations and as a student assistant for the Dragons.
 
NDSU won the game, 38-10.
 
Both individuals say Dragon head football coach Steve Laqua was a big influence in their careers. Ironically Laqua and current MSUM offensive coordinator Rob Hunt played football at North Dakota State.
 
Banks was an assistant at MSU Moorhead under Head Coach Steve Laqua in 2011 and 2012, serving as defensive backs coach and  defensive play caller in 2012.
 
"The best thing to ever happen to me not only as a coach but as a husband and a father was spending two years with Coach Laqua," Banks said. "I was around a guy that really put his family first and I was able to see that putting your family first and loving football and your players can be done the right way. As a coach he really laid the foundation for me on how to be professional, how to be a leader and how to work with others. Coach Laqua taught me how to grow and continue to grow over time."
 
A Shoreview, Minn., native, Deno was recruited as an offensive lineman and became a student assistant coach. He was assistant director of football operations in 2017 before becoming director of operations in 2018.
 
"It is hard to put into words what coach Laqua has meant to me as coach and as a man," Deno said. "Working for him was one of the greatest opportunities of my life. He led our team and staff with a passion for people that I have rarely seen in others. His focus was always on doing things the right way and doing all he could to help others around him.

"I told Coach Laqua after I was fortunate enough to win my first championship that I would not be there without him and that is true again this year. I would not have been there without the lessons he taught me and the things he did for me along the way."
 
Banks, a native of Harvey, Ill, played four years at North Dakota State (2007-10).  He graduated with a degree in sociology.
 
After coaching two years at MSUM, Banks had stints as an assistant coach at Nicholls State, Midwestern State, Stephen F. Austin, Mercyhurst and Nevada before joining the Montana State staff in Feb. 2021.
 
Montana State advanced to the FCS national title game before losing to North Dakota State 38-10. The Bobcats finished 12-3.
 
"We won a lot of football games," Banks said. "Ultimately we didn't win a championship but we did a lot of things that hadn't been done in a long time. Bobcat football is in a good place  -- it will continue to be because of the leadership and the support of the athletic department and the football program."
 
Banks is now headed to Colorado State, where he will be the defensive coordinator on Jay Norvell's staff.
 
The Bison won their ninth FCS title in 11 years on Saturday.
 
"This season was filled with ups and downs but there is no other group that I would rather have gone through it with," Deno said. "These players, this staff, this group are truly something special. Standing on that stage Saturday celebrating with that group will not be something I ever forget. It was a great honor to be a part of this team."