At 6-5, it is easy to stand out in a crowd, but for Macalester College assistant football coach Lee Nystrom his stature goes way beyond simple height. The 1973 graduate from the school has distinguished himself in numerous ways, both on and off the field, and continues to share his wisdom about the sport of football and life in general with a new generation of students.

Coach Nystrom’s football journey began quite differently than most players you would come across today. Basketball was his true passion, but he went to high school in the late 60s, and so being a big kid in those days meant one thing – football.

“I started playing football in the ninth grade. I was just a big kid and when you’re a big kid you can play football. If you want to be an athlete and you are that big then this is your natural sport, at least that is what they tell you.”

While still finding his greater passion on the court, Lee was drawing attention because of his football skills. He was being recruited by several schools at virtually all levels, but wanted to go to a college where he would be challenged academically as well. Macalester College became the perfect fit.

“I had other opportunities to go elsewhere, but in high school I was known as a basketball player. I had a broken bone in my hand which meant I could practice but I could not play, so I was not recruited to Division-I at all. I was recruited at Division-II and Division-III, but not at the D-I level. Growing up on a farm my whole life, my goal was to get into the city, and I wanted to get to the Twin Cities. I didn’t want to be in another small city, and Macalester had such a great academic program; I just knew I wanted to come here.”

The school offered Lee the opportunity to play both basketball and football, but he soon found that his greatest success was going to be on the gridiron. “My goal when I came to Macalester was to play football and basketball. I ended up just playing football, primarily because I became bigger and stronger and football became my No. 1 sport.”

Nystrom starred for the Fighting Scots, starting on the offensive line all four years at the college. He was named the team’s MVP following the 1972 season and was a pre-season All-American that year.

Lee was clearly excelling as an athlete and that caught the attention of the Green Bay Packers. From 1973 to 1975 Nystrom was a Cheesehead, playing in 13 games in the 1974 season.

His experiences in the National Football League had a huge impact on him, primarily because he learned more about his craft at the highest level of the sport than he ever did as a student-athlete. It was something that left an indelible mark on Lee because he found that the system seemed to be turned upside down.

“One of the things that interested me was that in my time in the NFL I had really been taught the fundamentals of being a lineman, really for the first time in my life. I really hadn’t been taught that before. Before that I had been taught to be an animal and go out and kill somebody. The intricacies of the footwork and where to put your hands, the techniques that we learned were just not taught to me until I reached the NFL. It is almost ironic that at the very highest levels of football you are being taught the basic fundamentals.”

His time in the NFL was also vastly different than what it is like for players today. Changes in how long players can be working out and how long training camp can go has drastically changed the sport in ways that most fans do not realize. In Coach Nystrom’s day, camps were a lot more rigorous and lasted a lot longer than they do today. That actually benefitted the coach as he had the opportunity to grow into the position.

“When I played back in the 70s, they did things differently back then. When I was a rookie I was 6-5, 258, and I was our heaviest offensive lineman. From a size standpoint it was not much of an adjustment. However, everyone was quicker, everybody was stronger. But you have to remember back then that we had six exhibition games and training camp was a lot longer so there was a lot more time to develop. We were in pads often times twice a day, and one year we had six weeks of two-a-days. Back then the objective was to break you down mentally and physically.”

Lee is thankful that he played when he did because he had the opportunity to come from a Division-III school and learn how to be a professional athlete. He laments that this same opportunity is denied to many talented players today.

“I got lucky in that they gave me time. They gave me time to catchup with the guys who were from Division-I schools and they saw that my abilities had passed up all the other guys who were trying out for the team on the offensive line. So it was about being at the right place at the right time and just having fun. I think there are a lot of Division-III athletes who, if given the time and the opportunity, could play in the NFL, but it is getting tougher and tougher to do that because there is not the same amount of time to devote to working with a guy to see the kind of improvement that can prepare a guy to play at that level.”

When Coach Nystrom’s career on the gridiron came to an end as a player he decided that it was time to move to the coaching ranks. At that time his alma mater was in the throes of a record 50-game losing streak and he wanted to return so he could see if the things he had learned could help to change the fortunes of the Fighting Scots.

“When I got done playing I really wanted Macalester to get that monkey off their back, so when I was given the opportunity to coach, I really thought that with the things I had learned in the NFL that I could really help this program. So in the late-70s to the mid-80s (1976-1984) I coached for nine years.”

Lee helped get that monkey off of the team’s back, and the Macalester Scots became quite a successful program again but, in 1984, his coaching career was about to come to an end. He had gotten married to wife Gail and his job required him to travel a lot more. This meant that he was not able to attend practices as he believed he should and so, reluctantly, he stepped aside.

The Coach was out of football, but he remained very close to the college. In 1986 Lee Nystrom was inducted into the Macalester Athletics Hall of Fame and he served on the Macalester College Board of Trustees. This was just a small part of the active role he still took with the school.

While involved with Macalester in many ways, he was separated from the football team for 27 seasons, but that came to an end in 2012 when Head Coach Tony Jennison contacted Lee to ask for his help in working with the defensive line. Coach Nystrom loved the idea, but wanted to be sensitive to the current defensive line coach, so he checked to see who was coaching the group at that time. The Coach had no interest in stepping on or over another coach to return to the team.

He discovered that Defensive Coordinator Marshall Mullenbach was working with the defensive line, and decided that returning was a good choice. “I didn’t want to teach something different than what someone else was teaching. I found out that Coach Mullenbach, who was the defensive coordinator, was also the defensive line coach. So I thought that since he was a defensive back in college that he would not know all the tricks, because there are some things that only a lineman would know.”

He was anticipating that this would be a short-time duration, but that was not going to be the case. “So I thought I would come over and help out for a couple of days, Soon, a couple of days became a week, and a month became a full season. After that I was given full responsibility for the defensive line.”

Coach Nystrom’s return has aided in the resurgence of the Fighting Scots football program. Once a program that was the doormat of Division-III football, the Scots have seen tremendous growth on the field, culminating in the winningest season in the school’s history last year when they went 9-2.

The 2014 defense was one of most stout in the Midwest Conference, ranking third in points allowed per game and total defense. They were also tied for third in sacks.

Coach Nystrom has built one of the most influential and enduring legacies at Macalester College, something Coach Jennison fully recognizes.

“Lee Nystrom has impacted our football program in many ways. Not only is he a great D-Line coach but his influence behind the scenes with his connections throughout Macalester College and the Twin Cities has really helped our football program move forward.”

That influence is seen in a wide variety of ways. Off the field he chaired the committee that raised the money that built the Leonard Center athletic facility. That has allowed all the Fighting Scots athletic programs to be much more competitive in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) as well as in the Midwest Conference (MWC).

On the field he has brought an incredible amount of expertise and knowledge to the Scots, as well as a steady hand that has helped to mold these very special men. In this way Coach Nystrom is like one of those characters you see in movies or on television who everyone comes to with their issues, and who always seems to have the needed wisdom required. Call him the Howard Cunningham or Mr. Miyagi of Macalester College.

The Coach recognizes how much football has influenced his life, and now he wishes to provide that same kind of experience to his players. “Football shaped my life, so if I can help to shape another young man’s life I think that is really special. I want these young men to experience being part of a team and what that really means. I have been out of college for forty years, yet some of my teammates that I played with here at Macalester are still some of my best friends. It really proves that once a Fighting Scot, always a Macalester Fighting Scot.”

There is incredible wisdom that comes from Coach Nystrom. After all, he is a Macalester College graduate, so he clearly has a great deal of wisdom and insight to share, but he is not afraid to poke a little fun at himself. “I graduated in the bottom half of my class and, even at Macalester, someone has to graduate in the bottom half,” he explains

The manner in which Coach Nystrom says that is so comical because it is said with such dead-pan realness to it. He’s not saying it like he is embarrassed in anyway by that fact (which he shouldn’t be); he did graduate from Macalester College. It is clear that he makes that statement because he wants his players to understand that there is no reason to feel low if they are not the top person in the class or the best player on the field. They are getting a world-class education, and he is living proof that a guy who graduates in the bottom half of his class can go out and be a huge success as well as one of the most respected members of a huge metropolitan community.

With that being said, he also wants his players to clearly understand that he is a brilliant guy as well. They may be smart, but so is he. He continually challenges his lineman with weekly brain teasers just so that they know that the guy instructing them has a lot going on upstairs.

There is no issue with that however. His lineman have the utmost respect for him. Senior Zach Hauser explains that Coach Nystrom is “a guy who really understands the techniques of the game. He gets all the fine details of being a successful lineman, and he really understands how to beat an offensive lineman before the ball is even snapped.”

It is not just in techniques and strategies that has made him such a welcome addition to this coaching staff. Lee Nystrom comes with a passion for his craft, his alma mater and, most importantly, for the young men who are entrusted to his tutelage. That is something that is not lost on his players. Hauser explains that Coach Nystrom is “always there to pick us up after tough plays,” and junior lineman Nick Egersdorf adds that “he just really wants us to have fun out there and it is easy to tell that he wants us to succeed in all aspects of our lives.”

The players clearly get that this man who has returned to his alma mater to share his pearls of wisdom has placed one primary lesson above all. That is that he wants them to enjoy their time on the field.

“Football is still a game and a game is meant to be fun. When the game ceases to be fun for whatever reason then that is when you see people leave the sport. That is why it is important to have fun, and I really stress that with the players. They need to be having fun out there.”

Since Lee Nystrom’s return to the Fighting Scots coaching staff the players are having a lot more fun. The team is 22-15 during that time, and the atmosphere surrounding the program has really been something to behold. The man who has left an indelible imprint on Macalester College is back sharing his knowledge and insights with the football team, and the players and the coaching staff are better for it.

These young men will leave Macalester College with one of the best educations a person can receive and this group will also leave with the image of a man who has modeled brilliance on and off the field. Their education in the classroom was truly outstanding, but the lessons they learned on the field from Coach Lee Nystrom will help to make them men that wives, sons and daughters will be blessed to call husband or dad. Coach Nystrom has left a great legacy in many areas, but that will be his greatest achievement of all.

By Robert Pannier

Featured Image Courtesy of Jody Russell Photography