Kalen DeBoer to Speak at Althletic Banquet

Tickets are on sale for the annual Milbank High School athletic banquet set for Wednesday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Milbank Armory. Guest speaker will be Milbank alumnus Kalen DeBoer.

DeBoer is entering his third season as an assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback coach for the Eastern Michigan University Eagles football team. Prior to joining the staff at EMU, he spent four years at Southern Illinois University.

In 2015, EMU secured 39 touchdowns to tie for the fifth-most touchdowns in a single season during the squad’s 124-year history. Their total offense of 4,560 yards was also the team’s fifth most.

On the ground, EMU churned out the fourteenth best single season rushing total of 1,894 yards. Through the air, EMU quarterbacks combined for 2,666 yards passing, ranking seventh in the program. EMU’s passing attack spread the wealth with seven receivers completing 20 or more receptions. Eastern Michigan was one of just three schools in the nation to accomplish that feat.

DeBoer served as assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and wide receiver coach at Southern Illinois University from 2010-2013. His offense set a Saluki Stadium record with 565 yards of total offense in its game against Southeast Missouri State in 2012. That record eclipsed the previous one, also set by DeBoer’s offense in 2010, when the Salukis put up 508 yards against Indiana State in the final game of the season. In total, the Salukis beat ten Top-25 opponents during DeBoer’s tenure.

Prior to his stint at SIU, DeBoer served as the head coach for five seasons at the University of Sioux Falls. There, he led one of the most dominant programs in the nation. A three-time NAIA National Coach of the Year, he compiled an astonishing 67-3 (.957) record and guided USF to three national championships in 2006, 2008, and 2009.
DeBoer won four Great Plains Athletic Conference Championships, 50 straight home games, and 29 straight games in his final two seasons and boasted a 17-2 record in the playoffs. That winning streak was the longest in the nation at any level in college football at the time. As a head coach, DeBoer has coached 18 first-team All-Americans.