By Tim Unruh

LINDSBORG — Mike Grossner was coaching football and running a pub in Europe when something of a Mayday distress message alerted him by phone.

It was from his alma mater back in Lindsborg, Kansas.

An old friend and member of the Bethany College Board of Trustees, Mark Lysell, Class of 1974, sensed the old Swedes quarterback might have the formula to put some might back in the program.

“I said something like ‘You always talked about wanting to come back to Bethany. Here’s your chance, and we need help,’ ” Lysell recalled.

It prompted Grossner and his wife, Karen, to pack up and move back to Middle America.

Lindsborg is where he blossomed as a field general in the late 1980s. He marched through some “glory days” with legendary Head Coach Ted Kessinger, the late Gary Sandbo, offensive coordinator, and other leaders who guided some proud players to prominence in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.

“Coach Grossner had been so successful coaching everywhere he’s gone, and to me, he was a perfect guy for this job. I talked him into applying, and I’m really glad the Bethany administration chose him,” said Lysell, who is among the most avid Bethany College boosters.

The former owner of the Ol’ Stage bar in downtown Lindsborg was a member the Swedes’ football chain gang for decades.

Bethany’s football program was mired in a 25-game losing streak, Lysell said, and the Swedes were desperately in need of a boost.

Grossner accepted the challenge in 2023, and his return was a special kind of homecoming, proclaiming this coaching stop “will be my last job.”

The beautiful campus on the northern limits of Lindsborg hadn’t changed. Coach Kessinger was retired, but still living within walking distance of the stadium that now bears his name.

But there was a glaring difference on the gridiron.

Grossner, 58, didn’t mince words.

“I was embarrassed as a former player and alum, with how far the program had sunk,” he said. “I felt the calling to come back.”

Bethany Football basically started over.

“The goal of being here is to put this thing back to where (Coach Kessinger) had it; being respectful,” Grossner said. “I was coming full circle”

While his first season back resulted in one win over Tabor College, and 10 losses — “We were competitive in every game,” he said — a palpable buzz has returned to the campus.

It’s that tinge of excitement that gives students, locals and fans something to anticipate on fall Saturdays.

“It makes all the difference in the world,” Lysell said. “When I was running the Stuga and the team was rocking’ and rollin’, more alums would come back for the games, and our Saturday (sales) were like 30-percent better. There was a different vibe.”

He’s starting to notice the same now, although the recovery is in its very early stages.

“There’s something in the air,” Lysell said. “People are calling and asking questions. It’s like night and day.”

The comeback will take some time, said Grossner, who keeps Quarterback Club members (boosters/supporters) informed with weekly updates on “what we’ve done around here during the season and offseason.”

Nine players returned for his first season.

“I recruited 52 kids last year and there are 28 left. I brought 80 kids this year. We’ve got a whole new team,” Grossner said.

The one returning senior last year was the long snapper, and now there  are 14 of seniors suiting up for the 2024 campaign.

“I love what the kids are doing in this camp. I feel like we’re on our way. I drive in every day (from home in Salina) excited to work with them,” Grossner said, “But we’re still really young.”

Coach Kessinger, 83, can relate from his first year at Bethany in 1976.

“We came into a program that won one game and lost nine. Then we went 6 and 4, and things got better after that,” he said. “We had great players and super assistant coaches and that’s what made a difference.”

One of those assistants was Grossner, who was on the staff in 1988.

Over 28 seasons, Kessinger won almost 80 percent of his games. He collected 16 KCAC titles, and was named KCAC Coach of the Year 11 times. He’s a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame (2003), Kansas Sports Hall of Fame (2005), College Football Hall of Fame, (2010) and South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame (2014).

Grossner’s college playing career started at Northern Arizona University in the Big Sky Conference where he was a backup quarterback as a true freshman, The starter was a junior.

“I wanted to play more so I went to Scottsdale Community College (Arizona). The only school I could go back to was NAU, but they fired the staff, so I had to graduate from juco,” he said.

Bethany Coach Kessinger met Grossner during a recruiting trip to Arizona. Grossner’s plan at the time was to complete his two-year degree before moving to a four-year school.

“Coach K stayed in touch and I eventually came out (to Bethany) sight unseen, in a little Mustang,” Grossner said.

He played in 1986 and ’87, and coached in ’88, losing four games in three years, and was part of a 13-0 team as an assistant coach.

“I remember recruiting Mike. He was a leader,” Kessinger said. “His teammates really respected him.”

Grossner next spent 15 years at Baker University.

He is in his 33rd year in coaching, 21 of them as a head coach.

“Coach Grossner has the experience and the desire to create that type of environment that he played in when he came to Bethany. They have their work cut out for them. It’s going to take time,” Coach Kessinger said. “I think the alumni are fired up about Mike coaching at Bethany, especially those who played and coached with him.”

Folks in Lindsborg are starting to get a taste of those good ol’ days, Lysell said.

“Nobody’s expecting miracles this year,” he said, “but it’s just so much fun to see people care about the program, looking toward to the future and what might be coming down the pike.”

FACTOID: Coaching/Lindsborg connections: Coach Grossner’s son Ryker, is a wide receiver at Bethany College played high school football at Salina Central for Head Coach Mark Sandbo, son of the late Gary Sandbo, who was Bethany College’s offensive coordinator under former Head Coach Ted Kessinger. Gary Sandbo won a state high school football title at Smoky Valley High School in Lindsborg. Grossner also has a son, Jake, working at The ol’ Stuga bar in Lindsborg.

Swede football schedule

• 1 p.m. Aug. 31, Bethany at Avila, Mo.

• 11 a.m. Sept. 7, Kansas Wesleyan at Bethany

• 6 p.m. Sept. 14, Bethany at Tabor

• 1 p.m. Sept. 21, Sterling at Bethany (Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day)

• 1 p.m. Sept. 28, Bethany at Saint Mary

• 1 p.m. Oct. 5, Ottawa at Bethany (Homecoming)

• 6 p.m. Oct. 19, Bethany at Evangel. Mo.

• 1 p.m Oct 26, McPherson at Bethany (Conference Division Home Opener/Voter Day/Red White & Blue Day)

• 1 p.m. Nov. 2, Bethany at Southwestern

• 1 p.m. Nov.9, Bethany at Bethel

• 1 p.m. Nov. 16, Friends at Bethany (Senior Day)

Special homecoming events:

• 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 4, Athletic and Alumni Awards, Sundstrom Center

• 10 a.m. Oct. 5, Paul Mogenson Celebration of Life, Campus Chapel

• Time TBD, Oct. 5, Ribbon Cutting for the late Gary Sandbo Memorial Practice Field

• 11 a.m. football tailgate. Hahn Gymnasium

Notes: The late Paul Mogenson was a well-known journalist who covered Bethany College and other schools in north-central Kansas since 1968. He also worked under Bethany Head Football Coach Ted Kessinger. The late Gary Sandbo, was a longtime Bethany and Smoky Valley High School football coach.