dthompson@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - As far as football is concerned, Luke Butler's mind is finally at ease.

Unlike last season, when he was embroiled in a quarterback battle at Idaho State, the Century graduate feels secure in his role with his new team, the Division II Augustana Vikings.

He knows he'll be the starter, and that sure feels good.

Back in his hometown for the first time since spring break, Butler took some time to talk about his new home and team in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Dan Thompson: Was it like you were the Matt Gutierrez of that program?

Luke Butler: The city isn't as in tune with what Augustana's doing because there's a couple other schools in town, and it's a smaller school. It wasn't like a big, big deal or anything, but there were a few things in the paper.

DT: So you didn't have a parade?

LB: No, no, no.

DT: What's the hardest thing about the transition?

LB: I was here for three years at ISU, so I've made some pretty good friends. They're still my friends, but the thing was going there and having to make a whole new set of friends. But that's one thing about Midwest people: They're pretty nice people, so it wasn't really that hard.

DT: What are the coaches like?

LB: Coach (Brad) Salem, he's a real cool guy. He's real smart; he knows his stuff. And he's got his dad helping out, "Smokey" Joe Salem, who coached at Northern Arizona, and he was the head coach at the University of Minnesota. We've got only a couple full time coaches because they don't pay as much. We've got three or four GAs, and they're just young guys. They're not much older than us. Every now and then you'll see the coaches out at night, and they're fine with it. I've sat and had a drink with a couple of our coaches before. It's fun.

DT: Sounds like a different atmosphere.

LB: It's more laid back. You're not under the scope like you would be at a Division I program.

DT: So you're "the guy" there. Is that nice?

LB: Yeah, it is nice. It's really nice. Last spring here was a bad time, just not knowing what the deal was. It's nice to know I'm the one.

DT: What system do they run there?

LB: It's similar to a West Virginia style, so I get to make a lot of decisions, a lot of checks and also get to run a lot. I run the option. It's fun. I like it. I had a good spring, and I picked it up quick.

DT: How are classes there?

LB: Classes are hard. It's a private school. Academics are taken much more seriously than I'm used to, which is a good thing for me because when I left here I had some pretty bad study habits.

DT: Like what?

LB: Like, none. But now that I'm there, I can honestly say I studied more in a week than I studied in a whole semester here. And I pulled out some pretty good grades this semester, so I'm pretty happy about that.

DT: So what do you do there besides play football and go to class? Is there room for anything else?

LB: Yeah, there's actually a lot of things going on. It's a smaller school, maybe 1,500, so you pretty much get to know the majority of the people. It's like a high school.

DT: Was it nice to get out of Pocatello?

LB: It was. I'm used to going places and seeing people that I know all the time, and it kind of gets old, I guess. It's nice to be in a new town where you don't know anybody.

DT: What else are you doing there?

LB: I'm actually thinking abut trying out for our baseball team. They need outfielders. I'm gonna give it a try.

DT: Coaches will let you do that?

LB: Yeah, I think so. We've got one guy on the team who catches on the baseball team.

DT: Even though you're the new guy, do you still walk in and try to be a leader, differently than if you had grown up through the program?

LB: My approach was, I knew that it was going to be hard for the guys to just accept a new person to be a leader, so I tried to keep my mouth shut and show them that I'm going to work hard. I didn't say anything, got to know the guys, became friends with them and showed I was going to work with them. By the end of spring ball, they looked at me as the guy.

DT: Do you have a protégé?

LB: We've got two freshmen coming in this fall. Other than that we've got me, another guy who's my age.

DT: Let's say the Bengals were 8-3 last year and you were still the backup. Would you have left?

LB: Probably, if it was the same situation. I didn't see myself getting too much of a chance to play. In spring ball at Augustana, all I was worried about was having fun. It was a change.

DT: How do they structure spring ball there?

LB: Funny story actually. The NCAA allows you 29 days to get your spring ball done, with 15 practices, so 14 practices and a spring game. Our spring game was scheduled for the 29th day, the last day you could possibly do anything. If you do anything the next day you get in trouble. So people's parents come down, my parents flew out to South Dakota to come watch the spring game. It just so happens that day we have a huge blizzard. a couple inches of snow on the ground, wind ripping through our stadium. So it gets canceled. Can't play tomorrow. No spring game for us this year.

DT: That sucks.

LB: It did suck. My parents flew out there and didn't get to see it. The interstate from Minnesota was closed, so most players' parents who were driving in couldn't get there anyway.

DT: What's the thing you miss about Pocatello?

LB: Friends, family and scenery. I like not being able to see for miles. (In Sioux Falls), you can see all the way to the Black Hills. That's the first thing that sticks out of the ground when you go that far. I was golfing on Saturday, looking around at the mountains, and that's probably what I miss the most besides friends and family.

DT: Yeah, and we've had snow on those mountains for a while.

LB: We pretty much get the same weather in Sioux Falls - plus a little more wind. What you guys are getting here, we get a day or two later. So my mom will call me up and say, "It's snowing." I'll tell my friends: "It's gonna snow in two days. Just watch, it's gonna snow." Sure enough, there it is.

DT: Well it seems you're still getting a warm reception here and at Holt Arena, seeing as how you're working out up there while you're home.

LB: I left on good terms with everybody. I tried to do that. I didn't want to make enemies or anything. There's no reason to do that.

DT: Do you talk to (quarterback) Russel (Hill) at all?

LB: I saw him at spring break.

DT: It didn't seem like there was ever any tension between the two of you.

LB: Not at all. I'm buddies with him. It's not like it was his fault I wasn't playing. He was just doing what he had to do. It was nothing he was doing wrong.