Jimmies scrimmage on campus, build foundation during spring practice

The Jimmies turned Charlotte and Gordon Hansen Stadium into a live evaluation stage on Saturday, April 11, using their campus scrimmage to see which players can handle real football speed and which groups still need work before summer.

Spring practice is where college teams learn the most about themselves, and that was the point in Jamestown. With a large 2025-26 roster available for evaluation, head coach Brian Mistro and his staff had a first serious look at returning players, younger prospects and depth-chart questions that are rarely settled until the pads come on. The spring window also gives the Jimmies a chance to sharpen technique, clean up communication and identify who can help on special teams, an area that often decides close games.

Tom Dosch’s return to Jamestown added another layer to the work. Hired Feb. 12 as associate head coach and special teams coordinator, Dosch had already coached the Jimmies from 2004 through 2007, when he finished 25-17 and guided the program to two playoff berths. His experience gives Mistro another voice as the staff sorts through roles and tries to build a team that can be reliable in the fall, not just energetic in the spring.

The setting mattered, too. Charlotte and Gordon Hansen Stadium is the home base for both Jimmie football and track and field, and the University of Jamestown says $11.7 million in renovations were completed there in 2020 and 2021. The upgrades included a new artificial turf field, a 9-lane, 400-meter track and new jump and throwing areas, making the stadium a major on-campus asset for training and competition. For a campus that says athletics is meant to build relationships between the community and campus, an April scrimmage at that facility keeps football visible in Jamestown even months before the fall opener.

The bigger backdrop is the program’s move into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The university was accepted as a full-time NSIC member on Nov. 21, 2023, and official membership is set to begin July 1, 2025, pending NCAA Division II acceptance. That makes spring practice more than a routine drill period. It is part of the Jimmies’ adjustment to a higher level of competition, where every rep matters and every answer found in April can shape what happens when the season arrives.