Former members of the Mankato West High School Football Team took center stage at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Wednesday night in support of her former coach, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, as she formally accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president.
However, social media was stirred by the reference to Walz as football coach that turned a losing team into a state champion.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reacts during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“In Minnesota, we put our faith in a coach who turned an 0-27 team into a state champion,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said in her remarks on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
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Ben Ingman, one of Walz's former students who said the governor also coached him in seventh-grade basketball and track in Mankato, echoed that sentiment.
“Coach Walz got us excited about what we could accomplish together. He believed in us and helped us believe in each other. And his leadership endured. That track team won a state title, as did the football team.”
Several players then took the stage in a spirited attitude, drawing cheers from the crowd as the school's fight song played in the background.
Former members of the Mankato West High School football team take the stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21, 2024 in Chicago. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers was booed at DNC for talking about the Green Bay Packers and then made it difficult for him to speak
However, some on social media couldn't help but point out that Walz only served as an assistant coach while in Mankato.
“Amy Klobuchar is portraying Timothy Walz as a coach who 'turned' a team 'into a state champion,'” one person wrote in a post on X. “He was NEVER a head coach. He didn't 'turn' anyone into a state champion.”
“He was the assistant coach, not the coach,” Richard Grenell, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany, told X.
“I'm still very, very confused as to why they keep harping on the 'Coach Walz' thing from a million years ago when Tim Walz was a volunteer assistant coach…why don't they focus on his governance…no…they just want to focus on Coach Walz…strange,” another person wrote.
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Walz was a member of the Mankato faculty from 1996-2006. During that time, he served as the Scarlets' linebackers coach and defensive coordinator until 2002. Under head coach Rick Sutton, the school won its first state championship in 1999.
Mankato West's interior defensive line throws to Northfield's Tim Mullen for a loss in the first half at the Metrodome on Nov. 19, 1999. (MARLIN LEVISON/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
He was inducted into the high school Hall of Fame in 2019.
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