Randy R. Hedberg (born December 27, 1954) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and a former player. He is the associate head coach and quarterbacks coach at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

. Hedberg played as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) in 1977. He was the head football coach at

Minot State University Minot State University (MSU or MiSU) is a public university in Minot, North Dakota, United States. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, MSU evolved into a university in 1987 and is currently the state's third-largest, offering undergraduate and ...

, his alma mater, from 1982 to 1989 and St. Cloud State University from 1999 to 2007, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of

Early life, playing career, and education

Born and raised in

Parshall, North Dakota Parshall ( Hidatsa: ''dibiarugareesh'') is a city lying within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. It is located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in Mountrail County, North Dakota, United States. The ...

, southwest of Minot, Hedberg graduated from Parshall High School in 1973. He played

at Minot State College, an NAIA school, from 1973 to 1976. He was a four-year letter winner in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

for the Beavers, and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

in 1977. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

in 1987. Hedberg was selected in the eighth round (196th overall) in the

1977 NFL draft The 1977 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

, the eleventh quarterback selected. He saw significant playing time in his rookie season in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, appearing in seven games and starting four, including the season opener. As of 2023, no rookie quarterback drafted lower than Hedberg has been a team's starting quarterback in Week 1. He did not play well; his final stat line for the season was 25 completions on 90 attempts (a 27.8% completion percentage), with zero touchdowns and 10 interceptions. On

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

the following year, he was traded in February

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

; briefly with Raiders and Green Bay, he did not see any regular season playing time. Hedberg was selected as #31 in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

s "50 Greatest Sports Figures in North Dakota."

Coaching career

Following his playing career, he was an assistant coach at his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, Minot State, from 1979 to 1981, and its head coach from 1982 to 1989, compiling a (.657) record in eight seasons. He then became the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and quarterbacks coach at Central Missouri State University (1990–1995) and at the

(1996–1998) in

Grand Forks Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the state, after Fargo and Bismarck. Grand For ...

. He returned to the head coaching ranks in 1999 at St. Cloud State University, a Division II program in central

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, compiling a (.480) record in nine seasons. His overall record as a head coach stands at (.554) in 17 seasons. Hedberg was the quarterbacks coach at

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 sta ...

. He was hired in February 2008. After the 2013 season he signed on to be the quarterbacks coach at North Dakota State University in Fargo. Here, Hedberg would coach

Carson Wentz Carson James Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the North Dakota State Bison, where he won two consecutive NCAA FCS national championships as the starter. Wentz was s ...

, the eventual 2nd overall pick in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. Randy also coached Easton Stick a 2019 5th round draft pick of the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

. He was the quarterback coach of Trey Lance, the third overall pick in the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

Honors and family

Hedberg was inducted into Minot State's hall of fame in 1985. Hedberg was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Assistant coach of the year award in 2021. He has four children, Jennifer, Kate, Christopher and Maddie.

Head coaching record

References

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFCA_Coach_of_the_Year_Award

External links

North Dakota State profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedberg, Randy 1954 births Living people American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Central Missouri Mules football coaches Minot State Beavers football coaches Minot State Beavers football players Minot State Beavers men's basketball coaches Minot State Beavers men's basketball players North Dakota Fighting Hawks football coaches North Dakota State Bison football coaches Southern Illinois Salukis football coaches St. Cloud State Huskies football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers players University of North Dakota alumni People from Mountrail County, North Dakota Sportspeople from Minot, North Dakota Coaches of American football from North Dakota Players of American football from North Dakota Basketball coaches from North Dakota Basketball players from North Dakota 20th-century American sportsmen