“What an amazing day,” he said.
Actually, two days. Meidt has deep connections to these three football teams, and he had a lot to celebrate after they went 3-0 last weekend — a pair of state championships Friday and a win in the NCAA Division III playoffs Saturday.
And now the guy who long ago promised his wife that he wouldn’t get into coaching insists he’s retiring from coaching again to spend more time with his wife, kids and four grandkids.
“Time is the one product you can’t make more of,” he said.
The year 1985 is a good place to trace the start of Meidt’s long and fairly uncommon football life. Meidt played quarterback for his dad, Gerhard, at Minneota, and the Vikings made their first state tournament appearance that season. Their opponent in the first round was Becker, coached by Dwight Lundeen. Minneota won the game in a snowstorm. The Meidt father-and-son tandem went on to win Prep Bowl titles in 1986 and ‘87. Chris set several national passing records in the process.
He played collegiately at Bethel, where he met and later married star basketball player Allison Rostberg (daughter of Hutchinson football coaching legend Grady Rostberg and sister of current coach Andy Rostberg). Lundeen was Becker’s athletic director at the time and hired Allison to coach girls basketball after she left Bethel. She and Meidt were engaged, and she knew she didn’t want her husband-to-be to coach football because of the time commitment.