Gov. Tim Walz pops up in Mankato, gives pep talk to high school team he once coached

MANKATO – The football players in their pads jogged out to face their rivals Friday night as Gov. Tim Walz, back home briefly as he campaigns across the country as vice presidential nominee, cheered them on.

"Don't forget to have fun, enjoy," Walz told players on the football team at Mankato West High School, where he worked as a geography teacher and assistant football coach before launching a political career that carried him to the Democratic Party's national ticket.

Since choosing Walz as her running mate, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has touted his background as a football coach, hunter and gun owner, as Democrats reach out to Midwestern voters and look for inroads with men.

Walz's stop in Mankato is one of a series of media stops in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where the governor is talking high school football and hunting.

"This is the best of America," Walz told reporters after greeting the players of Mankato West ahead of their rivalry game with Mankato East. He said he would visit his old classroom before heading to watch the game.

A quarter-century ago, Walz was the assistant defensive football coach for the 1999 Mankato West football team that won the state championship. That year's crosstown rivalry game was a spark for Mankato West that season, said John Considine, a Mankato West alumnus and right tackle on that 1999 Class 4A championship team.

"It's good to have him back," Considine said Friday.

Local Republicans called Walz's appearance a stunt. "They're getting desperate to get the word out," said Yvonne Simon, chair of the Blue Earth County GOP, adding she doesn't think the governor's "coach" branding is catching on.

Rumors of a possible Walz appearance at Friday's Mankato East-Mankato West game swirled in the days before it was announced. In a post on X on Wednesday, former GOP state Rep. Jeremy Munson urged people to show up and boo Walz.

Before Friday night's game — held at the neutral site of Blakeslee Stadium — Walz greeted fans and walked out to do the ceremonial coin toss. He posed for photos and hugged supporters as he walked through the crowd on the Mankato West side.

The crowd, enjoying the crisp autumn air, appeared to be energized ahead of kickoff. There were no political signs visible in the stands, following an edict earlier by the school district against such displays. Outside the stadium, several protestors held signs criticizing U.S. Palestinian policies.

The Mankato West Scarlets won 28-7 on Friday night, extending the streak against their rivals to 19 years.