Owner Spotlight: Chad Roland - Dakota Bucks
Hello and welcome to the first of our Owner Spotlights! In these articles, we will try to learn a bit about our team owners and their philosophy of building a team and winning a championship. We hope you enjoy our first interview with the owner of the Dakota Bucks, Chad Roland.
Q: Give some of the background of who you are and why your history with football/sim sports will make you the best owner in the WFL
My name is Chad Roland. I have been officially involved in sim sports since 2018 and unofficially really my entire life. I have been an owner in multiple leagues along with being a GM as well.
Q: Why did you bring your WFL franchise to this market?
When the WFL became a thing, I knew that I wanted to put a team in a market that never gets any love when it comes to sim sports. I also wanted to get a team in where a pro football presence isn’t there. Dakota in my mind was the perfect spot.
Q: What was the inspiration for your team branding?
Dakota Bucks used to be a professional indoor football team in the IFL but became dormant 3 years ago. We have resurrected the team and moved them into the WFL, and the community is excited for a chance to see their Bucks again
Q: Going into the WFL draft, what kind of team are you trying to build?
What we envisioned is how this team was built in the indoor game. We want to be an “air raid” type of offense. We want to take it to the skies and bring a hardnosed defense with us as well.
Q: What WFL Franchise are you most excited to face off against?
We are just excited to get back on the field again. All these teams in the WFL are good and we are excited for the chance to show what Dakota can do
Q: What's your process for evaluating team chemistry when making personnel decisions? How do you weigh talent versus cultural fit?
We have been interviewing players for the upcoming draft. We want to bring in players who are excited to bring something to the Dakotas that hasn’t been seen on a professional level which is winning football. Collegiate level wise we are very good with NDSU and their championships, but we are wanting to see that success on a pro level. So, getting players that have those type of goals is what we are looking for.
Q: How do you approach developing young quarterbacks? What do you look for when evaluating QB prospects?
We look at two things. First, we look at the leadership quality. Everyone knows that teams usually start at the QB position to lead their team. So, we want a leader that can motivate the team in any situation. Second, we look at the intangibles. We want someone who has the talent and the IQ to be able to learn in our system. We feel like our system can make any QB successful, but they must have the killer instinct to want that success.
Q: Do you build a team based on your scheme or do you get the best players and build a scheme around them?
We have a scheme in mind when it comes to how we want things played out in Dakota, but the coaching staff knows that we can adjust if needed to get the results that we want. So really, it’s a balance of both worlds
Q: What is the most important position to you (other than QB) and why?
For me it’s the MLB. That position is considered “The QB on defense” and so we want to see a leader at that position as well.
Q: And for a bit of fun- Who is your favorite musical artist of all time?
Haha, Noah that’s a tough one. A lot of great artists come to mind when it comes to this. But I am going to have to go with a band from the past that I am truly named after and that is Creedance Clearwater Revival. My mother was a rocker in her day, and she made sure that my initials lined up with theirs. (I swear this a true story) Lol.
Also thank you again Noah for all you have done so far for the WFL. These profiles of the upcoming prospects have been awesome to read, and cant wait to see what you are going to do for the upcoming season. Putting my Emperor hat on here, I always say that content is what can make a league fantastic, and seeing these things really brings that to life. Hopefully, others will follow in your footsteps and provide some great content down for the WFL! Thank you again for taking the time to talk to me!
And Thank you Chad for taking the time to talk to us. We hope that this was a fun read for all the WFL Faithful out there. We have many other interviews coming but next up will be our interview with the great Colin Pierce of the West Virginia Wild!