What does it mean to be the Director of Auggie Engagement?
In this position I have the opportunity to connect with alumni, parents and friends of Augsburg. It’s my hope that we can continue to connect Auggies to the college, to their classmates and to fellow Auggies. As an Auggie you are important to the College, and we want to find ways to engage you, help to continue your learning, grow your network and use your talents to the benefit of Auggies.

What’s your favorite memory from your time at Augsburg?
I was involved in The Augsburg Choir, Augsburg Band and Jazz Band. I have some strong memories of times that we spent together on various tours. One that stands out to me is our joint band and choir tour to Arizona where we were snowed in in Flagstaff.

I loved being a part of Advent Vespers, especially standing all around Central Lutheran holding our candles and singing Silent Night. It still stirs up quite a bit of emotion in me.

Did you have any mentors as a student?
I studied in the Theater and Music Departments and those programs are so all encompassing so I very naturally feel a strong connection to all of those amazing faculty: Michael Burden, Darcey Engen, Martha Johnson, Sonja Thompson, Jill Dawe, Merilee Klemp, Peter Hendrickson and Bob Stacke.

Michael Burden ’85 in the Theater Department was a terrific mentor to me, he was a supportive professor who worked really closely with me to make sure that I had the tools to be a successful theater professional. Michael has continued to be a touchstone for me to Augsburg. I also really loved Dr. Stephen “Gabe” Gabrielsen ’63—he had such a kind heart. I remember a time I was sick and had to miss classes for a few days and he came to check on me. You also can’t help but love a professor whose textbook is the Lutheran Book of Worship.

What are you looking forward to most about your new role at Augsburg?
I am looking forward to further learning the story of Augsburg through its people. To meet the people who have shaped this institution. I’m here to help people reconnect, to listen to everyone’s stories and ideas, and plan for alumni programming that meets the needs of more Auggies than ever.

What was the greatest experience in your working career?
I worked at the Guthrie Theater during the Guthrie’s festival honoring the playwright Tony Kushner. I have long been a fan of Tony’s work. Having the opportunity to work closely with Tony to support him while he wrote his new play was an extraordinary opportunity.

What’s one thing that people are usually surprised to learn about you?
I was a euphonium player! That was my instrument when I was in junior high and high school and the Augsburg Concert Band. I even had a performing arts scholarship in Euphonium. I played for almost 10 years, and unfortunately haven’t picked one up since I left Augsburg in 2001.

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Derrin Lamker ’97 remembers that he wanted to be a coach from his first year in college. As head coach at Osseo High School for the last 10 years, he says he had good training coming from a great team like Augsburg.

At Augsburg, he played football, basketball, and baseball. During his football career, he was the MIAC Most Valuable Player and led the Auggies to an MIAC title in 1997, the same year he received Kodak All-American Honors.

At Osseo, Lamker has surrounded himself with a coaching staff that includes several stellar Auggies and teachers. They mesh well and show up every day for the same reason—to develop contributing members of society. Their hope is that no matter where the players go, or where football takes them after high school, they will be successful. The Orioles are now ranked second in the metro area, and have started the season with a 2-0 record. Lamker says what is remarkable about the team is the people.

Six Auggies join Lamker in coaching the teams. They include his former college football coach and mentor, Jack Osberg ’62. Osberg says it is a great joy to coach with Lamker. “I’m doing what I love to do,” says Osberg, who was head football coach at Augsburg from 1991-2004, and then stayed on to work with head coach Frank Haege. He didn’t stay away from football very long before he continued to get his “fall fix” in coaching once again at Osseo High School.

“It’s real people at Augsburg. That’s what you get,” says Lamker. The Auggies joining him on the coaching staff include Andy Johnson ’04, Royce Winford ’09, Mark Joseph ’01, David Tilton ’12, and Jordan Berg ’09. For the past five seasons, they were joined by Tony Nelson ’84 and Doug Bailey ’90, who stepped down from coaching this year. Together, they have built a program that puts its priorities in order, much like they saw at Augsburg, both on and off the field.

Competition and Compassion

How do they prepare athletes for the competitiveness of athletics in a tough league? Osberg talks about feeding their competitive nature in a way that doesn’t overwhelm and distract. “You’ve got to treat them right,” Lamker says. “Treat the players with honesty and have fun.” After all, he says, “football is an optional game. It’s a choice.”

Lamker enjoys the organizational part of the game, but knows that the challenge rests in getting 190 players and 20 coaches on the same page with the same philosophy. Osberg says Lamker has a work ethic that is second to none. “He communicates extremely well with his peers, players, and community. He has an edginess about him and a deep compassion that gives him the ability to handle a multitude of situations that can come up in coaching. He loves the game and his players.”

His drive has paid off. Lamker was named the Northwest Suburban Conference Coach of the Year in 2007, 2013, and 2014. During his tenure, Osseo has had the highest winning percentage in the league.

Family Values

“Derrin has a knack for getting the chemistry just right,” Osberg says. “He is amazing at pulling all the pieces together. He brings together people who are compatible, and who genuinely care about the young men and their families”—values he saw in action at Augsburg and shared with student-athletes. “I am so proud of these guys,” says Osberg. “I love to stand back at times and watch them work like a proud father. They apply their unique skills and personality and ‘bring an Auggie touch’ to what they do.”

The secret to good coaching, Osberg says, is in finding natural teachers. “In all the years that I’ve been coaching, I’ve found that you don’t have to be a star athlete to be a good coach. If you’re a good teacher and you like young people, you can be a good coach. There are many roles of teaching in our lives.  We teach as parents, colleagues, and coaches. You have to be able to motivate, understand individual differences, and teach skills. If you can challenge individuals to reach their potential and then stretch them a little more, you have succeeded as a coach.

“Derrin has always understood the people component of success in a career. I think that is one of the great values Augsburg College has taught,” Osberg says. “He has a knack of handling each member of the team in the way that’s best for them,” Osberg says. “It’s fun to watch him coach.”

Part of the reason Osberg felt so at home in Division III sports was because of the balance between athletic, educational, and personal values. He says, “There’s more to life than the things right in front of you. If you can understand the values of coaching, athletics, and people around you it’s one of the great aspects of coaching football.”

Coaching for Osberg has always been a family affair. Throughout his career, his wife, Nina, has long been his right-hand in supporting the students off the field, especially if they were struggling at home or in school. “I couldn’t do what I do without her beside me,” he says.

Leadership and Belonging

One of Lamker’s favorite memories from his time at Augsburg is winning the conference championship in 1997. He credits his role models, Jack Osberg, Frank Haege, and Drew Privette ’89 with teaching him discipline, organization, how to treat people right, and how to have to have fun in the sport.

“Derrin had to work hard for everything he accomplished,” Osberg says. He remembers Lamker as outstanding in his junior and senior years at Augsburg. He was years ahead of his peers, and knew what he wanted to do with his life. “He knew his pathway and he worked so hard to get there and never let up,” Osberg says.

Lamker was a natural leader on the field. “As a quarterback he was like a coach on the field.” After graduation he continued his development as an assistant football coach at Augsburg.

Augsburg continues to draw Auggies together as students, coaches, and alumni. Osberg says he loved every minute of his time as a student and coach. “The people drew me to Augsburg. I sensed it 1958. It was so wonderful being a piece of that as a coach,” he says.

Now he is thankful for the positive energy shared with the Osseo team. “These coaches give me a sense of belonging to a group.” Like Lamker, the joy he has in coaching is still meeting and working with young men and watching them grow and mature.

Their love for coaching is more than x’s & o’s. And it’s a love that’s renewed each fall as a new team assembles on the field.

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It may be a bit unusual for such a young alumnus to be as active in volunteer work as Josh Krob ’08 is, but he readily admits that his employer, Wells Fargo, provides ample opportunity to do so. In addition to volunteering for charitable organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and Feed My Starving Children, he has coached and supported various sports organizations as well. He has naturally gravitated toward hockey, the sport he played and loved most growing up; and he has helped the Eastview hockey team, Kansas City Stars, and Blake School hockey program.

Recently, another opportunity captured his imagination and passion—raising research funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He and 19 other likeminded individuals took on the challenge individually and raised more than $120,000 for CFF. Krob and the other 19 were each granted the prestigious “Twin Cities Finest” award, in recognition of their community volunteer efforts and professional growth in their fields.

Currently an employee benefits consultant for Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Krob brokers and consults in the design and implementation of employee benefit programs for customers, with a key focus in recent years on consulting strategies regarding health care reform. A believer in the value of lifelong learning, Krob is in the MBA program at Augsburg, where he has found another opportunity to surround himself with skilled professionals who have been helpful in expanding his skill-set and his understanding of how to become a more effective leader.

A native of Apple Valley, Minn., Krob likes to tell the story about why he chose to attend Augsburg, though it had seemed more likely that he would attend (and play golf and hockey at) one of the other schools within MIAC, the sports conference with an excellent reputation for both academics and sports. In an overnight visit on campus, Krob met three other prospective students—individuals whom he likely would never have met in any other setting. They made a remarkable connection, staying up late to discuss everything from favorite sports teams, political theories, and observations from their past, to their future goals. While Krob had expected that college would be a place for continued growth, he was stunned that, in a 24-hour period, he had spoken more in depth about himself and learned more from these three than he had in the previous 18 years of his life with some of his closest friends. He saw the caliber of students Augsburg was recruiting, and knew then that there was something special about this institution. His student experience reinforced that sentiment.

Krob continues to stay in touch with many Auggie classmates and professors, particularly in his role on the Augsburg Young Alumni Board. He and his wife, Chelsea, live in Savage, Minn.

—by Cheryl Crockett ’89

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