Cory Justin Sauter (born November 21, 1974) is an

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

coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at

Southwest Minnesota State University Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) is a public university in Marshall, Minnesota. It is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. The university has an enrollment of approximately 8,700 students and employs 148 fa ...

from 2010 to 2021. Sauter played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) and

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

Playing career

Sauter played

at the

from 1994 to 1997. Sauter finished his career as a four-time Academic All-Big Ten award winner and two-time GTE Academic All-America District V selection. He was a three-year letter winner and started the final 34 games of his collegiate career and played in the Blue-Gray All-Star Football Classic following his senior season. He still holds the all-time career school records with 539 pass completions, 945 pass attempts and 6,834 passing yards. His 40 career touchdown passes and .570 completion percentage also rank second all-time. Sauter was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

in 1998. He spent the season on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. The 1999 and 2000 seasons were spent with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as a back-up quarterback. He also spent the spring of 2000 with the

Barcelona Dragons Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Barcelona Dragons: * Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2003; * Barcelona Dragons (ELF) The Barcelona Dragons are an American football team based in ...

. In 2001, he was with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. He split the 2002 season with the Indianapolis Colts and with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He was back with the Colts for the 2003 season.

Coaching career

Assistant coaching

Sauter began his coaching career as the

quarterbacks coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

for the

Hamburg Sea Devils Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Hamburg Sea Devils: * Hamburg Sea Devils (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 2005 and 2007; * Hamburg Sea Devils (ELF) The Hamburg Sea Devils are an American football team in ...

in 2006. In the fall he served as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, the

. He returned to

in 2007 where he was the quarterbacks coach for the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

Southwest Minnesota State

On July 7, 2008, it was announced that Sauter was hired as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at

, an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

football program in

Marshall, Minnesota Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,680 at the 2010 census. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota, and the county seat of Lyon County. It is the headquarters of the Schwan Food Com ...

. His coaching responsibilities began on July 1. He was promoted to the position of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2009. In February 2010, Sauter was promoted once again, to interim head coach of the Mustangs after former coach Eric Eidsness decided to leave the team to join Division I South Dakota State University as their quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator of the Jackrabbits. On March 29, 2010, the interim tag was removed from Sauter's title and he was officially named the Mustangs head football coach.

Personal life

Sauter lives in

, with his wife Amy and their daughters Berlin and Estella. Sauter is a 1997

graduate with a degree in kinesiology. He earned his Master’s in sports management from the University of Minnesota in 2003.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Southwest Minnesota State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauter, Cory 1974 births Living people American football quarterbacks Barcelona Dragons players Berlin Thunder coaches Chicago Bears players Detroit Lions players Hamburg Sea Devils coaches Indianapolis Colts players Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs football coaches People from Hutchinson, Minnesota Coaches of American football from Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota