He just can't shake the coaching bug. It has been in his blood since he played for his father — a legendary head high school coach in Minnesota — and "every night" he still thinks about the game and how he can draw up plays to make it fun for the next crop of young talent.

South Dakota's all-time high school wins leader Kim Nelson "retired" from 45 years of prep coaching in November 2023 after his 15th and final season at Sioux Falls Roosevelt, his fifth and final stop/success story. But he kept on coaching.

His foray into the college world — which he had been dreaming of trying for years — did not last long at the University of Sioux Falls. So, Nelson just leaped right back on in Roosevelt as the freshman coach and varsity consultant under his replacement, Jason Stahlberg.

But for the upcoming 2025 season, Nelson has moved across town to work for former Roosevelt assistant coach Jared Smith as Sioux Falls Christian's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. This is Nelson's wheelhouse.

Why did things at USF not work out? Why the move to SFC? And why has Nelson always flown in the face of Midwestern, cold and nasty weather, football tough guy logic and literally thrown caution into the wind (and rain and sleet and snow) by preferring a pass-happy attack through most of his nearly five decades of coaching?

The Lake Benton, Minnesota, native and Dakota State alumnus is more than happy to explain and even more eager to tell stories of some of his best teams and players in his runs at Milbank, Rapid City Central, Sioux Falls Washington, and Roosevelt — each of the three latter resulting in trips to the Dakota Dome to play for state titles (including the elusive championship win in 2011 with the Roughriders).

Adam Vinatieri, Taryn Christion, Tucker Large, and Griffin Wilde all played under Nelson and he has vivid and colorful memories of each.

Plus, Nelson had the chance to play in front of Vikings legend Bud Grant, then coach the son of then-Vikings coach Mike Tice at Edina High School in suburban Minneapolis at the highest level of Minnesota prep football. Both of those experiences came with awesome stories.

Sit back and relax as 50 years of football breeze by on a summer afternoon at The Gateway Lounge with the laid back but fiercely intense-about-football active coach.