Before he landed a dream job coaching and thriving Iowa State — where he has earned a reputation as one of the best big-league coaches in the country — T.J. Otzelberger was a struggling rookie head coach at South Dakota State, starting 1-5 in Summit League play.

Otzelberger was an "outsider" coming over from Iowa State's staff. He had never worked in South Dakota when he took over for SDSU legend Scott Nagy, who had just taken the Jackrabbits to their third NCAA Tournament in five seasons before leaving for Wright State.

Pile on that 1-5 start, and there were plenty of people doubting if Otzelberger knew what he was doing. Count the coach himself among them. 

In a 35-minute Happy Hour interview, Otzelberger looks back on the many "sleepless nights" that first season of 2016-17 and how the Jacks turned it into a blazing run back to "the big dance," which included one of the greatest moments in Jackrabbit history — the buzzer-beating "Michael Orris shot" to beat rival and regular season champion South Dakota in the Summit League Tournament semifinals in Sioux Falls. 

The Milwaukee native reminisces about other highlights of his three years in Brookings, most notably coaching Mike Daum during Daum's his ascent to becoming one of the Top 10 scorers in NCAA history. Through all three years, Otzelberger's SDSU successor Eric Henderson showed signs of becoming an effective head coach with his work as an Otzelberger assistant.

But first, Otzelberger addresses one of his trademarks — the tight polo shirt — and tackles the transfer-heavy times coaches like him navigate in the current NIL era, including the departing with Sioux Falls Lincoln alumnus J.T. Rock, who left for New Mexico.