MINNEAPOLIS — Ryan Grant's dad knows a thing or two about football. So does his grandpa.
Mike Grant, Ryan's dad, is the head football coach at Eden Prairie High School and has developed a football powerhouse that routinely competes for state championships — including one this past fall. Ryan's grandpa, Bud, is a well-known name around these parts. As the Hall of Fame coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Grant compiled a career coaching record of 168-108-5 and led the Vikings to their only four Super Bowls in franchise history.
The Grant family tree has its roots deeply entrenched in football, meaning Ryan Grant didn't have much of a choice.
Well, that part's not exactly true. Grant certainly had the athletic ability at Eden Prairie to excel in three sports — football, basketball and track and field, lettering a combined nine times during his high school career. But having grown up around the game for as long as he can remember, Ryan Grant was born to be a football player.
"I definitely had a choice," Grant said. "But I never wanted to do anything else."
Before he was old enough to play the game, Grant served as the Eagles' ball boy and water boy for high school games. His dad also doubles as Eden Prairie's athletic director, but before he held that title he ran summer programs at the weight room for high school athletes.
Even as a young kid, Ryan would tag along and hang out with the high school kids —including his older cousin, Ricky Fritz, who starred at quarterback for the Eagles before setting passing records at Minnesota-Duluth.
"It was a real family ordeal at the high school," Ryan Grant said.
"He grew up in the weight room," Mike Grant said of his son. "Just like I did when I was a kid hanging around the Vikings, he'd hang around Eden Prairie."
Grant also had his choice of schools aside from Minnesota — including Ivy League schools, his dad said — when he was being recruited out of Eden Prairie, where he starred as both the Eagles' quarterback and a linebacker. ESPN.com ranked him as the No. 93 athlete in the nation, and Scout.com ranked him as the No. 65 weak side linebacker in the country.
But Grant shut down the recruiting process early, accepting an offer from then-Gophers coach Tim Brewster to play for his hometown team — the same team his grandpa played for back in the late 1940s.
"He committed in March of his junior year, so all the schools that were interested in him at that point backed off because he committed his junior year," said Mike Grant. "That was his dream to play at Minnesota. It was a nice thing because the recruiting was over at that point, which is always nice."
Playing for Minnesota was an adjustment for Grant, however. Not only did he have to give up the position he truly loved (quarterback) in order to see the field sooner, he also had to leave behind the years of undefeated seasons and championship runs. During his two years as the Eagles' starting quarterback as a junior and senior, Grant helped lead Eden Prairie to a 28-0 record and two state titles.
Since arriving in Dinkytown, the Gophers have not come close to mirroring the level of success that Grant had in high school. His first year on the team was in 2008 when he redshirted. That was Minnesota's only winning season since he joined the Gophers. Since then, the U of M has gone 6-7, 3-9 and 3-9 — a far cry from flawless 14-0 seasons.
"Having gone through some tough years over there (at Minnesota), that's been tough on him as someone who's always been a winner and always won," said his dad. "But Coach Brewster and now Coach Kill have made a great experience."
Grant is finishing up his last week of spring practices with Minnesota. This Saturday, he'll play in his last spring game as he prepares for his redshirt senior season. And while he has yet to play in a bowl game or on a Gophers team with a winning record, Grant is happy with the choice he made to stay home and play for Minnesota.
"I have absolutely no regrets. I cherish every moment I've had here," he said. "It all comes together on that Saturday when you get to play and the crowd's here and everything. It's been awesome."
Grant appeared in all of the Gophers' 12 games last season, mostly as a reserve linebacker. He finished the year with five total tackles. During his sophomore season, Grant made four starts at linebacker and finished with 21 tackles (12 solo).
Perhaps some more impressive stats to look at are the number of undergraduate degrees he currently has (one, in biology) and the number of Master's degrees he's pursuing (one in sport management). Grant isn't sure what he'll do after grad school, but he knows coaching is always an option.
"(It's) definitely crossed my mind," Grant admits. "It'll be hard to be away from football for too long of a time. Once my playing days here are over, coaching I definitely think is in my future."
It's not just in his future. Coaching is in Ryan Grant's blood.
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