Geisler takes circuitous route to C-I football

Ben Geisler has taken a long, unusual route to become the new football coach at Cambridge-Isanti High School.

Among the stops along his route were nine successful seasons at Irondale High School, one impressive year at Blaine High School, and a return from the private sector to become a coach and teacher at Cambridge-Isanti High School starting this fall.

Geisler said he has learned from all of those steps in his journey.

“I’ve made enough mistakes that I’ve learned from,” he said. “I think I was 25 when I was a head coach for the first time – way too young to be a head coach. I didn’t know anything about anything, but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.

“Now, after coaching football for 25 years, I’ve been able to change and adapt. I’ve been around a lot of really good coaches, and I’ve been able to learn from them.”

C-I Activities Director Matt Braaten noted that it is not often that a coach with Geisler’s history would be available.

“He has a strong reputation for developing young men of character on and off the field,” Braaten said of Geisler. “He knows his calling is to make a difference in the lives of young people.

“I’m confident that he will make a difference for everyone he comes in contact with as a Bluejacket. He is genuine and cares about people.”

Geisler will teach science at the high school, and Principal Steve Gibbs said he is happy to add him to the faculty.

“Ben Geisler is a relationships-first teacher, coach and mentor who lives our Bluejacket values,” Gibbs said. “High school science teachers are difficult to find, so we’re really looking forward to the experience he will bring to both the classroom and our football program.

“I know our students will enjoy learning and growing with him.”

Geisler is a Blaine graduate who played football at Bethel University before earning his bachelor’s degree in life science, then beginning his career at Mounds View.

“I student taught at Mounds View High School, and the individual I taught for happened to be the head football coach,” he said. “When he retired, I got his teaching job.”

Geisler spent four seasons as an assistant coach there, then moved to Irondale to become the defensive coordinator for two seasons before taking over as head coach in 2005. The Knights were 1-8 in his first season, but two years later they posted a 7-2 mark and had winning records in five of the six years that followed.

He spent one season as an assistant coach at Fridley before serving three seasons as an assistant at Spring Lake Park.

“A friend of mine became the head coach [at Fridley], and he asked me to mentor him,” Geisler said. “He said I could be the tight ends coach – and they run a spread offense.”

It should be noted that spread offenses do not deploy tight ends.

In 2018 the head coaching position opened at Blaine, his alma mater. The Bengals posted an 11-1 record and reached the Class 6A state semifinals before losing to perennial power Eden Prairie at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“I was hired in July for a season that began in August, so I kind of had to fly the plane while I was building it,” Geisler said. “Luckily I had a really gifted group of kids and a gifted group of assistant coaches, so I was able to rely on them.”

But after one season, he resigned as head coach.

“They had one idea and I had a different idea about the direction of the program,” Geisler explained. “One the field I think we were really similar, but off the field I think we were really different.

“So out of respect for my alma mater and its administration, I stepped down. I felt I had coached long enough to know that if I didn’t have the full support of the administration, I would be in trouble. So I thought they should bring in a coach who was more what they were looking for.”

He admitted that leaving his alma mater was a difficult decision.

“I had left a teaching and coach gig that I really loved,” Geisler said. “We were about to move into the Blaine area, and we knew we had some momentum.

“Yes, it was very hard [to leave]. It felt like a giant loss. But in hindsight I’ve learned a lot from it, and I’ve taken a lot of that into what I want to do at Cambridge-Isanti.”

After leaving Blaine, in 2019 he coached in college at the University of Northwestern, a position he held for only one season.

“In 2020 my son was going to be a sophomore in high school and play JV football,” Geisler explained. “JV games are on Saturday, and I didn’t want to miss his games. He was at Spring Lake Park, so I went back to Spring Lake Park for three more seasons.”

After those three seasons as an assistant, Geisler took a year off from coaching.

“My wife and I do a church fast in January every year, and we tried to discern what the Lord wanted us to do,” he explained. “Our kids attend a private school, and we really love it. … But it was expensive, and financially we were really strapped.

“I had done construction in the summer for years, and I knew I could make more money in construction. And, truth be told, I was a little burned out in teaching. So we decided to do that for one year.”

Geisler quickly realized that his “purpose” was to teach and coach football, not create buildings.

“I felt pretty shallow swinging a hammer by myself,” he said. “I quickly realized I could make a difference instead of making money.”

As a result, he is excited to return to teaching and coaching – and he is especially pleased to take the reins of the storied program at Cambridge-Isanti.

“When you say, ‘Cambridge-Isanti football,’ you think of the legendary coaches and the state titles,” Geisler said. “They’ve won a lot of football games and have a storied tradition, and that’s a neat thing.

“There’s been a lot of foundation laid here; I don’t need to blow this up and start over to fix a broken culture. There’s a good foundation that we can build off of.”

Geisler said his plans for the coming season are to emphasize relationships with everyone in the program.

“We’ll look different than we have the past few years, but that’s not because Cambridge-Isanti wasn’t a strong program or running good things,” he said. “I have to coach what I know, so I hope we’re going to be explosive on offense and tough on defense.

“Cambridge-Isanti has some big kids, and some athletes. That should let us be tough on defense to go with exciting on offense.”

Geisler and his wife, Aminta, have four children. Daughter Alivia and oldest son Ty are both in college, while sons Ezekiel and Truett are in elementary school.

He hopes the Cambridge-Isanti players, coaches and community know that he is excited by this opportunity.

“I think this is a special group of kids and a special group of coaches,” Geisler said. “I’m just happy that I get to be a part of it.

“I hope to come in and give some new perspective to the team. And I’m excited to get started.”