By: J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola
Former St. Cloud Bulldog and Ferris State freshman Alex Springs is already turning heads at the collegiate level. Arriving on the campus of the Division II national powerhouse last August, Springs made an immediate impression, needing only a few weeks of practice and early game action to earn the trust of the coaching staff and secure a spot in the playing rotation.
Over the next few weeks, he anchored a cornerback spot – helping the team remain undefeated as they continued to outscore opponents by an average of 52 points. Springs, who contributed seven tackles and an interception, appeared headed for a breakout season in his very first year of college football.
But his rookie season would come to a crashing halt in the sixth game of the year against Michigan Tech, when Springs took an awkward tumble while making a play. The diagnosis was a dislocated hip, resulted in Springs missing the rest of the season as he watched his teammates finish with a perfect 16-0 record and win their fourth Division-II National Championship in the last five seasons.
One would expect the serious injury would produce some bitterness or at least sour the mood of Springs, but nothing could be further from the truth. “It happened and injuries are a part of football,” Springs. “I was on the sidelines for the rest of the year, including watching the National Championship game on television, but I was so proud of my teammates and what they accomplished.”
Instead of dwelling on what might have been, Springs talks enthusiastically about the future and what is to come. “I’ve been cleared to begin some drills and I have been spending a lot of time in the weight room,” he said. “I should be a full participant in the spring and look forward to picking up where I left off. I want to help our team win another national championship by being a shutdown corner.”
That positive attitude comes as no surprise to St. Cloud coach Mike Short, who coached Springs in his junior and senior seasons (2023-24). “Alex is a rare individual, he has the utmost confidence in his abilities and wants to be the guy to make big plays and decide games,” Short says. “But at the same time, he is quiet about it. He always prefers to let his performance do the talking. He is one of the most humble, sincere guys I have ever coached.”
At St. Cloud, Springs rarely left the field his senior season. He led the team in receptions (59), receiving yards (1078) and receiving touchdowns (9). Springs was also asked to play on the defensive side of the ball at safety, where he recorded 38 tackles and had three interceptions – all while playing on special teams, where he returned kickoffs and punts.
He finished his two-season career at St. Cloud with 166 receptions, just under 2000 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Still, he wasn’t sure his future was in football. As a junior, he averaged 17 points a game in basketball – helping the Bulldogs to a 17-9 record and their first winning season in almost two decades. As a senior, he once again led the team in scoring as they posted 25 wins.
“I loved both sports, but after my junior year I was beginning to think my future was in basketball,” Springs said. “That sort of changed in the fall of my senior year.”
“It makes sense that he ultimately chose football for college,” St. Cloud basketball coach Tommy Billiteri said. “But there is no question in my mind he could have played and excelled at basketball at the next level. “Every team we played knew he was our best player and they would game-plan against him, but it didn’t seem to matter. He has great intuition for basketball and made those around him better.”
Despite putting up big numbers on both sides of the ball, Springs was not really on the radar of many college recruiters – something to this day that still mystifies Short. “I really have no explanation for it,” the veteran coach says. “He finally started to draw a fair amount of attention midway through his senior year but all I really have to say is that a whole lot of teams missed out on a great player. All you really had to do is look at his film to know he is a special player.”
Although the interest among colleges expanded, Springs decided to cast his lot with Ferris State. “It really wasn’t a difficult decision to sign with them,” Springs told Positively Osceola on signing day even after several programs began to recruit him heavily in the fall. “I fell in love with the program and the school when I went for an official visit. The coaches were very upfront and honest with me on what they envisioned for me and the place just felt like home.”
That honesty came with coaches telling Springs his offensive days at wide receiver were numbered and they envisioned him as a cornerback – a position that required a big adjustment from safety.
Still, Springs took the move in stride. “I sort of felt the move was more different than difficult,” Springs said. “You hear talk of having to play on an island, but I enjoy the idea of one-on-one coverage.” In the same breath, however, he quickly credits his teammates for making the move easier. “We have some great safeties on our roster and the adjustment was a lot easier when you knew those guys had your back.”
While Springs has done a great job of making the adjustment from high school to college football, he has also shown tremendous maturity in academics. “In college you have a lot of freedom,” Springs, who hopes to major in administration says. “But with that freedom comes responsibility. I approach academics the same way I do football, keep the schedule, do the work and strive to be the best you can be.”
It’s that attitude that St. Cloud Athletics Director and former head football coach Bryan Smart says makes Alex special. “During his senior year, Alex was absolutely among the best football players in the area and may have been the best basketball player in the county,” Smart said. “I would have loved to have coached him because he’s everything you want in a student athlete.”
(Photos courtesy Ferris State Sports Information)
