GRAND FORKS — UND football coach Eric Schmidt told a story to a group of community leaders and UND boosters Tuesday afternoon.

He said relationships are vital — and Schmidt had a great one when he was an assistant coach at UND under Bubba Schweigert.

Schweigert was Schmidt's former defensive coordinator, his first college football boss and his mentor.

"Then, Kalen DeBoer came along and offered me four times more (money)," Schmidt said. "What are you going to do? Relationships matter. Don't get me wrong. But they matter up to a point."

Schmidt likened the situation to recruiting and retaining top players.

The most important factors may be relationships, facilities and opportunities, but if UND isn't in the ballpark financially, they're going to lose out.

"Ultimately, those kids are go

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