By Steve Morris and Patrick Tepoorten

Some years you build championships and other years you build character. That's one way North Branch head football coach Dave Eyre reflects on this season.

After the way this season has played out, it's safe to say it's a character building year for the Vikings.

Eyre has been under fire by community members and parents for a season that has been everything but easy to watch. With a 26-8 loss to Columbia Heights on Friday, the boys have fallen to 0-7 on the season. The record is one thing, but it's the margin the boys are losing by that seems to be the sticking point for many. At their worst, the boys lost to Spring Lake Park 67-0 on Sept. 28. That said, Spring Lake Park is the No. 1 rated team in class 4A by Maxpreps.com.

Despite a less than stellar performance on the field, Eyre said he has been working hard and his players are doing their best to get better.

"I just want to coach ball," Eyre explained. "Obviously, we want to win, but if we build better kids, then we have done our job."

"Even if you're not winning, you still have to look at the positives," he said.

North Branch Superintendent Deb Henton said the district is committed to coach Eyre until the end of this season. She said when the season is finished, Activities Director Becky Leuer will meet with Eyre to evaluate the program.

Leuer called the evaluation "standard practice," and added that she meets with all coaches after a season is complete.

The school board is forming a Football Advisory Board Committee to examine the football situation at North Branch and develop an action plan to improve the teams competitiveness. The board plans to begin meetings in November.

Eyre said he is going to be on the Football Advisory Committee and he is looking forward to finding solutions to mend the struggling program.

"From what I understand, it sounds like the Football Advisory Committee is going to be a good thing," he said.

On being in the North Suburban Conference, Eyre said it's a good conference and that he is glad the team is in it.

"If you can win in the North Suburban Conference, you have a shot at winning the state tournament," he said.

There is little doubt the NSC is one of the top conferences in the state. Four of the 11 schools in the conference are ranked among the best teams in the state.

Eyre, who is in his second year as head coach, spent two seasons as assistant coach at Hinckley-Finlayson and fives years as head coach before accepting the head coach position in North Branch.

Record wise, the North Branch football team has historically struggled. From 1936 to 2006, the Vikings had 36 seasons with two wins or less and in their 28 years in the Rum River Conference, the team had 12 seasons with two wins or less.

At last Thursday's School Board meeting, concerns were raised about the football program's future. At a press conference on Oct. 15, that involved Leuer, Henton, High School Principal Brad Windschill, and School Board Vice Chairman Jeanne Walz, school officials wanted to assure the public that football in North Branch is not in jeopardy.

"We have not had any discussion about cutting the football program," Henton said.

With a spotty history though, Windschill acknowledged that kids at the high school have a negative attitude toward playing. "It is not a very popular sport at the high school," he said, and added, "It takes all of your athletes to make a football team."

Windschill said many times kids don't come out for football because they have to work or because they specialize in one sport. "The fear of injury keeps many kids out of football," he said, and called the shift away from football a "huge cultural change."

Leuer and the school district is hoping for improvements next season, when improved game scheduling will favor North Branch, and advisory committee recommendations are likely to be in action. In the meantime, Leuer said she wants Eyre to "focus on football," and stated that communication between her office and all coaching staffs remains wide open. "I talk to coaches on a weekly basis, sometimes daily."