My name is Vance Winter and I am the defensive coordinator at South Dakota Mines. Will Lester has been a exceptional student athlete here at SD Mines. It has been rewarding for me to see Will’s continued growth as a football player and person in his 4 years at SD Mines. We have had zero off-the- field issues with Will Lester. Will has been a captain and a 4 year starter at numerous positions. Will is always engaged and is a high energy person. He brings juice to any meeting and studies film like a coach. Will is extremely unselfish, coachable, and is always willing to do whatever is best for the group. Will is always willing to work outside his comfort zone and wants to be challenged and coached hard. Because of Will’s skillset we have asked Will to do so many things outside his comfort zone at times and he has excelled with an incredible attitude. As I stated before, Will is an extremely versatile football player and was our best defensive player for past 2 seasons. Will has been our best coverage guy, best tackler/finisher, best blitzer, and our best block defeat guy. He has such a unique skillset and a great football IQ. Will is one of the most physical football players that I have coached. Will has incredible striking ability with his hands and consistently dominates blockers of all sizes. Will was most violent tackler in our entire league last fall. Will’s versatility allowed me to use him in a variety of different ways to benefit our defense— He has played safety, boundary-CB(junior season-after injuries to entire CB group), OLB (NICKEL), and ILB in his career at SD Mines. He has also excelled in numerous special teams. Will’s athleticism and physicality always stand out. I have no idea and put no limits on what level Will can play at. No one will compete harder for longer than Will Lester.