KEARNEY, NE — The sun has yet to rise outside of the Health and Sports Center… but there’s no shortage of energy inside.

That’s thanks to the man they call Sarge.

UNK’s Director of Sports Performance Steve Schulz has been working as a strength coach for 45 years and has carried the nickname nearly that whole time.

“The athletes didn’t really like all the demands I put on them, so that’s how I got my name Sarge," Schulz said. "They thought I was a drill sergeant.”

The name was born during his first team meeting as the first full-time strength coach at Stanford. After working with the likes of John Elway and Ed McCaffrey, he moved on to Santa Clara and then Boise State before  the York, Nebraska native felt the call of the Cornhusker state.

“When I moved to Boise, it was like ‘Ah ok this is nice, it’s kind of like Nebraska.’ Then when the job in Hastings opened up, and I thought, ‘well I moved to Boise because it was like Nebraska, why don’t I just move to Nebraska because it’s actually Nebraska,'” Schulz said.

Sarge spent three years at Hastings College before moving north to UNK in late 2016, just as Josh Lynn was taking over the football program. The new head coach tried to meet his new players during a lifting session. Sarge asked him to do that later.

“I thought to myself, man, that’s probably the guy we need to be leading our strength program,” Lynn said.

“It’s energy all the time and it’s business all the time," Lynn said. "There’s a good balance of both. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen at getting people to get going and also educating at the same time.”

But after more than four decades in charge of college weight rooms, Sarge will retire at the end of the year.

“Trying to be a cheerleader all the time, you just get kind of worn out a little bit," Schulz said. "I think this is just a good time to step away, let some of the younger strength coaches come up.”

He’s leaving proud of his strength coaching legacy.

“I really try to give it my all and do the best job I can, bring the energy every day,” Schulz said.

The Lopers could still see Sarge around. He might continue to work with a couple of teams.