With Bemidji State’s stage set, 7th

The greatest quarterback in Bemidji State history casually strolls along the balcony of the Frederick P. Baker Training Center on a quiet Friday afternoon.

He looks down at the facility, today utilized as the indoor home for the Bemidji State football team and several other squads on campus. But Alt has a more personal connection to this particular BSU training ground, also known as the John S. Glas Fieldhouse.

“(The summer after freshman year,) I painted the Glas with the green and white walls,” Alt recalled. “Took down the bleachers from the old hockey arena. That was my first job, painting here on campus.”

Six summers later, Alt enters his seventh season at Bemidji State. He holds a degree in exercise science and is pursuing another in sport management. But before he moves into his working life, he plans to squeeze every drop out of his football career.

“It really is a brotherhood here,” Alt said. “It's going to be sad when it's all done and over with. We'll be at each other's weddings and stuff like that. But I just want to live each day as slowly as possible, each step at a time, and just enjoy it.”

Alt’s return played a key role in convincing a number of the Beavers’ nine sixth-year seniors to return to campus. Now that they’ve returned, expectations are higher than ever.

“It's awesome being here for so long, meeting all these guys,” Alt said. “Because the majority of these sixth-year guys, they were going to be done. But they talked to me, and they said if I was coming back, they're coming back. So I think that made us even closer together. It's been very special.”

Before he became an All-American quarterback and beloved seventh-year captain capable of swaying his compatriots, Alt had to traverse moments of adversity and mature as a leader. Here’s how he did it.

Starting at quarterback since his freshman season at Park High School in Cottage Grove, Alt became a quick sensation on the gridiron. His natural athleticism and baseball background helped him feather accurate spirals to receivers all over the field.

But it was his junior year that changed the course of his career. Before he could take the field that fall, Alt was suspended for the entire regular season after being cited for underage drinking and driving under the influence.

In stepped Bemidji State alumnus and All-American wide receiver Brendan Beaulieu, who quarterbacked the Wolfpack to a 6-2 regular-season record. Alt was cleared to return for Park’s Section 3-5A playoff game against Apple Valley and tossed a 60-yard touchdown pass to Beaulieu in a 39-29 loss.

Yet the most important lesson Alt learned that year transpired off the field. His missteps and subsequent suspension catalyzed a transformational period of introspection, one that set him on the path to becoming the person he is today.

“The tough part was he needed to change his direction off the field with who he hung around and the choices that he made,” said Darin Glazier, Alt’s high school head football coach. “And he really did that, and he really seemed like he understood what he did wrong and understood how it impacted his football team.

“And he was great with us all season long. I mean, the kid had to sit out the entire season until the last game. But he was with us every day, working hard every day, picking his teammates up every day. So that was a turning point in his life, which you never know what's gonna bring about change. But that change brought about a lot of good things for Brandon in his life.”

From a football perspective, Alt ran Park’s scout team that fall, allowing him to rip throws in practice that he might have been more self-conscious about as the starting quarterback.

“It probably gave him a different level of confidence,” Glazier said. “But I also think it made him very hungry to get back out there, and when he got back out there, you know that he didn't want to ruin his chance. Because he saw what it was like on the other side not playing. And he realized how important it was to him in his life, and that he wanted to recommit himself and rededicate himself to it.”

Recently, Alt has spent time off the field working at the Eagles Wing group home in Bemidji. It’s a place that has welcomed several BSU football players as employees, and one where Alt finds purpose in helping others.

In some ways, it mirrors how Alt has developed as a leader with his teammates. Arriving at Bemidji State for his freshman year, Alt served as the precocious and confident understudy to Jordan Hein, who held most of the quarterback records for the Beavers until Alt broke them all.

“When he was a freshman, he was a major pain in the ass,” BSU head coach Brent Bolte said. “He was competitive. He was fiery, he wanted everything to be perfect and he wanted to be the guy. You could see it coming out as he redshirted. Then when he got the keys to the kingdom and was running it, you saw the physical attributes and saw him maturing and being a leader of men. Which is pretty special to see, because that's what the game of football and really athletics is all about.”

Hein has had a front-row seat to Alt’s development. He joined Bemidji State’s coaching staff after his playing career and worked his way up to wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator. The six-plus years he’s spent with Alt have led to a deep friendship.

“I was actually lucky enough to host him on his official visit,” Hein said. “So we've gotten to know each other for many, many years. We knew he was really really, really talented out of high school. … He's a great leader. Very similar to how I was as far as being a vocal guy. He leads by example, and he leads with his voice. Not only is he preaching these things, but he's doing them himself and abiding by them.”

Hein continued his praise by highlighting Alt’s unmatched will to win.

“Doesn't matter if it's in the weight room, at practice, in a game. He's the ultimate competitor,” Hein said. “He's gone through so much adversity. He had to deal with multiple knee surgeries, getting told he might not be able to play football again. A lot of people probably could have taken the easy way out and just hung it up. But he continued to work, he did rehab. And then he ended up being better than he originally was, which is crazy to think.”

Alt has had so much time to dive into the Beavers’ playbook during his career, especially after tearing his right ACL for the second straight season in 2019. Coupled with a canceled season due to COVID-19 in 2020, he had a full two years to focus on physical and mental rehabilitation.

When he returned, he had morphed into a true difference-maker – a two-time Harlon Hill finalist and the 2022 NSIC Offensive Player of the Year.

“He knows (the offense) just as well as we do,” BSU offensive coordinator Karson Pike said. “And being able to manipulate that, get us out of bad play calls and into good ones makes me look good. Right now, he's got a ton of freedom, really as much as he wants. We put everything we can on his plate, and we've even created some new opportunities with run checks, run-to-pass checks, all those sorts of things. (We) say, ‘Hey, go play ball, man. You're out there, you see it in real time. Make the adjustments, and let's run.’”

Though he grew up in the Cities, Alt has embraced everything Bemidji has to offer. He lives in town year-round, currently with his girlfriend, Emily, whom he met at BSU. He shops for his groceries at Lueken’s, and he’s occasionally recognized when he goes out to eat, especially with his parents after a game.

“They might be more popular than me,” he quipped.

But as he prepares to depart Bemidji, he knows his path to the next level will take him outside of the First City on the Mississippi. He plans to train after the season at the Training HAUS in Eagan, where Beaulieu also honed his craft this past offseason.

But in order to take full advantage of future opportunities, Alt knows his seventh season will make or break his professional stock. Going into Bemidji State’s first game, he’s focused on applying all the knowledge he’s gained to lead his team where they’ve never been before.

“I've had my college career,” Alt said. “I've had the moments. I've had the parties. So (now), I’m really locking myself down. It's one chance left to make it big here to a professional stage. So I’m really, fully locked into it.”

His teammates are in lockstep with him as well, and just as determined not to squander their final opportunity with him at the helm.

“Alt’s just a special guy,” sixth-year wide receiver Dhel Duncan-Busby said. “He’s just a good overall human being. You can go talk to him about anything. I lived with him for like three years, and we would always have fun. There's times that we’d have to be serious, but it's a special connection, being able to have somebody like that who's able to be so well intertwined with the rest of the team.”

So how does Alt want to be remembered? He’d like to push Bemidji State to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, maybe even advancing past the second round for the first time ever. He wouldn’t mind hosting opponents for a couple playoff weekends at Chet Anderson Stadium instead of just one.

But when asked what he wanted his legacy to be, Alt didn’t touch on any of that. His focus remained on the people that have helped him reach new milestones the past few years – many of whom stuck around to help him try and scale a new pinnacle this fall.

“I want the teammates to remember (that) I truly cared about them, on and off the field,” he finished. “And for how hyped I was through the game. (My goal is) to slow it down and take it all in and be able to care for each person that was here. A very hard worker that never gave up and truly loved the game of football.”'