Big Sky Conference

MOLDING MAKENA: Simis sets example with position change

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MISSOULA — The man wearing No. 17 who emerged from the tunnel at Washington-Grizzly Stadium could not have possibly been the same quarterback who threw six touchdowns in the same venue two years earlier.

Makena Simis looked like an Adonis, not a signal caller on the first day of fall came in Missoula in August. His broad shoulders now carried 235 pounds of muscle. Gone was the fresh-faced youngster from Boise fighting his way up the QB depth chart. As Montana started its 2017 fall camp, a physically formidable man had replaced the kid Simis once was.

The UM senior tied a school record for touchdown passes exactly 900 days ago in his debut under center in 2015. That October afternoon two seasons ago, Simis threw for 323 yards and six touchdowns on just 16 completions in an epic debut in a 42-16 win over North Dakota not soon to be forgotten. The moment seemed like affirmation of potential as Montana’s 2013 scout team Player of the Year broke out in style.

The next two weeks didn’t go so well. The Griz were washed away at Portland State then needed an overtime miracle to dispatch of Idaho State in the third and, ultimately, final start of Simis’ career.

Makena Simis holdingStalwart Brady Gustafson returned to the fold the next week and led UM to wins over rivals Eastern Washington and Montana State to seal a playoff berth before guiding Montana to a playoff win. Simis would never see the field as a starting quarterback again.

In the spring before the 2016 season, Simis realized he wouldn’t see much time as the No. 3 behind Gustafson and senior Chad Chalich, especially with Kentucky transfer Reese Phillips and fast-rising freshman Gresch Jensen in the fold. So Simis bit the bullet and switched to wide receiver.

By the admissions of Simis himself and UM wide receivers coach Mike Ferriter, Simis was far from a good receiver initially. The son of Capital (Boise) High head football coach Todd Simis understood the game. He understood how to read defenses. But at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, he did not possess the strength, muscularity or mass to play the H receiver position in head coach Bob Stitt’s up-tempo spread offense.

Rather than mail it in, Simis became an unshakeable example of hard work and fortitude. The switch during the 2016 off-season came quickly, giving Simis little time to learn a new craft or hone his body. He barely sniffed the field, playing in four games and catching just four passes for 46 yards, including two in Montana’s 63-7 blasting of Sac State last season.

During the off-season leading up to his senior year, Simis shifted his mentality, molded his body and transformed into one of Montana’s most respected players.

Montana quarterback Makena Simis against North Dakota in 2015/by Evan Frost for Skyline Sports

Montana quarterback Makena Simis against North Dakota in 2015/by Evan Frost for Skyline Sports

“I couldn’t say enough good things about Makena Simis over this last year,” Montana strength and conditioning coach Matt Nicholson said last month. “Him being a leader, he’s the same guy every single day when he comes in here. He’s always pushing his teammates and he can because he’s pushed himself so hard. He’s always got a great attitude. Guys gravitate toward him. He’s a guy I can always point to and say, ‘You want to know how to do it? Watch that guy.”

In the off-season leading up to his fifth and final season, Simis put on more than 20 pounds of muscle to tip the scale at 235 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame. After a summer filled with particularly vigorous workouts, he emerged to start fall camp looking like a completely different athlete.

“The physical gains he’s made this last year have been nothing short of remarkable,” Nicholson said. “That comes from working his tail off but it’s also him doing the right things off the field, eating the right things, taking care of his body the right way. He’s really developed into what I would consider one of the most respected guys on the team.”

That dedication and sacrifice following his adversity and struggle has helped establish him as an unquestioned team leader even if he’s not the field general anymore.

“He’s gained a lot of respect for some of the adversity he’s been through here with the whole changing of positions,” Ferriter, a quarterback at Helena High before a career as an All-Big Sky Conference wide receiver, said earlier this week. “All the stuff he’s had to go through, a lot of people could’ve taken the easier way out, went on to try to find a different place but he’s so ingrained with Montana and a part of this team, he was willing to do whatever he could to help this team out.

“The way he was able to work in the weight room and change his body type and do what we require out of that H receiver position has been phenomenal.”

That physical transformation may have seemed stark for those who did not observe Simis from the end of the 2016 season last November to the beginning of fall camp in August. For those that watched the journey, it inspired the Griz.

UM quarterback Makena Simis gives on the option to running back Treshawn Favors/by Evan Frost

UM quarterback Makena Simis gives on the option to running back Treshawn Favors/by Evan Frost

Simis himself re-dedicated himself to the weight room and nutrition. He said he has always had healthy eating habits, but to put on the strength and mass required to lead block and flank the Griz offensive line, he needed to eat “so, so much more.” He concentrated diligently on putting on “good weight.”

“The weight room is a big part of football,” Simis said. “It’s a physical game. If you are not going to be committed to it, you aren’t going to be successful on the football field. I tried to lock in and do everything I could to get better and bigger.”

Nicholson and Simis carved out a diet plan to accompany his vigorous weight-gaining quest. It resulted in Simis setting the pace in the weight room and the kitchen, establishing himself as a leader despite his position switch. He has authority because of the way his teammates acknowledge and respect his sacrifices.

“As hard as he works and as much as he’s transformed his body, it’s not surprising what he’s doing now,” UM sophomore H receiver Colin Bingham said.

“Makena is the all-around student-athlete. He is a really good football player and he’s also a really good student. He’s a great friend. If you could pick a model teammate, it’s him.”

His peers are not the only men he’s impressed.

“If I had a position open, he’d be a guy I would hire in a heart beat,” Nicholson said. “He’s going to be a very good coach in the future. He’s everything you want from a player.”

Despite the presence of fellow senior Josh Horner, the Grizzlies’ most productive H since Stitt took over, and the return of  Bingham, a promising sophomore, Simis has carved out a place as a key element of Montana offense this fall.

He has caught five passes for 47 yards, 12 less passes and 99 less yards than Horner. But Stitt and quarterbacks coach Andrew Selle have made a few packages where Simis plays “Wildcat” quarterback in short-yardage situations. He has a rushing touchdown.

Last week in Montana’s 39-31 victory at Idaho State — Montana’s second straight road win — Simis caught a three-yard touchdown pass for UM’s first score of the game. The reception capped a 79-yard drive.

 /by Brooks Nuanez

/by Brooks Nuanez

“He’s the ultimate teammate and he will do anything for the guys,” Stitt said. “Getting him his first touchdown catch after how hard he’s worked and all he’s sacrificed was awesome to see.”

On Saturday, Simis celebrates an anniversary of sorts. North Dakota is back in Missoula for the first matchup between the Griz and UND since that day when Simis burst on to the scene. Both teams have usual subjects. North Dakota will have to figure out a solution for Jensen, a phenom who is quickly establishing a reputation in the league.

Instead of throwing touchdowns, Simsi will be shifting in motion, lead blocking and perhaps catching passes.

“Being bigger and more physical gave him more confidence,” Ferriter said. “And it’s not just the weight room stuff. IT’s the amount of work he put in to refine his trade of becoming a receiver. When he came in the first spring when he changed, he was not very good. No better way to say it. But he put in such a phenomenal amount of foot work and field work and now he’s a really good player.”

Simis is majoring in education with an emphasis in history and political science. He has always looked up to his father and will follow in his footsteps in some fashion. He will pursue a graduate degree as a graduate assistant with whatever college football team will take him before transitioning into coaching, whether it’s at the collegiate or high school level. If he chooses prep, he hopes to become an American government or history teacher.

“I always wanted to be a coach,” Simis said. “I always followed my dad around everywhere. The whole teaching side of things, though came around after I left high school. I realized how much of an impact teachers can actually have. And seeing my dad have that impact on students was pretty inspiring for me.”

Before he thinks about that future, Simis is set on helping lead Montana back to past heights. The Griz have now won two straight road games and sit at 4-2 overall entering Saturday’s homecoming game against, fittingly, North Dakota. UM’s first matchup against UND since Simis threw the six touchdowns helps the former quarterback realize the full circle his journey has completed. The once upon a time Southern Idaho Player of the Year imagined throwing touchdowns his final season rather than catching them. But he’s accepted his role and couldn’t be happier.

Montana senior H receiver Makena Simis /by Brooks Nuanez

Montana senior H receiver Makena Simis /by Brooks Nuanez

“What I will remember is it’s made me into a better person,” Simis said. “It’s forced me to adapt and be put in uncomfortable situations and figure out how to come out of those situations and learn something, grow from them. It was definitely the type of adversity I didn’t know I was going to have to deal with coming into college but I did and sometimes those unexpected things happen. It forced me to learn, adapt and grow, which has made me a better man.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez, Jason Bacaj and attributed. All Rights Reserved. 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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