MISSOULA, Montana — On a day Montana is scheduled to announce its most recent signing class of football recruits, longtime head coach Bobby Hauck is instead expected to retire.
Hauck, who led the Grizzlies to 13 wins and the semifinals of the FCS playoffs this past season, has been the head coach at Montana for a total of 15 years and 14 seasons. He has led Montana to 151 wins and eight Big Sky Conference championships.
Hauck, 61, had a signing day press conference set for 10 a.m. on Wednesday. At 7:30 a.m., the Griz QB Club sent out an email saying the signing day luncheon was postponed.
By 8 a.m., Skyline Sports confirmed with more than a dozen independent sources that Hauck will resign as Montana’s head football coach this morning. An official announcement is expected at 9:30 a.m.
Bobby Kennedy, who served as Montana’s wide receiver coach last season, is expected to be named the head coach. One source close to athletics said that Kennedy will not have an interim tag. Montana athletic director Kent Haslam confirmed Kennedy will coach the Griz during the 2026 season while a national search is underway. Kennedy will be on a one-year contract.
Montana is expected to announce the signing of 24 mid-year transfers and a variety of other high school recruits compiled during a season that saw Montana win 11 straight games only to lose its rivalry game at home to Montana State. The Griz then had consecutive dominant performances in the playoffs, thrashing South Dakota State and South Dakota to set up a rematch against MSU in Bozeman. Montana State won that semifinal matchup 48-23 and went on to win its first national championship in 41 years.
Hauck was first hired as the head coach at Montana in 2003. He led the Griz to 80 wins and seven straight Big Sky Conference championships between 2003 and 2009. He guided Montana to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009, playing in the national title game in 2004, 2008 and 2009. During that stint, Hauck’s last four teams 2006-2009 went 31-1 in Big Sky play.
Hauck left ahead of the 2010 season to take the head coaching job at UNLV. He went 15-49 in Vegas before resigning and taking the special teams coordinator job at San Diego State on Rocky Long’s staff.
Hauck returned to his alma mater ahead of the 2018 season to take over a Griz program that had missed the playoffs two years in a row under Bob Stitt. UM missed the playoffs again in 2018 but bounced back with a 10-win season in 2019 and has made the playoffs every season since.
Hauck’s second tenure has included six playoff appearances, two trips to the semis, one trip to the national championship and one Big Sky title. It’s also included two wins in eight games against rival Montana State.
If Hauck does not coach in the Big Sky Conference again, he will finish as the league’s all-time leader in overall victories (151) and conference wins (86).
