On Monday, Montana athletic director Kent Haslam made a move not seen at UM in more than 30 years when the Grizzlies elected to not renew the contract of head football coach Bob Stitt.
Robin Pflugrad was fired under a cloud of controversy in the spring of 2012. But Stitt marks the first Montana football coach to not be retained directly after the season since Harley Lewis did not renew the contract of Larry Donovan following the 1985 season.
“There’s a constant evaluation of the program,” Haslam said. “Certainly, (Sunday) was my opportunity to process things through. (I’m) disappointed with the way the season ended last year.
“And then disappointed not at all in the performance of our student-athletes in the final game this year and play so well. But it had been an evaluation that had taken place over the last 12 months. It really in my mind came to a conclusion as I thought more and more yesterday, process things, had a chance to separate a little bit from the final game of the year.”