Kale Edwards’ recruiting was slow to pick up, thanks to a broken leg the Coeur d’Alene quarterback and safety suffered right before his junior year.
But when he came back healthy in 2018, leading the Vikings to the Idaho state semifinal, Edwards found himself drawing plenty of interest.
He committed to Montana on Saturday, not much more than a month after the Griz offered him.
Edwards also had offers from Idaho, Idaho State and MSU-Northern.
“Ever since they offered, I’ve been thinking about it,” Edwards said. “I was kind of putting everything off until after football season ended, and then the first week, I had basketball. … But over Thanksgiving I had a couple days off to think about it, and I really thought Montana was the place for me, so I committed.”
Edwards is a three-star prospect as a pro-style quarterback per 247 Sports, which rated him the second-best prospect in Idaho in the Class of 2019. With Edwards and tight end Joey Elwell from Meridian, the Griz have commitments from two of the top three 2019 prospects in Idaho.
With Idaho back in the Big Sky and Idaho State on the rise, beating his rivals to the best in-state talent is another statement for Montana head coach Bobby Hauck, who’s also pulled recruits from Eastern Washington and Montana State’s backyards.
“[Montana was] just above the other three,” Edwards said. “It was just the atmosphere, and there have been other recruits that have been texting me, and that made me feel welcomed. All the coaches seem like great people, and they’ll make me a better football player in the future, so I can’t wait to get there.”
Edwards will play defense at Montana. He’ll likely move from safety to linebacker, but he said that hadn’t been decided yet.
At 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, he could play at either spot. He was primarily a safety but did play in the box some at Coeur d’Alene.
“I was playing safety mostly and then I rolled down to linebacker, inside and outside,” Edwards said. “Safety, I was in coverage a lot, and I was tall, so they didn’t really throw it to my side ever.
“I like hitting people. When I come up and hit somebody, that’s awesome and I love doing it. That’s the best part of football, I think. … I think I can cover guys pretty well, but then I can also fill the hole.”
As a quarterback, Edwards threw for 2,547 yards and 22 touchdowns and rushed for 576 yards and 14 more scores, per his MaxPreps statistics. He also notched 74 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and snared four interceptions on defense.
The leg injury robbed Edwards of a crucial year in the recruiting process, forcing him to get back on the scene through summer camps and with a good start to his senior year.
Now, he’s eager to show that it’s all behind him — and to help rekindle the Montana-Idaho rivalry.
“I know a couple of guys on Idaho’s football team, but it wasn’t the place for me,” Edwards said. “Idaho is kind of the hometown team, I guess, but now everybody I know is a Montana fan too, because I’m there. It’ll be fun to get the rivalry going. We won it this year, so hopefully we continue the streak.”
