The legends of the past adorn the tunnel walls, a constant reminder for all those who enter into Washington-Grizzly Stadium of the legacy of the modern generation of Grizzly defenders.
Montana’s defensive tradition runs deep, especially since the turn of the 21st century. The tunnel walls are painted with pictures of NFL Draft picks like Trumaine Johnson, Caleb McSurdy and Shann Schillinger, former Buck Buchanan Award winners like Kroy Biermann and revered folk heroes like Colt Anderson and Blaine McElmurry.
Each year, stars from Montana’s defense graduate, some moving on to the next level and others fading into lore of the Griz. But year in and year out, Montana seems to reload.
Still, the Griz experienced an offseason of vast change defensively, leaving many to wonder what the identity of the unit might be with a collection of fresh faces called upon to carry on the ritual standout performance.
UM defensive end Tyrone Holmes/by Brooks Nuanez
Montana’s defense led the Big Sky Conference in sacks last season with 42. Ferocious defensive end Tyrone Holmes led college football with 18 quarterback takedowns. Caleb Kidder was one of the league’s most menacing defensive tackles, outside linebacker Kendrick Van Ackeren one of its most productive tacklers and linebacker Herbert Gamboa one of the Big Sky’s most versatile players.
Although the Grizzlies possess a collection of talent, inconsistencies plagued the unit during an up-and-down season filled with turmoil. Lack of depth beyond Kidder on the interior defensive line, a revolving door of ends opposite Holmes, legal trouble for Van Ackeren and an injury bug that bit the secondary all played into UM’s irregularity.
Holmes, Van Ackeren, Gamboa, middle linebacker Jeremiah Kose and cornerback Nate Harris all graduated after earning All-Big Sky honors. Defensive end Derek Crittenden, defensive tackle Jamal Wilson, linebacker Connor Lebsock and safeties Eric Johnson and Justin Whitted all exhausted their eligibility.
In December, longtime assistant Ty Gregorak, UM’s defensive coordinator since 2012 and its linebackers coach since 2003, caused a resounding ruckus when he bolted from Missoula to join Jeff Choate’s new staff at Montana State. In January, Montana head coach Bob Stitt promoted Jason Semore to coordinate his defense and dug into revamping the roster.
The Griz moved Kidder from tackle to defensive end. UM moved redshirt freshman Jesse Sims from end to tackle, making room for senior Ryan Johnson to start opposite of Kidder. The Griz signed defensive tackles Brandt Davidson and Myles Mckee-Osibodu from the junior college ranks. Linebacker James Banks (UAB), safety Justin Strong (Oregon State) and cornerback T.J. Reynard (Wisconsin) all joined the roster from the FBS.
The position changes and newcomers joined a unit highlighted by rising stars like sophomore outside linebacker Josh Buss, junior middle linebacker Connor Strahm, redshirt freshman safety Josh Sandry and sophomore cornerback Markell Sanders. Incumbents like senior safety Yamen Sanders and junior cornerback Ryan McKinley returned from a defense sure to have a completely new look.
Former Montana defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak/by Brooks Nuanez
During the off-season, Stitt praised Semore’s defensive acumen and his ability to relate schemes to his players with ease. During Montana’s first two games, the dividends are paying off in a big way as the Grizzly defense has shined.
Despite being put in tough situations for the duration of the evening because of three turnovers by the offense and poor special teams play throughout, the defense stonewalled St. Francis in a 41-31 win to open the season. Other than a 78-yard touchdown pass late, the Montana defense surrendered just 180 yards in the game.
Last week with the Griz facing off against No. 3 Northern Iowa, a Missouri Valley team that ran all over Big XII Iowa State in a 25-20 win to open the season, Montana again played lights out. The Griz gave up just 3.6 yards per carry to UNI’s vaunted rushing attack in posting a 20-14 win despite a lackluster offensive effort. Northern Iowa quarterback Aaron Bailey, an Illinois transfer who rushed for more than 1,300 yards last season, managed just eight yards on 20 carries.
Two games into the season, Gregorak seems like a distant memory as Semore is getting stellar production out of all three levels of his defense.
“It’s what we knew would happen and it’s what we expected of him and his defense,” Stitt said. “I’ve been with him as a coordinator before and I knew exactly what he was all about with his scheme. The reason our defensive players have played so well early is because he’s such a great teacher.
“It didn’t take them being around Coach Semore very long in spring ball to find out that we were going to be prepared as a defense. Then you have to go out and do it and our guys are giving us an unbelievable effort.”
Semore played linebacker at Adams State before joining Stitt’s staff at Colorado School of Mines as the secondary coach in 2007. After one season in Golden, he spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator for his alma mater. He coached linebackers at Tulsa for three seasons and spent the two seasons prior to joining Stitt’s staff at Montana as a defensive assistant at Oklahoma State. He served as the secondary coach for the 2015 Grizzlies.
UM head coach Bob Stitt (L) with defensive coordinator Jason Semore (R)/by UM Athletics
When Semore was handed the reigns, he went to work on designing a defense that accentuated all the personnel he has at his disposal.
“We had to step back and look at what all your guys can do,” Semore said in an interview before Montana’s practice on Wednesday. “As far as their skill set, everyone offers different things.
“For example, in the off-season, we noticed Josh Buss is a dynamic pass rusher so we try to utilize that when we build blitz packages and how we set our fronts every week. The biggest change was evaluating every group and seeing what everybody can bring to the table.”
The individual talent for the 2015 Grizzlies was striking. From Holmes’ explosive presence on the edge to Kidder’s disruptive nature in the middle to Kose’s hard-hitting reputation to Van Ackeren’s knack for finding the football to Gamboa’s prodigious speed to Harris’ ability in man coverage, the pieces were in place. But the performance went up and down during an 8-5 campaign that includes highs like a season-opening win over North Dakota State and a destruction of Eastern Washington in Missoula but lows like a loss to Weber State in Missoula and a manhandling at the hands of NDSU in Fargo in the second round of the playoffs.
In the off-season, the Grizzlies went to work, acclimating more than 40 new players into the mix. Most of the grind took place in the weight room under strength coach Matt Nicholson. The trials and challenges of sweating together brought the Grizzlies together, Semore said.
“We are playing together and that all starts with sacrifice and hard work,” Semore said. “Every team in America is asking their teammates to care about each other but ultimate, it’s their decision. They are the ones who have to show their teammates they are going to sacrifice and they are going to work hard.
“We talk about it as it’s a conditional love. The respect and love you have for your teammates comes with conditions. I’m not just going to put it on the line for you just because you have Montana on your chest. You have to earn that.”
UM linebacker Connor Strahm tackles Saint Francis in 2016/by Jason Bacaj
Thus far, Semore’s defensive scheme has showed an array of diversity, from moving Kidder inside on predicted run plays to playing one or no down lineman in passing situations. The third down packages include roles for junior defensive end Tucker Schye and redshirt freshman outside linebacker Vika Fa’atuise. Strahm has been a hammer in the middle, Buss a threat on the edge and Strong a revelation in the secondary.
The result was a standout defensive performance that made Montana one of only two teams in the 13-team Big Sky with a 2-0 record. The victory served as UM’s first road win over a Top 5 team since the Griz blasted rival Montana State, the No. 1 team in the FCS, 36-10 in Bozeman in 2011.
“It gives our guys a bunch of confidence and it gives me a bunch of confidence as a coach because I know what kind of guys we got,” Semore said. “We talk about as a coaching staff all the time that sophomore, junior, senior doesn’t mean anything. What’s your mental maturity level? We have a group of guys that are mentally mature and that starts with leadership.”
The scheme is diverse, hard to plan for and confusing to opposing offenses. But the new faces, both in the form of transfers like Strong, who leads the team with 18 physical tackles after tackles, and breakout young players like Buss and Sims has been equally important to Montana’s early success.
“They are great players but they’ve done a great job of becoming great teammates,” Stitt said. “A guy like Justin Strong, a transfer in, we asked him, ‘How are you going to handle this? How are you going to be come part of this team without disrupting the team?’ They’ve done a great job.”
UM defensive coordinator Jason Semore talking with former cornerback Nate Harris
Although the collection of newcomers, from coaches to players, seem to be thriving early on in Semore’s revamped Griz defense, Semore said his defense has not arrived yet. Montana has a bye this week before another stiff test at Cal Poly, the FCS masters of the triple option, on September 24. Semore refuses to let his young defense rest on its laurels.
“It’s easy to fall off that maturity and start reading press clippings and we are ranked No. (7) in the country and all that,” Semore said. “Well, two weeks from now, we could be unranked. The only thing that matters is winning games during the playoffs and winning conference championships. That’s the expectation here.
“The hard part is keeping guys focused on the next day. But I think we have a mature group that understands that and we will keep harping on that as coaches and hopefully we can lift our heads up when the smoke clears and we will have won a championship.”
Skyline Sports Missoula correspondent Jason Bacaj interviewed Jason Semore following Montana’s Wednesday practice and provided all the quotes from UM’s defensive coordinator used in this story.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez or noted. All Rights Reserved.
