MISSOULA — As Kent Baer stood at midfield at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Montana’s defensive secondary jogged out of the hallowed tunnel chanting in unison a well-known three-letter rallying cry reserved for only Montana’s fiercest rival.
Montana’s new defensive coordinator knows the next weeks and months will be filled with teaching and learning for both he and his players. The Grizzlies are in the midst of an overhaul after missing the playoffs for consecutive years for the first time in a generation. Baer, new head coach Bobby Hauck and the rest of the coaching staff need to find four new starters on the offensive line, a new primary pass rusher, two inside linebackers, two new starting cornerbacks and replacements for a trio of senior safeties.
While the cadence of “FTC” from the DBs seemed like a return to the glory days of Hauck’s first tenure — a stretch that saw Montana win 81 games and seven league in seven seasons between 2003 and 2009 — the Griz enter spring break, the proverbial midpoint of its 15-practice spring session, more than eight months away from their showdown with the ‘Cats with plenty of work to do.
“I don’t think the vision changes but we have to keep working to get better,” Hauck said before his team’s eighth spring practice. “We have to learn to compete, learn how to put our pads on each other and the chance to get out and play some football is good for us.
“I do think our guys have really embraced how we want to do thing. The energy and the enthusiasm part of things is a requirement.”
Baer inherits a defense that had a propensity for making explosive plays in the backfield — Montana led the Big Sky Conference in tackles for loss and ranked third in sacks last season — but also had a penchant for getting gashed. Former coordinator Jason Semore’s high-pressure, multiple and wildly inconsistent scheme suffocated inferior opponents but gave up gaudy point and yardage totals when exposed.
The Griz will have to find replacements for All-Big Sky performers defensive end Tucker Schye, inside linebackers Connor Strahm and James Banks, cornerback Ryan McKinley and safety Justin Strong.
“I think you have to build the defense around what you have,” Baer, who’s list of stops in his 41-year career include Idaho, Cal, Arizona State, Stanford, Notre Dame, Washington and Colorado, said last Wednesday. “You would be smart to do that. Everything you’ve done in the past doesn’t mean it’s going to work now. You do a lot of it by ability. My goodness, the game has changed so much over the years, the philosophies have changed and you have to stay up on what’s going on or you are going to get gashed.
“You learn that as time goes on. You can’t be stubborn about things you do. I think you have to be stubborn about things fundamentally. But I don’t think you can be real stubborn with scheme.”
On Friday, Montana held its first of two spring scrimmages. The session was closed to the media and capped the third week of spring before the Griz take this week off for UM’s spring break. A source said the defense dominated the day, not allowing a single touchdown.
The coaching staff has not yet released a depth chart. Hauck has said each week the first three weeks that this is a time for experimentation. Junior Vika Fa’atuiese, the perceived heir apparent to replace the graduated Strahm at middle linebacker, is now playing fullback, a position that didn’t even exist in former head coach Bob Stitt’s spread offense.
Former linebacker Trase Le Texier, a third-year sophomore coming back from season-ending knee surgery, is playing fullback as well. Former inside wide receiver junior Colin Bingham along with redshirt freshmen Matt Rensvold, Bryson Deming and Brennan Corbin are now playing tight end. Former quarterback Caleb Hill is also playing tight end in his final year of eligibility, a position absent from Stitt’s four-wide sets.
Sophomore Jed Nagler and junior Koby Eaton, each former outside receivers, are now playing defense, Nagler at outside linebacker, Eaton at cornerback. Sophomore wide receiver Nick Fouch is now listed as a defensive back on the roster. Former defensive tackle Esai Longoria, a 6-foot-3, 305-pound sophomore, is playing offensive line.
Sophomore Gavin Crow has moved from safety to cornerback full-time, at least for the spring. He has taken the first-team repetitions opposite of Dareon Nash, a third-year sophomore who switched from wide receiver to cornerback last season. Montana is searching for replacements for the graduated McKinley and departed Markell Sanders, a two-year starter and former transfer from Washington State who left the program in the off-season.
Senior Reggie Tilleman has taken the bulk of the first-team reps at defensive end after serving as a back-up at tackle and end last season. Junior Dante Olson started out the spring at defensive end after playing linebacker last season but took reps at outside linebacker with the first-team defense last week. Last week, Olson lined up next to senior Shayne Cochran in the middle and opposite of redshirt freshman Marcus Welnel at the other outside spot. Senior Josh Buss will be an All-American candidate when he returns from off-season shoulder surgery.
“Our biggest priority is just learning what we are doing,” Baer said. “Any time you go to different places, the terminology is always different. What I’ve learned that in the past, it’s a lot easier for four or five defensive coaches to learn terminology and a lot of it stay the same for the players.”
The only starters playing in the same position as they did last year who return for Montana are senior defensive tackle David Shaw, junior defensive tackle Jesse Sims, junior safety Josh Sandry and junior defensive end Chris Favoroso.
“We are short-handed at some spots, specifically the offensive line and most of the spots on defense so we have moved some guys around so we will see who fits,” Hauck said. “If they don’t, we will move them back and try some other things. It’s great to have a chance to experiment a little bit.”
Offensively, the front is the primary concern. Bingham’s ability as a blocker and the potential physical play of Deming, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound redshirt freshman from Billings West, could help the edges. But the group will be Montana’s most inexperienced offensive line in recent memory.
Junior left guard Angel Villanueva (6-5, 324) is the lone returning starter. The rest of the first unit the first three weeks has been made up of sophomore Conlan Beaver (6-5, 293) at left tackle, junior Dallas Hart (6-5, 315) at center, sophomore Brandon Scott (6-7, 290) at right guard and redshirt freshman Colton Keintz (6-8, 275), a walk-on from Missoula Big Sky, at right tackle. None has appeared in more than seven games and none has seen a meaningful rep in a Division I game.
Sophomore Thayne Jackson (6-5, 296) was the only young lineman who competed for a starting spot on a front that featured four-year starter David Reese, a first-team All-Big Sky selection, at left tackle along with center Cooper Sprunk and right guard Robert Luke, each honorable mention all-conference picks, teaming with converted tight right tackle Mike Ralston. Jackson will almost certainly start at one of the tackle positions when he returns from off-season hip surgery.
Gresch Jensen started eight games and earned Freshman All-American honors at quarterback last fall. But Friday, sources say he again split reps with the first-team offense with transfer Dalton Sneed, a dual-threat junior who made stops at UNLV and Fort Scott Community College before landing at Montana.
With senior incumbent Jeremy Calhoun out with an unknown injury, senior Alijah Lee has taken the first-team running back snaps ahead of a healthy Rey Green, a highly touted recruiting who missed most of last season after suffering a knee injury.
“Right now a depth chart doesn’t help you much,” offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach said the first week of spring practices. “I wouldn’t say you’d set it coming out of spring ball. You can give them an idea of where they are at but you want to compete through the start of fall camp.”
The wide receiver position was undeniable stocked full of talent when Hauck took over but the proliferation of pass catchers means gaping holes on the offensive line and in the defensive secondary. Senior Keenan Curran along with juniors Jerry Louie-McGee and Justin Calhoun plus sophomores Samori Toure and Samuel Akem all played significant snaps last season at wideout. But Stitt’s priority on recruiting pass catchers left other position groups thin.
Not including transfer safeties Gavin Robertson (Arizona) and Hauck’s son Robby Hauck (Northern Arizona), Sandry, senior Evan Epperly and redshirt freshman Michael McGinnis were the only safeties on the entire roster when Hauck took over.
Aside from position experimentation and implementation of basic scheme, this spring stretch is about the current Griz learning the demands Hauck and his staff will expect for the coming months and years, the head coach said. During Stitt’s tenure, practices were almost exclusively non-contact or “thud”. Under Hauck, the violent portions of football have been reintroduced full force.
“Spring practice is a chance to get better at the physical aspects of it, blocking and tackling,” Hauck said. “And we will get a chance to play. You don’t get better at football without playing it.”
Montana resumes spring practices on Monday, April 2 and will hold its second scrimmage that Friday. The Griz wrap up the slate with the annual spring game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday, April 14.
Photos by Lacey Young, Brooks Nuanez and Jason Bacaj. Andrew Houghton contributed the Rosenbach quote for this story. All Rights Reserved.
