MISSOULA — After quite literally generation of dominance, the unthinkable happened to the Montana Grizzlies.
Through the combination of scholarship reduction, multiple changes in offensive scheme and pure happenstance, Montana’s offensive line, once one of the proudest position groups in the Big Sky Conference, became a deficiency.
From Chad Germer to Scott Gragg to Dave Kempfert in the early 1990s to Scott Curry and Thatcher Szalay later in the decade, from future NFL players like Dylan McFarland, Corey Proctor and Cody Balogh in the first part of the 2000s to Colin Dow and Levi Horn to finish up the first decade of the 21st century, a crucial element to Montana’s streak of 17 straight playoff berths rested in the trenches.
The Griz have had some standouts on the offensive front this decade as well — Danny Kistler, Jon Opperud and current Chicago Bear William Poehls come to mind — but nothing like the dominance that saw 51 Griz offensive linemen land on the Big Sky’s first-team all-conference squad since the founding of the league in 1963.
From 1991 — the senior year of Germer, an All-American center who is now UM’s offensive line coach — until 2011, the last time the Griz won the Big Sky title, Montana landed 27 players on the Big Sky’s all-league first team. Since 2012, the year that saw UM’s playoff streak halt at 17, Kistler has been the only Griz to earn first-team honors. No Montana offensive lineman has been a first-team all-conference talent since 2013.
Third-year Montana head coach Bob Stitt has referenced on multiple occasions the deficiencies he saw along the offensive front when he first took over. Stitt’s first offensive line featured second-team All-Big Sky left tackle John Schmaing, a walk-on in Devon Dietrich and players like Robert Luke and McCauley Todd playing out of position.
Last season, David Reese earned second-team All-Big Sky honors in his first year playing left tackle. Former walk-on Jackson Thiebes earned third-team accolades.
Still, the mantra of DOLA — which no offensive lineman will confirm but many believe means dominant offensive line attitude — seemed hollow compared to years past.
If you ask this year’s version of the Montana Grizzlies, specifically recently anointed senior starting quarterback Reese Phillips, that might be changing.
“Our offensive line, man, to me we have the best offensive line in the Big Sky, not even close, I don’t care who we are playing,” Phillilps, a former transfer from Kentucky, said following Saturday’s scrimmage. “Those guys make my life a lot easier. If I miss something, they always help me out. It’s almost all seniors. The only non-senior played all last year. It’s exciting. I don’t really have to worry about anything.”
Stitt has retooled the roster to the point where, entering his third season, only 18 Grizzlies did not sign with this staff. A good amount of those holdovers are on the offensive line. Stitt has acknowledged multiple times this off-season of the progress of the unit.
“Probably the biggest improvement every year we have been here in the o-line,” Stitt said at the Big Sky Kickoff in Park City, Utah in July. “We are getting more athletic there. We have a chance to start four seniors on the o-line this year. We were very young and undersized and probably not as powerful and athletic as we wanted. We are getting a lot closer to where we want to be up front.”
Depending on how the right tackle position battle between senior Mike Ralston and redshirt freshman Thayne Jackson plays out, Montana could start four seniors including Reese, senior center Cooper Sprunk, Luke at right guard. Left guard Angel Villanueva started all 11 games as a redshirt freshman last season.
Since Stitt took over, he has signed highly touted linemen like Villanueva, Jackson, Brandon Scott, Conlan Beaver, Ashton Torres and Dylan Eickmeyer. All are currently battling for back-up positions aside from Villanueva and Jackson. The determination of the current seniors, from enduring a coaching chance with Mick Delaney’s retirement in 2014 to transitioning from Delaney’s pro-style offense to Stitt’s up-tempo spread West Coast attack.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned from them is perseverance,” Jackson said the first week of August. “No matter what happens, you just have to keep your head down and keep your nose to the grindstone.”
The offensive line is required to make an array of pre-snap reads in Stitt’s complex offense, a duty that most often falls to the center. In 2015, UM lost its starting man in the middle before the season began when Ben Weyer went down with a season-ending knee injury. Last season, Weyer suffered a similar fate.
Luke tried to fill in two years ago, while it was Spunk who assumed the role as the general of the offensive line last season. The former walk-on tight end evolved into one of UM’s most improved players by the end of last year.
“I think as an offensive line unit, we are going to be great,” Sprunk said at the Big Sky Kickoff. “We have just about everyone back in town for the summer. Germer has been a great coach for us. He’s really helped us with technique and just coming together as a group.
“We hang out all the time, we eat together all the time. Whenever we are hanging out in a big group, there’s always like three or four o-linemen. We are a pretty tight-knit group.”
Reese is the stalwart of the group, a four-year starter working on a streak of 34 consecutive starts entering his final season. He earned second-team All-Big Sky honors as a junior left tackle last fall. He is a preseason All-Big Sky selection and an honors candidate who could be the next Montana offensive lineman to garner NFL attention if he can put it together this fall.
“It’s awesome to have him back out there not just his abilities but his leadership abilities,” Germer said. “It’s nice to have that side nailed down. He’s going to do his job. That gives all his guys to the right more and more confidence.”
Villanueva, a 6-foot-5, 324-pound mammoth, is solidified at one guard spot. Luke, a 6-foot-4, 318-pounder his teammates justifiable call “Thighs”, is the front-runner for the other spot but has been pushed by Scott and third-year sophomore Dallas Hart this camp.
The most heated position battle in the trenches is at right tackle. Ralston, a 6-foo-t5, 305-pounder from Sheldon High in Eugene, Oregon, was recruited as a tight end by Delaney. He spent two years there before switching to defensive end for a season. When Stitt first arrive, Ralston moved to H receiver without much success. Now he’s battling for a starting job to bookend Reese at yet another new position.
“He’s doing great,” Reese said. “He’s a freak athlete. He’s played five positions and he knows football well, he’s a quick learner so he’s doing well so far. The dude is 305, one of the stronger guys on the team. He’s built right now to be a right tackle.”
Jackson came to Montana from Gilbert, Arizona, a three-star recruit who quickly established himself as a dynamic personality amongst his recruiting class.
Following Montana’s last scrimmage, Stitt said “the jury is still out” on who will start at the power tackle position. Germer has liked the competition he’s seen thus far.
“It’s a unique spot because we have a lot of young, good players working really hard to get themselves into the mix,” Germer said. “Ralston is a guy who is a tremendous talent who has been around for a long time, has some experience but is new to the position. The good news is we have a lot of guys who can battle for that spot and Ralston is doing a good job fending them off.”
Montana had no problem racking up yards and lighting up scoreboards in 2016. The Grizzlies averaged nearly 40 points and 482 yards of total offense per game. But the team wilted down the stretch, losing four of its last five to miss the playoffs for the third time since 1993.
If the Griz want to right the ship and return to the postseason, a return to the DOLA of the past generation will go a long way to ensuring that happens.
“I think we can turn into something special,” Ralston said. “All of us are really good friends, which I think really helps our cohesiveness and how we work together. I think if we can keep that rolling and keep improving every day, we will be in good shape.”
Photos by Jason Bacaj and Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
