During both the opening of the early signing period and the traditional National Signing Day, Bobby Hauck emphasized and reemphasized one of his theories on recruiting.
Montana’s head coach believes the notion that Big Sky Conference and fellow FCS programs rarely beat the Power 5 conference teams for coveted recruits.
“We can say we beat those schools year and year out on kids and that’s not factual very often,” Hauck said during a press conference announcing 17 new Grizzlies on December 18 of 2019. “If they want them, they get them. A guy has to really love this place and think it’s the place for him.”
Even though Hauck believes his assertion enough that he repeated it on February 7 of this year when UM but the bow on the Class of 2020 by signing five more prospects, Hauck and his staff bucked the theory this last recruiting cycle at least once.
Standout offensive lineman Brandon Casey, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound offensive tackle form Sandpoint, Idaho, went on a tour around Big Sky country the summer before his senior season. He made stops to participate in camps at Idaho, Idaho State, Eastern Washington, Montana and Montana State. He earned scholarship offers and a 2-star recruiting designation from all five schools.
He committed to Montana on August 12.
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As a senior, at Sandpoint High, he thrived once. And his performance earned him an offer from Oregon State of the Pac 12. The scholarship offer came on December 6, less than two weeks before the opening of the new early signing period.
“I actually went out there, went on an official visit,”Casey said. “But ultimately, I felt like Montana was my home.
“Toward the end of my recruiting it got sort of chaotic but throughout the spring and throughout the summer, it was pretty smooth. Because I knew. And honestly, my decision was pretty simple. I wanted to go to Montana.”
Hauck acknowledged that Casey was the rare prospect who chose winning tradition and the chance to help the Griz return to dominance in the FCS over the glamor of the Pac 12. And the Grizzlies are certainly happy to have the athletic, aggressive offensive tackle with tremendous upside.
“He’s certainly that guy,” Hauck said. “He’s like the Montana kids: he grew up wanting to play here and he grew up around it.”
Although Idaho is a state away, Hauck said he and his staff treat the Idaho panhandle and all the way to the eastside of Washington and “in-state territory.”
“If a kid and his family can easily drive here, that’s what we want,” Hauck said. “When we are recruiting them, we want them to be able to come to as many games as they can. And when they play here, we want their families to be able to come to as many games as they can.
“A place like Sandpoint is a closer drive than half the state of Montana, anyways.”
It’s true. Sandpoint is about as far of a drive as it is from Missoula to Spokane or Missoula to Bozeman. That helped Casey keep close tabs on Montana for most of his youth.
“I remember when Coach Hauck was in his first stint there and how dominant Montana was,” said Casey, referring to when Hauck coached UM to an 80-17 record and seven consecutive Big Sky championships between 2003 and 2009. “That was another reason why I came was to return to that dominance and win another national championship. Coach Hauck and I, we talked a lot about that. I was confident, confident in the direction the program is going and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Casey was not exclusively a follower of the Griz growing up. He also remembers attending games or checking out the campuses at Idaho, Idaho State and Eastern Washington long before his college recruitment ever started. But when Montana started recruiting him, it felt different than the rest of his Big Sky suitors.
“When I got my Montana offer, out of all the Big Sky, I was so excited,” Casey said.
“It was a lot of trying to figure out what I want. Ultimately, it came down to the coaches, the atmosphere and the guys I get to play with.”
“It was that good of a fit. It was hard because I didn’t want to regret anything. But at the same time, I knew in my gut and I couldn’t argue with that.”
Brent Pease, Montana’s assistant head coach and wide receivers coach and himself an Idaho native, was the first to start recruiting Casey. Then UM offensive line coach Chad Germer entered the equation, selling the prospect on Montana’s long-standing success of developing standout and often times dominant offensive linemen.
“He told me all about the tradition and all that stuff, the DOLA mentality and the past guys who have created such an offensive line legacy at the University of Montana,” Casey said.
During his senior year, Casey earned first-team All-IEL for the second straight year. He served as a team captain and rose to become the No. 17-ranked recruit overall in the state of Idaho according to 24/7 Sports. He started on both the offensive and defensive lines in football, was a district champion in discus and shot put as a junior in track and field and has participated in basketball, lacrosse and baseball as well during his high school career.
Each of the last two seasons, Casey earned the Jerry Kramer Lineman of the Year award at his high school, where he played for head coach Ryan Knowles. Former Montana safety Vince Huntsberger, a two-time Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year from Libby for the Griz, is also an assistant at the high school.
Even with a former Griz in his ear, the decision to not go to Corvallis and instead choose to spent his next years in Missoula was all Casey’s. “I love Missoula,” Casey said. “All that stuff, the Champions Center and the athletic department, it was all a big part of my decision just because of how nice everyone was. It’s really nicer than all the Pac 12 schools I went to to be honest with you. And watching the games, I was set. A packed Washington-Grizzly Stadium, how loud it was, the atmosphere, how could you not want to play in that.”
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