MISSOULA — Since the abrupt and surprising announcement, Jerome Souers has not had much time to process the emotions of each passing moment.
On Saturday, Northern Arizona’s longtime head coach will celebrate another anniversary of his end at NAU. After 20 years and 118 victories, the 59-year-old will not return for the 2018 season, the school announced in September.
Souers has not had to deal with many “lasts” since the announcement. His team has played four of its six games since at Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff. His last trips to San Luis Obispo to play Cal Poly and to Portland to play Portland State do not harbor the memories that are sure to flood over him as he leads his Lumberjacks into Washington-Grizzly Stadium one final time on Saturday afternoon.
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“It’s really hard for me and I don’t think anybody realizes it,” Souers said during his appearance on ESPN 102.9 FM Missoula on Monday afternoon. “I’m not retiring. I’ve been here a long time. It’s not been easy to stay focused on the week to week but I have been. I haven’t even thought about what it’s going to feel like when I go in there.
“I have very special memories in that stadium, a lot of great ones on both sides of the sideline, not as many on one as on the other. It’s been a blessing of my life to be a part of one passport to the other as a part of college football and something I’ll always treasure.”
RELATED: NAU to part ways with Souers
Before signing on to guide NAU in 1998, Souers spent the previous 13 seasons as a defensive coach at Montana. The Eugene, Oregon native joined Don Read’s staff in 1985 before the godfather of modern Griz football took the UM job the following season. Souers coached defensive backs from 1986 until 1988 before being promoted to Montana’s defensive coordinator.
The Griz made it to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs in Souers’ first year calling the defense in 1989. By 1993, Montana’s rise had ignited. In 1994, UM made it to the Final Four again and in 1995, the Grizzlies won their first national championship. In 1998, Souers took his first and only head coaching job, embarking on a tenure that has lasted longer than any head coach in league history.
“It has been a great competitive friendship,” Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh said on the Big Sky’s weekly coaches’ teleconference earlier this season. “I’m sure other people feel the same way about him. You knew when you played against him team, you better be ready to give your best. I think that’s one of the things I really respect is how hard his guys play. If you have beat them, then you’ve beaten a good team and I think every coach in the league feels that way.
“The camaraderie we’ve had off the field, over the years, getting together and talking, telling stories has been a great experience for me to be around a man like him that I think gets it and understands that when we line up on Saturday nights, it’s huge, it’s what we do, it’s for our players but when the game is over, we have a lot of respect for each other and that’s really what it’s all about. We do it for the right reasons, and I know Jerome does, to help young people be successful and chase their dreams on the field and off the field. I think all the coaches in our league thinks he’s been a great asset to our profession and a great asset to the Big Sky.”
Saturday serves as a sort of homecoming for NAU defensive coordinator Andy Thompson and first-year secondary coach Vernon Smith as well. Thompson played linebacker at Montana from 1999 until 2003, competing for Mick Dennehy, Joe Glenn and Bobby Hauck. He joined Souers’ staff as a graduate assistant in 2005 and has been the defensive coordinator since 2009.
“No. 1, the way he treats people is second to none,” Thompson said. “He has a lot of people he’s impacted in his life. He’s gone through four college presidents, worked for at least three athletic directors, had a lot of assistant coaches. But all those people have been treated very well and he’s learned to make the best of whatever the situation has been down here.”
RELATED: Missoula connections run deep for NAU coaching staff
Since the announcement that Souers would not return, NAU has not lost. The Lumberjacks sit alone atop the Big Sky with a 5-0 league mark. Their six-game winning streak also includes a 37-16 whipping of No. 7 Illinois State in Flagstaff.
“It’s a strange feeling that I’ve never felt before but one that does have some clarity as far as we have to enjoy the players we coach and enjoy our time together and we are doing that,” said Thompson, who’s defense leads the league with 14 interceptions. “I’m really proud of how hard our guys have played as a team. We have really enjoyed the day to day things we do together and knowing that isn’t guaranteed after the season.
“I sit back, watch a lot of film and try to be prepared and that keeps my mind from wandering to what am I going to do next year, what am I going to do two months from now or three months from now?”
Smith was a three-time All-Big Sky selection at cornerback and a 2002 All-American after leading the league in interceptions for the Griz. Smith and Thompson played for Montana’s last national championship team in 2001. Smith, who helped Aaron Sibley and Xavier Coleman earn All-American honors at Portland State the last two seasons before joining Souers’ staff, has brought a similar level of intensity to the NAU DBs.
“It’s a lot due to the culture of Coach Smith,” NAU junior safety Wes Sutton said of his team’s increase in interceptions. “He has come in and built a nice culture for us. He’s a competitor in everything we do. We compete and that’s what has helped us. We have our mindset on one goal and that’s to win the Big Sky.”
Northern Arizona’s game in Missoula is ripe with history and connection but is also rich in intrigue given the matchup on the field. Following last week’s 41-27 loss at Weber State, Montana likely cannot lose if it wants to qualify for the FCS playoffs and certainly cannot lose if the Griz want to stay alive in the Big Sky title race.
“It’s very important to us because it’s the next game and we need to have success and win the ball game,” UM third-year head coach Bob Stitt said. “Because of all the success over the last 30 years of this football program, it’s not just Northern Arizona. It’s a weekly basis. It’s a game every team circles. That’s what our guys face on a weekly basis.”
For NAU, Souers says the “optics of our vision do not stretch beyond Saturday.” The revered coach does not believe in the sentimental value of playing for coaches is prevalent among this generation of players. But his players have bucked that notion by putting together six straight weeks of victories after an 0-2 start.
“I think you always have it in the back of your mind but it can’t be something that’s a forefront,” NAU All-American quarterback Case Cookus said. “If that’s what it takes to motivate you, then great. But we have to keep this rolling. We want to get a Big Sky championship, not just this one win. It’s great to go 1-0, but we want to keep working toward our overall goal of that Big Sky championship for him for his last season.”
Souers had a bear of a time against the Grizzlies for his first 14 years at NAU, losing to his former employer every matchup. But NAU broke through in 2012, handing Montana its first homecoming loss in a generation in Missoula. The following season, NAU beat Montana in Flagstaff. The two schools didn’t play in 2014 and Montana got the upper hand back in 2015 with a 23-14 win in Missoula. Northern Arizona beat UM for the third time in four y ears with a 45-34 win in Flagstaff.
Souers himself does not know what the future holds. Until this week, he has been mum on the details of his resignation. He stated Monday he is not retired, which begs the question if he will coach again. One thing that is certain is this will be Souers’ last time leading NAU into barrage of boos at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“Washington-Grizzly Stadium and the city of Missoula has blossomed into one of the greatest college towns in the country,” Souers said. “Out West of the Mississippi, I think it stands alone in my opinion. Having seen and been to quite a few, I really believe that. I think there’s warmth in that stadium that is unique to any others and I think there is an energy that adds to a college atmosphere that most college kids don’t get to experience. I think it’s a great experience for any student-athlete who loves college football. When they are cheering for you, there’s so much energy in the stadium and that adds to the competition.
“Saturday presents a tremendous challenge.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
