The offers started pouring in, including one from a school Nash Fouch had never considered.
The lifelong Montana fan first started hearing from the Griz football program the summer after his freshman year in high school. The son of a UM alum had spent many autumn afternoons going to games in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
By the summer following his junior year, the 6-foot-3, 193-pound safety held offers from Air Force and Idaho in the FCS ranks plus Cornell, Eastern Washington, and the least expected of the suitors, the Montana State Bobcats.
But Montana had not extended anything solid.
[restrict paid=”true”]“Montana State was actually my first offer and I have never previously talked to them before,” Fouch said in an interview with Skyline Sports in early August. “Coach (Kane)Ioane was still there before he went to UDub (Washington). He messaged me to call him so I did and he gave me an offer. I had never talked to Montana State before, I’m a Griz fan and I always thought my first offer would be from Montana since they have been recruiting me since I was a sophomore or freshman.”
Montana third-year head coach Bob Stitt has displayed a detailed and diligent recruiting process in an age of instant contact and prevalent scholarship offers. Stitt offers far fewer athletic prospects than most schools. Although Fouch, who’s older brother, Nick, is a walk-on wide receiver for the current Griz, has strong Montana ties and a strong interest in the program, Stitt wanted to execute his 60-question recruiting survey on the safety before extending an offer.
“I put some thought into Montana State because I was unsure what was going to happen,” the Woodinville, Washington native said. “Eastern has been really good to me throughout the entire recruiting process because we go to team camp every year. They have been recruiting me since I was a freshman and they have been in constant contact with me since I was a freshman. When I got that offer, it was definitely cool. But I knew I would definitely prefer Montana and Missoula over Cheney based on the program and the players.
“Once Air Force offered me, that made things kind of difficult because it’s FBS football and I wanted to weigh my options there. But I definitely didn’t think I was 100 percent an Academy guy and I didn’t want to go somewhere and have to transfer out. The other thing is I’ve been to Colorado Springs and I’ve been to Missoula and I’d rather live in Missoula.”
Finally, in June, Stitt extended a scholarship offer to Fouch. He weighed his options before deciding the city of Missoula and the prestige of the Montana program were too much to pass up. He gave his verbal commitment to play for Stitt and the Griz on August 9.
“My dad loves it there, loved his time there and we’ve been visiting there for as long as I can remember,” Fouch said. “I grew up in it and I didn’t really have a choice. I love it there and I love the program. My uncle Shawn still lives there and is still friends with (Griz booster) Larry Kolb. It’s a great place and I love the people.”
“I was anticipating it because I knew they were interested and the recruiting process had picked up more and more as time went on. I definitely knew with all the offers I had, if Montana offered me, it would be my top school because of the town and program so I’m glad I waited.”
Montana began recruiting the 3-star safety when Mick Delaney was the head coach. When Stitt took over, the recruiting fell into the hands of first safeties coach Shann Schillinger, then into the hands of UM special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Travis Niekamp.
“Coach Schillinger has been really good to me,” Fouch said. “For about the past seven months, he’s been in contact with me, telling me, ‘If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to contact me.’ He told me they are going to sign two safeties in this class and he wants me to be one of those. I’m excited to work with him.”
The Woodinville MaxPreps page credits Fouch with 16 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, but those numbers seem incomplete. He is however credited with six interceptions. Offensively, Fouch is credited with 41 catches for 555 yards and nine touchdowns. H also averaged 12.7 yards per punt return and 26.5 yards per kick return.
“KingCo 4A has been one of the top leagues in the state the past four years,” Fouch said. “Last year, four teams made the playoffs to the divisional round. This league has a lot of talent. We always have high expectations for ourselves and I have high expectations for myself. I think it’s prepared me.”
Stitt’s concept of conducting 60-question interviews with each potential recruit before offering a scholarship stems from his theory of getting like-minded young men into his program. Fouch thought the process was “kind of weird” until he made a visit to Missoula this summer. There, he met several of UM’s current freshmen along with a few of his fellow members of the Class of 2018.
“Once I got to go to Missoula a couple of weeks ago and hang out with the incoming freshmen class, I got a grasp of what he was doing,” Stitt said. “All the kids I met were super good kids, super funny, super nice. They all fit together really well and the had all been there for maybe four days. They were already good friends with each other. That was cool to see.”
Fouch said he has been in consistent contact with incoming recruits JSerra Catholic (California) quarterback Matt Robinson, Helena Capital offensive lineman Conor Quick and Missoula Sentinel wide receiver Nick Germer.
The opportunity for outdoor activities in Western Montana, from hiking to fishing to skiing to going up to Flathead Lake also pulled at Fouch. He is unsure if he will pursue business or sports medicine as a major but the chance to return to a place filled with fond childhood memories to chase his ultimate aspiration is fulfilling.
“It means the world to me because I grew up watching Griz football and a lot of my friends are huge Husky fans or Cougar fans, but for me, Griz football is what we watched,” Fouch said. “My dad watches all the games. I’ve been to plenty of games at Washington-Grizzly. For me, knowing I’m going to be able to wear the maroon and silver, go out there on Saturdays and play football is cool. Football is basically my life so knowing that I get to go where I’ve always wanted play is a dream come true.”
[/restrict]Photos courtesy of Fouch. All Rights Reserved.
