Kidder named to Player of the Year watch list

One year ago, Tyrone Holmes and the Montana Grizzlies were just getting fall camp underway, and preparing to face North Dakota State on ESPN in less than a month.

As Griz fans now know, Montana would go on to win that game, and Holmes would go on to blow the doors of his 2015 season, putting together one of the best individual performances on the defensive side of the ball in UM history.

After leading the nation with 18 sacks, Holmes was awarded the STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year, recognizing him as the best defender in all of FCS football by a national panel of media.

Now another Grizzly is preparing to fill the void left by Holmes, and the national media is paying attention.

Caleb Kidder, the Big Sky Conference preseason Defensive Player of the Year and preseason All-American, added to his cache of accolades today, earning a place on the STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year watch list, putting him in the running to earn the same honor Holmes took home a year ago.

With camp starting next week, Kidder now has to prove he deserves the attention.

"I'm honored. Just knowing that people out there are watching and looking, it's a humbling thing and I'm ready to go out and show what I can do," said the fifth-year senior out of Helena Capital.

"I love him (Holmes), and everything he did last season. I just hope to fill those big shoes he created, but do it in my own way."

Montana head coach Bob Stitt, who saw Holmes work his way into national prominence and watched Kidder put in a strong season as a junior at defensive tackle, says he has earned every accolade he's been given this offseason.

"I think they're right," says Stitt. "I think they're correct in the preseason awards that he's getting, and it's going to be fun to see him play this year.

"I think to win an award like that you've got to have an unbelievable year, but more importantly, you've got to bring it every single week. You can't have a bad game, and that's the way Tyrone played for us. He was dominating in every game he played.

"Caleb definitely has the ability to do that athletically, and I know he's very excited about getting on the field and proving it. He's getting a lot of great honors coming into the season, but he's really prepared, and put a lot of work into having the ability to go follow up and do it on the field."

Kidder anchors the Grizzly defensive front as the team's leading returning tackler from 2015 when he logged 82 take-downs, 10 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks as a tackle. He enters fall camp in the best shape of his life, prepared to see time at both D-end and D-tackle, having dropped from 280 pounds to 265, and having set several personal bests in the weight room over the summer.

"He's transformed his body," added Stitt. "He's dropped some body fat, added some muscle. He's quicker, he's faster, he's more powerful, and he's stronger than he's ever been, so it's exciting for me as a coach to be able to see him perform the way he is now.

"It's very rare that a guy has enough size and power to be an inside guy, and enough athleticism and speed and quickness to be an outside guy."

Despite the change of position, he is the only player from the Big Sky Conference named to the Player of the Year watch list. In addition to being named the league's preseason favorite for defender of the year, he was also named a second-team preseason All-American by STATS, and was named the Big Sky's "most feared defender" by Athlon Sports. He was also named a first-team all Big Sky defensive tackle in 2015.

Kidder and the Grizzlies report to fall camp on Sunday, Aug. 7, and will take the practice field for the first time on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

Tickets for the home-opener against Saint Francis on Sept. 3 are available now at the Adams Center Box Office and at griztix.com.

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