Griz set to enter spring drills ahead of the game
3/8/2019 5:51:00 PM | Football
The icy and cold conditions inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium prevented the Montana football team from starting spring practices this week, with head coach Bobby Hauck bumping the schedule up to March 11 to let the field thaw out.
While the temps remained low, spirits in the Grizzly camp remain high as the players chomp at the bit to return to action during workouts in the Washington-Grizzly Champions Center.
Fittingly, the Griz will have one goal in mind when they finally get to see the field this spring season: prepare to play in more cold weather come December when the FCS playoffs roll around.
With Hauck and his staff set to enter their second full spring season at Montana, the Griz are in many ways ahead of the game compared to a year ago at this time, despite the slight delay to spring ball.
There are also areas of focus for the Griz where Hauck will be monitoring the progress made through the spring and summer seasons to help reach that goal of returning to the playoffs.
OLDER AND WISER
By all measures, the Grizzlies were a young team last year, and they return with a mostly young squad once again in 2019 with just 16 upperclassmen (junior or senior) among the 22 returning starters.
But even with an open competition at each position, Hauck will have the luxury of leaning on vastly experienced seniors like Dalton Sneed, Dante Olson, Jerry Louie-McGee and Josh Sandry as he continues to balance the personnel numbers he inherited a year ago.
"We've finally got our numbers where they are supposed to be at this time of year, and that means guys are competing for roster spots," said Hauck.
"It's good to have a few seniors at the top of the depth chart, which wasn't the case a year ago. We're counting on them to lead the charge. We're a young football team, and we're going to be for another year or two, but that doesn't mean we can't win football games."
AHEAD OF THE GAME
Montana's 22 returning starters are precisely double what the Griz returned with in 2018 when only 11 players took the field with three-or-more career starts to their name, instantly putting the 2019 Griz out to an advantage compared to last year.
As a starter in every game in 2018, Sneed returns for his senior year after a record-breaking junior season where he was named the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and the team's Offensive MVP after leading UM in rushing and passing.
Sneed set a record for single-game rushing yards by a UM quarterback against Sacramento State in 2018, breaking away for a 206-yard, three touchdown day on the ground.
"Certainly, at quarterback, we're far ahead of many, and there are a lot of good quarterbacks in the league," said Hauck. "But we feel real strongly about our quarterback and his ability to make things happen with his arm and his feet. I feel like we're lucky to have him."
When not using his feet to make plays, Sneed will have ample experienced targets to connect with.
Just 17 catches shy of becoming Montana's all-time leader in pass receptions; Jerry Louie-McGee returns for his senior season in 2019 with big play-making ability.
Rangy wide receiver Samuel Akem is also back for his junior year after a breakout sophomore season where he caught two touchdown passes in five different games for a total of 13 on the season.
With 15 TD catches in his two-year career, Akem is already tied at No. 16 on UM's all-time touchdown catch list with Bill Cockhill ('90-'93) and Mike Ferriter ('05-'08).
Defensively, one needs look no further than Montana's corps of linebackers to know the Grizzly D will once again be a strength.
"We've got a little bit more experience on the defensive side than we did a year ago so that certainly helps," said Hauck, while emphasizing that each position on both sides of the ball is still up for grabs.
"We've got a full locker room, and guys will have to earn a spot on the team. There will be a heated competition at the top and the bottom of the depth chart."
Lost to graduation is All-America linebacker Josh Buss, but returning to the fold is Olson, a top-three finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award who became the most decorated junior in Grizzly history after shattering the school record with a national-best 151 tackles last season.
Following his record-breaking year where he was the NCAA Statistical Champion for tackles-per-game with 13.7, Olson was named to seven different All-America teams and was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year by Phil Steele Magazine.
Also returning at linebacker is junior Jace Lewis who earned second-team All-Big Sky honors for his work on special teams after posting 7.5 TFLs and 62 tackles, which put him amongst the league's top-50 tacklers. He'll start the 2019 season as UM's second-leading returning tackler.
Safety Josh Sandry returns to the defensive backfield for his senior season after playing in every game for the Griz over the past three years.
Joining Sandry in the secondary is sophomore safety Robby Hauck, a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award after posting more tackles than any other freshman in the nation last year.
Hauck finished the year with 95 total takedowns (41 solo, 54 assisted), the fifth-most in the conference, and was the only freshman among the Big Sky's top-30 tacklers. He posted four games with double-digit tackle totals, including a career-high 17 in Montana's win at Cal Poly.
TIME TO FOCUS
The old saying goes that "it all starts up front," and for the 2019 Griz, that's no different. With a young offensive line and the departure of David Shaw and Reggie Tilleman on the defensive line, the Griz will go the way the O and D lines go.
"Going into spring ball, I don't think we have to take our eyes too far from the core of our offense and defense," said Hauck. "We need to develop up front on both sides of the ball. That's where it all starts and certainly for us that's where we need to make the most strides if we're going to be a good football team."
Back to anchor the O-line are tackles Conlan Beaver (junior) and Colton Keintz (sophomore). Converted linebacker and D-end Cy Sirmon has also emerged as a leader in the group, but only brings one season worth of experience up front into his senior season.
Defensively, No. 37 Jesse Sims is back for his senior season at D-end after earning All-Big Sky honors as a junior. However, the only other D-lineman with three starts to his name is sophomore RJ Nelson, who split time with junior Jed Nagler last season.
Sophomore Eli Alford saw ample minutes as a freshman and returns to anchor the defensive interior, a position that will be a work in progress through the spring and during the summer conditioning period.
"I think it takes about 18 months for your strength and conditioning program to begin to show up and make a difference. So, we don't anticipate seeing the visual evidence of that until August. We think over the coming years we'll grow and improve in that area," said Hauck.
After a one-week delay, Montana will open the spring season on Monday, March 11. It will cap the spring season on April 13 with the annual Griz Spring Game, this year held in Kalispell. Tickets to the Spring Game go on sale Monday as well.
While the temps remained low, spirits in the Grizzly camp remain high as the players chomp at the bit to return to action during workouts in the Washington-Grizzly Champions Center.
Fittingly, the Griz will have one goal in mind when they finally get to see the field this spring season: prepare to play in more cold weather come December when the FCS playoffs roll around.
With Hauck and his staff set to enter their second full spring season at Montana, the Griz are in many ways ahead of the game compared to a year ago at this time, despite the slight delay to spring ball.
There are also areas of focus for the Griz where Hauck will be monitoring the progress made through the spring and summer seasons to help reach that goal of returning to the playoffs.
OLDER AND WISER
By all measures, the Grizzlies were a young team last year, and they return with a mostly young squad once again in 2019 with just 16 upperclassmen (junior or senior) among the 22 returning starters.
But even with an open competition at each position, Hauck will have the luxury of leaning on vastly experienced seniors like Dalton Sneed, Dante Olson, Jerry Louie-McGee and Josh Sandry as he continues to balance the personnel numbers he inherited a year ago.
"We've finally got our numbers where they are supposed to be at this time of year, and that means guys are competing for roster spots," said Hauck.
"It's good to have a few seniors at the top of the depth chart, which wasn't the case a year ago. We're counting on them to lead the charge. We're a young football team, and we're going to be for another year or two, but that doesn't mean we can't win football games."
AHEAD OF THE GAME
Montana's 22 returning starters are precisely double what the Griz returned with in 2018 when only 11 players took the field with three-or-more career starts to their name, instantly putting the 2019 Griz out to an advantage compared to last year.
As a starter in every game in 2018, Sneed returns for his senior year after a record-breaking junior season where he was named the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and the team's Offensive MVP after leading UM in rushing and passing.
Sneed set a record for single-game rushing yards by a UM quarterback against Sacramento State in 2018, breaking away for a 206-yard, three touchdown day on the ground.
"Certainly, at quarterback, we're far ahead of many, and there are a lot of good quarterbacks in the league," said Hauck. "But we feel real strongly about our quarterback and his ability to make things happen with his arm and his feet. I feel like we're lucky to have him."
When not using his feet to make plays, Sneed will have ample experienced targets to connect with.
Just 17 catches shy of becoming Montana's all-time leader in pass receptions; Jerry Louie-McGee returns for his senior season in 2019 with big play-making ability.
Rangy wide receiver Samuel Akem is also back for his junior year after a breakout sophomore season where he caught two touchdown passes in five different games for a total of 13 on the season.
With 15 TD catches in his two-year career, Akem is already tied at No. 16 on UM's all-time touchdown catch list with Bill Cockhill ('90-'93) and Mike Ferriter ('05-'08).
TOUCHDOWN, MONTANA!
— Montana Griz FB (@MontanaGrizFB) November 11, 2018
Sneed goes DEEEEEEEP for Sammy Akem and it's complete for a 52-yard TD!
Reid Miller surprises with a 2-point conversion!#GrizFB 22, Idaho 3 - 11:56/2nd
WATCH: @ROOTSPORTS_NW #GoGriz #RTD #MontanaTough pic.twitter.com/tvlsve3m9N
Defensively, one needs look no further than Montana's corps of linebackers to know the Grizzly D will once again be a strength.
"We've got a little bit more experience on the defensive side than we did a year ago so that certainly helps," said Hauck, while emphasizing that each position on both sides of the ball is still up for grabs.
"We've got a full locker room, and guys will have to earn a spot on the team. There will be a heated competition at the top and the bottom of the depth chart."
Lost to graduation is All-America linebacker Josh Buss, but returning to the fold is Olson, a top-three finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award who became the most decorated junior in Grizzly history after shattering the school record with a national-best 151 tackles last season.
Following his record-breaking year where he was the NCAA Statistical Champion for tackles-per-game with 13.7, Olson was named to seven different All-America teams and was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year by Phil Steele Magazine.
Also returning at linebacker is junior Jace Lewis who earned second-team All-Big Sky honors for his work on special teams after posting 7.5 TFLs and 62 tackles, which put him amongst the league's top-50 tacklers. He'll start the 2019 season as UM's second-leading returning tackler.
Safety Josh Sandry returns to the defensive backfield for his senior season after playing in every game for the Griz over the past three years.
Joining Sandry in the secondary is sophomore safety Robby Hauck, a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award after posting more tackles than any other freshman in the nation last year.
Hauck finished the year with 95 total takedowns (41 solo, 54 assisted), the fifth-most in the conference, and was the only freshman among the Big Sky's top-30 tacklers. He posted four games with double-digit tackle totals, including a career-high 17 in Montana's win at Cal Poly.
Dante Olson in 2018:
— Montana Griz FB (@MontanaGrizFB) December 28, 2018
⭐️ Buchanan Award Finalist
⭐️ @WeAreAFCA 1st-Team All-🇺🇸
⭐️ @HEROSportsFCS 1st-Team All-🇺🇸
⭐️ @FCS_STATS 1st-Team All-🇺🇸
⭐️ @WalterCampFF All-🇺🇸
⭐️ @AP 1st-Team All-🇺🇸
⭐️ 1st-Team All-Big Sky
⭐️ Steve Carlson MVP
⭐️ Defensive MVP pic.twitter.com/R4NsJOSPGI
TIME TO FOCUS
The old saying goes that "it all starts up front," and for the 2019 Griz, that's no different. With a young offensive line and the departure of David Shaw and Reggie Tilleman on the defensive line, the Griz will go the way the O and D lines go.
"Going into spring ball, I don't think we have to take our eyes too far from the core of our offense and defense," said Hauck. "We need to develop up front on both sides of the ball. That's where it all starts and certainly for us that's where we need to make the most strides if we're going to be a good football team."
Back to anchor the O-line are tackles Conlan Beaver (junior) and Colton Keintz (sophomore). Converted linebacker and D-end Cy Sirmon has also emerged as a leader in the group, but only brings one season worth of experience up front into his senior season.
Defensively, No. 37 Jesse Sims is back for his senior season at D-end after earning All-Big Sky honors as a junior. However, the only other D-lineman with three starts to his name is sophomore RJ Nelson, who split time with junior Jed Nagler last season.
Sophomore Eli Alford saw ample minutes as a freshman and returns to anchor the defensive interior, a position that will be a work in progress through the spring and during the summer conditioning period.
"I think it takes about 18 months for your strength and conditioning program to begin to show up and make a difference. So, we don't anticipate seeing the visual evidence of that until August. We think over the coming years we'll grow and improve in that area," said Hauck.
After a one-week delay, Montana will open the spring season on Monday, March 11. It will cap the spring season on April 13 with the annual Griz Spring Game, this year held in Kalispell. Tickets to the Spring Game go on sale Monday as well.
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