A look at the 2024 Grizzly offense with Brent Pease

Execute the basics, dominate the run game, create big plays, and find a balanced attack.

Coordinator Brent Pease's offense ticked all those boxes and more during Montana's run to a Big Sky Championship in the first year of his second stint as the Grizzlies' top play caller.

Led by those principles, UM's offense went from warm to sizzling in 2023 as the Griz rattled-off 10-straight wins and a trip to the FCS title game.

Montana nearly doubled-up on points scored by its opponents, was third in the nation in first down offense (moving the chains 297 times), and was so balanced only 315 yards separated the season total of run and pass yards.

Now almost a week into fall camp in his second season as UM's OC, Pease isn't resting on his laurels. With coaches now able to conduct summer skills training with the players, the Grizzly alum thinks his offensive unit is poised to build on last year's performance.

"I think this week has really shown what the team did this summer. We're way ahead, and we should be. They got great work in the summer, and we have a lot of experience across the board," said Pease.

"But I'm definitely not sitting here being complacent. I'm old enough to know that's not the way to approach it. We're going to do anything we can do to make ourselves better, whether it's getting the ball in the playmakers hands or finding the guys who can makes plays for us."

Now five days into camp, Pease has a clear vision of how that summer work has paid off and the growth he's expecting to see before the first game.

"I think mainly what we're looking for is that we're clean with our operation. I mean, our defense is always going to cause chaos and it's going to be hard to adjust to, but that only makes us better," Pease added.

"We're still going to work on our foundations, create big plays and have a great run game with the guys up front, and we should be able to do that. We want to find consistency on a day-to-day basis and try to work the kinks out.

"We're trying to prepare for six, eight, 12, hopefully 15 games down the road. So, we want to work on the things that have hurt us in the past and prepare for everything in practice."

Depth for Days – A breakdown: When Pease says, "a lot of experience across the board," it's not just hyperbole.

Montana's offense returns 12 guys with three or more career starts under their belts, and plenty of household names up and down the list.

Let's start with the receivers. Junior Bergen, the guy whose name has been all over every preseason watch list? Buckle up, he's back. Keelan White, who led the team in receiving yards a year ago? He's back too. And UM's third receiver who caught passes for 600-plus yards last season, Aaron Fontes – yep, back as well.

Add in the big target from Bozeman in Ryan Simpson and lightning-quick Washington transfer Sawyer Racanelli and the Grizzly receiver room is the most experienced in the country with five seniors on the roster. And consider this: Montana racked up 2,967 receiving yards in 2023. 2,921 of those yards are back in the lineup this season.

Then you move over to the running backs and the experience keeps coming. FCS Freshman of the Year Eli Gillman is a year older and wiser, and veteran Nick Ostmo returns for a victory lap in his last year of eligibility already etched in the Montana record books with 1,856 career rushing yards and 21 rushing TDs – both top 10 marks in program history. Xavier Harris burst on the scene in the win over Washington in '21 and is ready for another breakout as a senior in '24.

Stevie Rocker Jr., who spent three years at Arizona, brings some FBS experience to the room, and true freshman Malae Fonoti has been a revelation at fall camp. You don't win a Hawaii state open championship without being a polished running back after all.

Opening up holes for those guys will be the Grizzly offensive line, perhaps one of the most veteran groups on the roster despite the loss of an NFL-caliber center and left tackle.

Brandon Casey is a returning first-team all-conference tackle and a stalwart on the O-line with a team-high 30 starts. Expect NFL scouts to be sizing him up throughout the year. Juniors Journey Grimsrud and Liam Brown have both been a staple of the starting rotation throughout their careers. With last year's addition of the versatile Cannon Panfiloff, Montana returns 71 combined starts up front. Add onto that FBS transfers Everett Johnson from Cal and Cade Klimczak from Central Michigan plus young contributors Declan McCabe and Lucas Freitas, and the Griz are eight deep up front.

Then you have the tight ends, one of UM's deepest groups last season that got deeper and more explosive with the return of Cole Grossman, a rangy playmaker that has been named to several preseason watch lists despite missing a year to injury.

Evan Shafer came to Montana from D-II Hillsdale last season and quickly moved up the depth chart to become an impact player with 89 yards on 10 catches with three TDs and starts this season. He's also hit the weights and become one of the strongest players on the team. Anyone remember him lowering a shoulder and flattening a Delaware defender en route to a playoff touchdown? We sure do.

Senior Erik Barker and Butte native Jake Olson, a junior who stands out at 6-foot-8, bring a combined seven starts to the position group as well.

The only position group it seems without an obscene amount of returning experience is the quarterback – the favorite position group of watercooler coaches nationwide.

With so much talent surrounding them (see above), whoever takes the first snap under center on Aug. 31 is going to have plenty of options, and Pease likes what he sees.

"Our depth gives us the luxury of being able to move some guys around and play with some combinations to see what's going to work best for us, what's going to make us better and give the kids an opportunity to be successful on the field." said Pease.

"So, then it comes down to fitting the quarterback around the rest of the offense. We have some great kids in that room, but just don't have a lot of experience."

Three QBs have emerged as possible contenders for Montana's coveted starting job.

Junior Logan Fife is the most experienced of the group, just not as a Grizzly. Fife transferred to Montana in the spring from Fresno State where he played in 21 games and made five starts, backing up Jake Haener (now with the New Orleans Saints), and helping the Bulldogs to a Mountain West championship.

Keali'i Ah Yat tantalized Griz fans with a small dose of prescribed action as a true freshman in 2023 playing in five games and passing for 271 yards on 26 completions with one touchdown – all while doing it with his Hall of Fame dad's customary flair.

Helena native Kaden Huot is a sophomore that has yet to see game time for the Griz but impressed in the spring game with his strong arm and has continued to show ability at fall camp.

Montana has employed a two-QB system in the past, and it's not a given that one guy will emerge out of fall camp as "the guy." For Pease, that doesn't mean Montana is without a QB that can get the job done.

"We're getting the quarterbacks to where they're running the show and they're good at what they need to do. Not just good, but the best in the league and the best in the nation," said Pease.

"They're all very talented kids and I think that's something they have the ability to do."

University of Montana Athletics

A look at the 2024 Grizzly offense with Brent Pease

Players Mentioned

Keali'i Ah Yat

Erik Barker

Junior Bergen

Liam Brown

Brandon Casey

Logan Fife

Malae Fonoti

Aaron Fontes

Lucas Freitas

Eli Gillman

Journey Grimsrud

Cole Grossman

Xavier Harris

Kaden Huot

Everett Johnson

Cade Klimczak

Declan McCabe

Jake Olson

Nick Ostmo

Cannon Panfiloff

Sawyer Racanelli

Stevie Rocker Jr.

Evan Shafer

Ryan Simpson

Keelan White

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