Will the next Montana Tough safety please stand up?

Editor's Note: As fall camp ramps up, GoGriz.com will bring you position-by-position breakdowns of the 2025 team, introducing you to new faces and returners to keep an eye on this season. Next up: The safeties.

The Grizzly safeties have always had a reputation as being distinctly Montana tough.

Names of legends like Shann Schillinger, Colt Anderson, and Vince Huntsberger have proven it time and time again over the years. Heck, Tuff Harris literally has it in his name.

But no one personifies a Montana tough safety more than Tim Hauck. After all, you don't spend 13 years in the NFL and earn the nickname "Hitter" if not.

Considering that history, Hauck (now entering his third fall camp coaching the group and his second as co-defensive coordinator) found himself in an unusual situation as he began looking ahead to 2025: zero returning starters and only one player back from last year's two-deep.

To change it, he and the Grizzly staff hit the recruiting trail and spent the spring bringing along a set of younger players to hopefully fill the shoes vacated by the likes of Ryder Meyer and Jace Klucewich.

The result? Fear not Griz fans, the Montana lineage and tradition of toughness at safety is alive and well, and competition for starting jobs is strong as Montana works through the first full week of fall camp.

"Let's put it this way. Going into spring ball, I was a little apprehensive because we had 26 seniors graduate on the team and only had one guy back from the two deep at safety. I was like, here we go. Let's make sure we make good evaluations in the transfer portal and make sure the guys that are here are making progress and getting better," said Hauck.

"By the end of spring ball, I was pleasantly surprised and felt good about where we're at. I think through the summer they've improved, and since they've come back, the first few days of fall camp have looked pretty darn good."

KEY RETURNERS

With not much in the way of starts under their belts, the returners in the receiver room may not be household names to some Griz fans, but they are depending on what town in Montana you're from.

The key returners in the backfield are just that. Montana made. With two seniors, three upperclassmen, and an up-and-coming sophomore among them, the next great Treasure State safety is ready to make his presence known.

TJ Rausch, a Missoula Sentinel product with Montana Grizzlies in his blood, has followed the traditional path to playing time for many local heroes. Find your way onto the field in special teams, find the position that's the right fit, then make an impact when it's your turn.

Rausch is the only player returning from the depth chart last season when he put in 29 tackles (12 solo), 1.5 TFLs, and forced a fumble to earn second team All-Big Sky honors for his work on special teams.

A three-time academic all-conference pick in the classroom, he's now ready to take on a leadership role in the safety room in his final season.

"Going into last year we kind of moved him from corner to field safety to boundary safety, and he hadn't really found a spot," said Hauck.

"He made huge strides last year, but through this spring and summer he took ownership of this group. He's our leader. He tells the guys when they're wrong, and he's taken complete and total ownership of it, so I expect big things from him. He's a veteran presence, and he's going to keep everything tight back there."

Tanner Huff is another senior in the room that cut his teeth on special teams and learned resiliency as a team-first, 'whatever position you need me in' kinda guy. Just what you'd expect from one of Butte, America's finest.

Huff enters the season coming off a breakout year as a gunner on kickoff coverage where he put in 15 tackles (6 solo) while trying to break onto the field as a cornerback. Now big enough and savvy enough to play safety, Hauck thinks he's found his spot.

"Tanner is a tough Butte kid. He's been great in our room and knows all three positions in the backfield. If I need someone to play, I can count on him to go in and play anywhere we need him too. He's done a great job on special teams and obviously, he's fast and can run. So, I'm really happy with his progress," he said.

An hour's drive up the Pintler Veterans Memorial Scenic Highway from Butte is Phillipsburg, home of Kade Cutler and another star safety before him in Jaxon Lee.

Cutler came to Missoula in 2024 after spending the first two seasons of his career in Bozeman. Now set to enter his junior year, he's another in-state standout that could be in for a breakout year after logging reps in special teams.

"I'd say he may have been the most improved guy on our defense this spring. He opened eyes the way he changed his presence, his athletic ability and his speed. I've got a lot of high hopes for him," Hauck added.

The future of Montana's born-and-raised corps of safeties looks bright as well in Kade Boyd of Billings. Boyd saw action in three games as freshman in 2024 and is another guy that has caught the coaching staff's attention.

"He's young, hasn't played a lot of football, and you really didn't know what you had in him, you just knew he was talented and athletic. Then he came in this spring, and it was like, that kid's a pretty good football player," Hauck said.

Other returners at safety that have been with the program include redshirt freshman Dane Parker and Kash Goicoechea, each expected to find their way onto special teams in their first year of action.

FRESH FACES

The most decorated addition to the safety room and perhaps the Grizzly newcomer poised to make the biggest splash in the Big Sky Conference this season is Micah Harper.

Harper came to Missoula in time for winter workouts from Big 12 champion BYU where he earned All-America honors as a freshman before dealing with injury. He brings with him 32 career appearances and 15 starts for the Cougars, with 98 stops (57 solo), four TFLs, two forced fumbles and six pass breakups.

In his short time at UM, he's proven to be a fast learner of the defense and is poised for a big season ahead.

"Micah was a great get for us. He's a mature kid, extremely smart. Football means a lot to him, so he works hard at it. He's skilled, he can cover wide receivers, he can fit the run, and he's just a talented guy. We needed an experienced guy like him to be able to come in and play, and I think we got a good one," Hauck said.

Another addition with Big Sky experience and perhaps a candidate fort college football's all-name team is Diezel Wilkinson, a sophomore from Spokane who joined the program in the spring out of the University of Idaho.

Wilkinson played in 12 games for the Vandals as a true freshman, picking up 14 tackles (5 solo) with a career high five stops against Albany.

If people don't know the name Deizel now, just wait until kickoff.

"Love the kid. He's maybe the most athletic guy in in in our room. He can run, he can hit, he's explosive, and he loves ball. Watch him play because he's going to be fun, and I expect him to make a lot of plays for us," Hauck said.

Other new additions to the room include sophomore Terahiti Wolfe, a Hawaiian with a season at Golden West College under his belt.

Whitefish native Fynn Ridgeway has returned to Missoula and will suit up at safety this season as a redshirt sophomore after playing running back at Minnesota State Moorhead for two seasons.

Jeilani Davis is a redshirt freshman newcomer this summer who spent last year with the Utah Utes after graduating from football factory Mater Dei High School. Taylor Jones is a true freshman out of Loyola High in Missoula.

Then you have the Beaner Brothers – Brock and Brady – two of Montana's most high-profile high school recruits this year out of Anacortes, Wash. If any freshmen will see the field at safety for the Griz this year, it could be them.

"They're talented young men. This is not an easy defense to learn and we're now three days into practice, but when they figure it out, they have the ability to play fast. They're going to be good football players for us," Hauck said.

Montana opens the season on Sept. 6 against Central Washington in the first of eight home games on this year's slate. Season ticket packages and single game tickets are on sale now at GrizTix.com.

University of Montana Athletics

Will the next Montana Tough safety please stand up?

Players Mentioned

Kade Boyd

Kade Cutler

Jeilani Davis

Kash Goicoechea

Micah Harper

Tanner Huff

Taylor Jones

Jace Klucewich

Jaxon Lee

Ryder Meyer

Dane Parker

TJ Rausch

Fynn Ridgeway

Diezel Wilkinson

Terahiti Wolfe

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