Montana Grizzlies Sports, Football and Basketball : Grizzoulian

In a move that absolutely no one saw coming, Tyrone Willingham is out as the head coach of the Washington Huskies. Seriously, at an impressive 0-7, coaching one of two winless teams in D-1 football, I thought his job was secure.

Anywhoo, Bobby Hauck's résumé is surely already in the hands of University of Washington Athletic Director Scott Woodward. Hauck has wanted out of Missoula since he figured out recruiting thugs was "frowned upon," but at the University of Washington, where players like Jerramy Stevens can thrive and flourish, he could be seen as a sufficient savior.

Honestly, this is his dream job. He coached at the University of Washington for four years, where "he worked with defensive backs, special teams, and safeties and was considered one of the top recruiters in college football." (from montanagrizzlies.com) One of the top recruiters in college football? God, that's good. Hmmm, let's look at some of the players he recruited. That's just at U-Dub. What about here?

That might serve in his favor though. The Huskies tried the nice coach thing. They tried hiring clean guy Ty and it brought an 0-7 record. Let's bring back what worked. If recruiting people straight from the third circle of hell means winning Rose Bowls, then so be it. Bring back Bobby..... special teams guru.

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The complete 2008-2009 Montana men's basketball schedule has yet to be released but we may already have our two marquee games. Last year, it was Gonzaga and Washington State. This season, the Montana Grizzlies will face off against the Duke Blue Devils and the Washington Huskies.

It's been rumored for a few weeks that the Griz would travel to Cameron Indoor but an abcmontana interview with Wayne Tinkle makes it official. The game is set for November 23rd.
 
"It's not like we were trying to send a statement," Tinkle said in the interview. "As a student-athlete, you want to play teams that you kind of grow up idolizing and we just kind of thought it'd be a neat experience."

There hadn't been any word on a matchup with the Huskies, official or otherwise, but UW released their schedule yesterday and the Grizzlies are on it. Montana will play at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on December 28th.

The two games present two different experiences. Duke will once again be one of the best teams in the ACC and the nation. Andy Katz of ESPN has them as the 6th best team in the country with the Blue Devils only losing two players from last year's squad. The Griz will be playing in one of the college basketball's most intimidating venues. No matter who you are, walking onto the floor at Cameron Indoor will be something to remember for the rest of your life. Last season, the Griz faced off against a similar crazed atmosphere against Gonzaga in Spokane and it did not go well. The Griz will need to have more than a "gee, isn't it neat being here?" if they don't want to get embarrassed again.

The game at Hec Ed will be very different. The Huskies should be in the middle to bottom half of the PAC 10 again as they continue their rebuilding since the Nate Robinson and Brandon Roy days. They have solid recruits coming in but won't have nearly the talent level of Duke.

This game will also be drastically different in terms of atmosphere. It's three days after Christmas and many students will be far away from campus. I went to a UW/Loyola Marymount game two years ago over winter break; the student section was half empty and the arena was far from sold out. Unlike last season's game in Spokanistan, any Griz fans wanting tickets to this matchup should be able to get them fairly easily. If a conscious effort was made amongst Seattle-area Griz fans and others willing to make the drive, we could have a very respectable cheering section. More than Duke, Gonzaga and WSU, this game is the most likely for an upset.

Lastly, major props to Tinkle for putting together what's looking like a very tough schedule. This is the most talented and athletic Griz squad since LK's tourney teams. Tinks could've easily laid out a few cupcakes and tried to put together a 20-25 win season in an effort to get some fans off his back but he didn't. Ballsy. He's challenging himself and his players while trying to force this program to take a step forward. For the Griz to get quality opponents coming to the Zoo on a regular basis, they'll have to beat a few on the road first.

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J.R. Hasty, the highly touted halfback for the Washington Huskies, has decided to leave UW and pursue football elsewhere. Hasty, who has struggled with both his weight and grades, said he wasn't getting a fair shot. Bob Candotta, who writes the Washington Huskies blog for the Seattle Times, speculates where Hasty could end up: here.

Hasty could end up at Montana, a Division I-AA program. Because he has only two years of eligibility and would have to sit out one year if he transfers to another Division I program, Division I-AA is a a stronger possibility.

Bobby Hauck, a former Husky assistant, is the Montana head coach. Craig Chambers, a former UW wide receiver, transferred to Montana, as did former Washington State quarterback Josh Swogger.

His decision ends a career that never lived up to the hype that greeted his arrival in 2005 when he was the most highly-touted member of the Class of 2005, Willingham's first as Husky coach.

I say you take a flyer on the kid. He was part of Bellevue's great run a few years ago. I believe they had the longest high school winning streak in the nation for a bit. It's a sorry state of affairs when we have to resort to scooping up kids like this but we're an FCS school and this is what we do.

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As most fans of college sports know, when a player becomes upset with playing time or just how things are going at his current school he or she may transfer to a school where they think they'll have more of an impact. This is the case with University of Washington freshman Phil Nelson and Washington State's Mac Hopson.

Most have probably heard but Phil Nelson, who got some starts at UW, is headed to Portland State. He's definitely going to have an impact on that program and probably the conference as a whole as any player who can contribute as a frosh in the Pac-10 certainly has some talent.

Mac Hopson, a sophomore who made some starts early in the season for WSU, is reportedly interesting in attending either the University of Montana or MSU.

As you can see there, Mac was pretty candid about just wanting more playing time in the future, and there's no doubt that he could get it at a bunch of schools out there. Hopson, you'll remember started the season as a starter for WSU and was clearly capable of making a decent contribution at the Pac-10 level, even if he was best suited as a role player right now. Should he opt for a lesser-conference school, I have to believe he can get the 30 minutes a game he's looking for. Mac mentioned Montana and Montana State to me, and said that he's looking to stay in the Northwest or on the West Coast, so we'll see how that all goes.

Sounds like this kid is very capable of making a major impact on this team. Come on Tinks, land this guy.

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