Whitefish's Righetti one of 18 UM recruits

The Montana Grizzlies received 18 letters of intent, including one from Whitefish's Jolly Righetti, on Wednesday, the first day high school seniors could officially sign with universities.

"I think it's really a well-balanced class," UM coach Bobby Hauck said in a phone interview. "I think in football that's important. You have to get a bunch of good players."

Among the notable signees are two Division I-A transfers, wide receiver Eric Allen from Oklahoma State and quarterback Jason Washington from Bowling Green.

"You take transfers because you expect them to come in and compete for a starting job," Hauck said. "We're going to continue to build our program with high school kids."

With the loss of starting quarterback Craig Ochs and his backup, Jeff Disney, plus three key receivers, to graduation, the Griz needed immediate, experienced help.

"We felt like we needed to take a transfer at each of those positions," Hauck said. "That's why you take those guys."

Also joining the program are three offensive lineman that can best be described as "hulking" - tackles Chris Dyk (6-foot-8, 260 pounds from Dillon) and Terran Hillesland (6-7, 310 from Sidney) and guard Dan Girard (6-4, 285 from Yakima, Wash.).

"For having taken three offensive linemen, we got three great ones," Hauck said.

Righetti joins the Griz after missing most of his senior season with a serious knee injury requiring surgery. But the 5-10, 180-pound running back impressed the Montana coaches enough during a summer camp that that did not deter them.

"We saw him and nobody could tackle him," Hauck said. "We knew then we had to recruit him and that we wanted him on our team."

First impressions, though, did not sell Hauck on the idea of Righetti joining the Griz.

"He came up and introduced himself to me, said 'I'm anxious to come play for you' and I thought 'yeah right,'" Hauck recalled.

"Jolly doesn't necessarily fit the profile for what we're looking at at running back, but he is a guy who is going to fit in talent-wise and personality-wise.

"It was really about him being in our summer camp that sold us on him," Hauck said.

Whether or not Righetti plays this next season will depend on his knee and what he shows the coaches in fall camp. When he announced his decision to sign with the Griz, Righetti said slot receiver was an option, though Hauck feels running back is the best fit.

"I see him staying in the backfield," the coach said. "When you look at his God-given talent, it lends itself to running back.

"I think all these guys will get a chance to play. We played 10 true freshmen last year, so it's possible. I'd like it if they all could redshirt. I'd like it if the majority could redshirt."

Of the 18 recruits, 16 are high school students and 11 hail from Montana.

"I'm excited about our class, I'm excited about our Montana kids," Hauck said. "We're just thrilled about them both as people and as football players."