Griz return to practice field after spring break

The Montana football team returned to the Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility on Monday after a week-long hiatus for spring break with fresh tans, rested legs, and a ramped-up intensity for the final three weeks of the spring training period. 

With just seven official practices left between now and the spring scrimmage on April 11, it’s full speed ahead for head coach Bobby Hauck and his staff as they continue to install the 2025 game plan. 

“There are a lot of new faces out here, a lot of inexperience, and a lot of new guys trying to learn the Grizzly way. So, we’re a work in progress, but I like our team. I like the individuals wearing the uniforms, but we have a lot of work to do,” said Hauck. 

“We have been evaluating the personnel three times a week and I feel pretty strongly that our evaluation of the new players was good. We don’t think there’s anybody we’ve brought in the door that doesn’t have a chance to compete, so I’m excited about that fact.” 

With 17 new faces on the roster, rather than straight X’s and O’s, perhaps the most pressing task for the final three weeks is installing the Montana way of doing things. 

Guys like quarterback Jake Jensen of USC, receiver Michael Wortham of Eastern Washington, defensive tackle Braydon Bailey out of Utah State and Elijawah Tolbert of Eastern Illinois all bring upperclassmen experience to this year’s roster. 

Now set to enter his 19th season as a head coach, for Hauck, the challenge is not if, but when each will hit full stride with the game plan. 

“I think the challenge is how fast they can pick up what we’re trying to impart on them. We had a good February. We’ve gotten a pretty good jump on the installation of the scheme, and the new guys here are pretty bright in terms of football intellect and their ability to take from the meeting rooms onto the field,” he added. 

Even as UM’s crew of new faces acclimatizes to life as a Grizzly, Montana still only returns four players to this year’s squad that started in three or more contests last season and 29 returners who appeared in five-plus games. 

With the goal of a 20th Big Sky championship in the crosshairs, the Grizzlies have one goal over the next three weeks, and one goal only: improvement. Across the board improvement.