billingsgriz
Well-known member
We are not as dominant as we were 20 years ago during Bobby 1.0, but we are getting back there. And we are not comparing apples to apples, either. In 2005, Cal-Davis and Idaho didn't belong to The Big Sky--now they do and they are currently two of our conference's stronger teams. And 20 years ago, MSU's program was crumbling under Mike Kramer due to the drug ring run by a few of his players. While Coach Vigen also has had problems with all of the DUI's on his staff, he has weathered the storm and MSU is a more formidable opponent than it was after Mike was fired and Rob Ash took over.
Is Bobby perfect ? No--he can be a real prick. !!! That said, he inherited some of those hard edges from his dad Bob, who was a Marine ( See Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in " Full Metal Jacket." )
He inherited a mess from Coach Stitt--we had talented WR's like Sammy Akem and Samori Toure' but few O lineman. When we lost the so-called " Miracle in Missoula " in 2018, Bobby's first year back, we had a 272 lb starting RG that was a converted LB who was facing veteran MSU DT's that out weighed him by 15-20 pounds instead of vice versa. But Bobby steadily rebuilt our roster and after the Covid Year of 2020, Bobby led us to arguably our greatest regular-season win in program history, the 2021 upset of The Washington Huskies--the last time we beat UDUB was 1920,101 years earlier !!!
And after we had the 2023 title run, including the upset of NDSU in the semi's, and the loss to SDSU in Frisco, we had a rebuilding but still decent 2024, finishing @ 9-5.
Expertly using the transfer portal plus some of our high-school recruits like Liam Brown and a bigger, stronger, smarter Keali'i Ah Yat, we are now 6-0, and I think we are on the cusp of winning another NC, maybe this year. And that success flows from Bobby down through our excellent staff to our talented, hardworking, smart student athletes who excel both on the field, in the classroom, and in Missoula !!!
I don't like where we are, I love where we are !!! Several years ago while walking around the oval during Homecoming, I saw the bricks with names on them surrounding our grizzly bear and I started reading the names when I came across one brick inscribed with the names " Bobby and Stacey Hauck." When we play The Shi__y Kitties
in Bozeman, but our team stays in Livingston and after the game, the team showers and leaves Bozeman immediately only to eat dinner in Butte, that isn't some contrived act--that's a UM alum that truly hates our in-state rival, that always badly wants to beat them, that diligently, methodically prepares his team to do so, that's University of Montana alumni Bobby Hauck !!!
I am damn glad he's our head coach, and I think before he retires, we win at least one more NC, maybe more !!! Some of us don't realize it right now, but we're in tall cotton. Ten to twenty years from now, we may not be so let's enjoy and appreciate this ride directed by Coach Bobby Hauck. !!!
Is Bobby perfect ? No--he can be a real prick. !!! That said, he inherited some of those hard edges from his dad Bob, who was a Marine ( See Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in " Full Metal Jacket." )
He inherited a mess from Coach Stitt--we had talented WR's like Sammy Akem and Samori Toure' but few O lineman. When we lost the so-called " Miracle in Missoula " in 2018, Bobby's first year back, we had a 272 lb starting RG that was a converted LB who was facing veteran MSU DT's that out weighed him by 15-20 pounds instead of vice versa. But Bobby steadily rebuilt our roster and after the Covid Year of 2020, Bobby led us to arguably our greatest regular-season win in program history, the 2021 upset of The Washington Huskies--the last time we beat UDUB was 1920,101 years earlier !!!
And after we had the 2023 title run, including the upset of NDSU in the semi's, and the loss to SDSU in Frisco, we had a rebuilding but still decent 2024, finishing @ 9-5.
Expertly using the transfer portal plus some of our high-school recruits like Liam Brown and a bigger, stronger, smarter Keali'i Ah Yat, we are now 6-0, and I think we are on the cusp of winning another NC, maybe this year. And that success flows from Bobby down through our excellent staff to our talented, hardworking, smart student athletes who excel both on the field, in the classroom, and in Missoula !!!
I don't like where we are, I love where we are !!! Several years ago while walking around the oval during Homecoming, I saw the bricks with names on them surrounding our grizzly bear and I started reading the names when I came across one brick inscribed with the names " Bobby and Stacey Hauck." When we play The Shi__y Kitties
I am damn glad he's our head coach, and I think before he retires, we win at least one more NC, maybe more !!! Some of us don't realize it right now, but we're in tall cotton. Ten to twenty years from now, we may not be so let's enjoy and appreciate this ride directed by Coach Bobby Hauck. !!!