MISSOULA — Rob Phenicie’s next win as a head coach will be the fourth in his brief career thus far at Idaho State. It will also equal ISU’s win total from the last two years combined.
Phenicie has always taken pride in winning. During the Big Sky Kickoff media conference in Park City, Utah in July, Phenicie talked of the joys of winning five outright Big Sky Conference crowns during his time as Montana’s offensive coordinator from 2003 until 2009. With current Montana head coach Bob Stitt sitting across the room within earshot, Phenicie spoke about how much fun it is to admire those rings to this day and the good memories garnered when he would wear one around during his four years coaching in Las Vegas as UNLV.
“I had the coaches over for dinner the other night and pulled the five we have out and they were like, ‘Whoa,” Phenicie said in Park City. “I told them, ‘They are fun to get.’ I always say get it for the middle finger. The last three, I got for the middle finger because they are huge that way.”
His years coaching under longtime general Bobby Hauck, both at Montana and UNLV, taught Phenicie the importance of meticulous preparation and competitive attitude. UM posted an 80-17 record, won at least a share of seven Big Sky titles and advanced to the playoffs in all seven years Hauck and Phenicie worked in Missoula.
But the challenge he encounters at Idaho State is undeniably his biggest and comes in Phenicie’s first campaign as a head coach.
RELATED: Big Sky Conference Kickoff Coaches’ Series: Idaho State head coach Rob Phenicie
Former Idaho State head coach Mike Kramer/ by Brooks Nuanez
The Bengals have won 24 games since 2007. Aside from the aberration that was the 2014 season — the Bengals finished 8-4 and almost made the FCS playoffs — ISU have won two or less games in eight of the last 11 years. Mike Kramer, a three-time Big Sky Coach of the Year at three different schools, only mustered 18 wins in six seasons in Pocatello before his firing in April.
In other words, Phenicie inherited one of the most challenging rebuilding jobs in the Football Championship Subdivision.
But the Bengals have already turned a corner as Phenicie’s first season reaches its midpoint. Idaho State is 3-2, a record that includes a come from behind 38-34 victory over Cal Poly last week. ISU gained 619 yards of total offense, including 363 yards rushing before losing on a last-second field goal, 43-42, at Northern Colorado. During the non-conference, Phenicie led the Bengals to a 30-28 win over Nevada, ISU’s first win over an FBS opponent since 2000.
“Everything drastically changed in our minds,” ISU senior linebacker Mario Jenkins, the 2014 BSC Freshman of the Year and a second-team All-Big Sky pick last fall, said earlier this season. “Literally, things have changed hour by hour with Coach Phenicie.
“He really brings that drive and that motivation for us because he really loves the sport as well. He wants to see us succeed, he wants to see us win accolades and he wants to see us win games. He wants to win games.”
“Honestly, it’s the atmosphere we’ve created,” ISU explosive sophomore wide receiver Michael Dean “We’ve created a great environment throughout our whole team where we all have the sense of belief where even when we are down, we can come back. It’s a belief we all share.”
Idaho State sophomore Michael Dean/ ISU athletics
On Saturday, the revamped culture of the Bengals will receive its stiffest test yet. Idaho State hosts Montana in a game with seemingly endless crossover between the coaching staffs.
“Here’s the deal: Montana is the flagship program in the Big Sky Conference,” Phenicie said. “They have the best facilities, the best stadium, the best resources. They have everything at their hands. You have to be on your game 100 percent in order to just have a chance to come close to competing with them on the field. For us, it’s another week, another chance to prove we are not who we were the last couple of years.”
RELATED: T&T – Idaho State head coach Rob Phenicie, October 2
Phenicie had a hand in fortifying that foundation of success in Missoula. The Griz posted a 47-6 mark against Big Sky competition, one of the best seven-year runs in a school history steeped in tradition. UM advanced to the FCS national title game in 2004, 2008 and 2009, falling just short each time.
Although Phenicie’s offensive attacks could be almost exclusively be described as conservative, the Griz were prolific in many ways. UM led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2009 and ranked second in four of the other five seasons Phenicie called the plays. UM ranked in the top three in total offense in the league three times and led the league in rushing in 2008 and 2009 behind a powerful offensive line that included All-Americans Colin Dow, J.D. Quinn and Brent Russum plowing lanes for All-American Chase Reynolds.
Former Montana running back Chase Reynolds before UM’s opener in 2017 /by Brooks Nuanez
Phenicie also had a hand in mentoring a hoard of All-Big Sky players, a list made up of offensive linemen Dylan McFarland, Jon Skinner, Cody Balogh, Dow, Russum, Quinn and Levi Horn, a group of running backs highlighted by Reynolds and future NFL draft picks Justin Green and Lex Hilliard, a collection of receivers headlined by Marc Mariani and also including Mike Ferriter, Ryan Bagley, Eric Allen and Craig Chambers.
Phenicie had a less numerous group of quarterbacks. Craig Ochs led Montana to the 2004 national title game before giving way to Cole Bergquist, an All-American as a senior in 2008, his third full year and fourth overall as UM’s starter. Andrew Selle, Montana’s current quarterbacks coach, served as Phenicie’s signal caller in 2009.
“Phenicie has a special place in my heart because I was his first quarterback he recruited up there and he gave me an opportunity to come to Montana and that changed my life,” said Bergquist, who played three seasons in the Canadian Football League after his time in Missoula. “I didn’t realize this when I was playing that it’s pretty rare to play for all five years including my redshirt year for the same coaching staff.
“I really, really got a chance to know Phen. I spent countless hours in his office. He’s a different cat, man. He’s got an acquired taste sense of humor. But nobody works harder than him. He’s the first one in, last one out. He’s got a gift for breaking down film and finding tendencies. He can identify little body movements and exploit them.”
“He’s very meticulous and they are going to have their guys prepared on Saturday,” Selle added. “That’s one thing I took away from him is not only his knowledge of the game but his preparation. They will be ready.”
Montana running backs coach Justin Green /by Brooks Nuanez
Green, Montana running backs coach and recruiting coordinator since 2012, rushed for 1,784 yards in two seasons in Phenicie’s offense. He was a fifth-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2005 before embarking on a five-year NFL career.
“Phenicie is one guy who shaped who I am as a player as far as my learning football,” Green said. “That’s where I kind of grew up. I grew up in the Phenicie offense.
“Our offense was physical, we were a physical bunch of guys but I think that was more the identity of the University of Montana than the offense. We were a blue collar group of guys. That was in place before I was ever here. Phenicie jumping in with that, using the strengths we had, we had some big tight ends who could’ve been tackles, that was part of the success.”
The parallels between the coaching staffs don’t stop there. Ferriter, now in his third season as Montana’s wide receivers coach, served as a graduate assistant at UNLV under Phenicie after exhausting his eligibility for the Griz in 2008. He spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons at Idaho State on Mike Kramer’s staff before returning to his alma mater. Ironically, Phenicie took over for Ferriter as the wide receivers coach at ISU in 2015.
Montana wide receivers coach Mike Ferriter/by Brooks Nuanez
“He coached me and then I was his GA at UNLV too so I learned a ton of knowledge from him,” Ferriter said. “The way he works, the way he prepares for things, he doesn’t leave any stones unturned.
“What they’ve done so far hasn’t surprised me. He came in there with a plan and decided to establish a culture early on and you can see the immediate results of the way his guys are playing. He’s got the team bought into what he’s saying.”
The Montana connections stretch beyond Phenicie on the Idaho State staff as well. ISU offensive coordinator Matt Troxel played wide receiver for the Griz from 2004 until his career ended prematurely in 2007 due to injury. He started his coaching career early, something that comes as no surprise to Bergquist, Troxel’s college quarterback and roommate in the dorms at UM.
“When we were freshmen in the dorms, Matt was already working on his playbook for when he became a coach,” Bergquist said. “He’s been prepping for this before he could even coach. His playing career didn’t end up like he totally wanted but he got a jump start on his coaching career.”
“We would be ready for a Friday night getting ready to go out to a party, he’d literally be drawing Xs and Os in his notebook,” Bergquist added with a laugh.
RELATED: T&T – Cole Bergquist, October 5
Idaho State’s surprising start — the Bengals were picked 13th out of 13 teams in the both the preseason coaches’ and media polls — has corresponded with Phenicie’s overhaul in procedural process. It started in spring drills just days after his abrupt hiring; he left ISU for Northern Iowa before Kramer’s firing, only to return less than a week later.
The priority on detailed preparation led to a demand that more players stay around Pocatello in the summer. Jenkins said about 15 kids stayed his first few summers. The captain estimated about 50 players stayed to work out last summer.
Cole Bergquist – AP Photo/James Snook
Since taking his first head coaching job, Phenicie has channeled Hauck more than he originally anticipated he would. He said the Bengals understand and respect his previous success in the Big Sky, first at Cal State-Northridge, then at UM.
“What we did with Bobby is probably about 95 percent of it,” Phenicie said. “There’s probably some things I’m doing that Bobby would cringe at but the ground work, the foundation, almost everything is what we did together for all that time.
“I feel that Bobby is one of the best game management coaches in the business. Being his offensive coordinator for nine years, I was involved in that. I’ve retained a whole lot from him, probably more so than I realized I had. I can draw from that.”
An Idaho State win would serve as a landmark given the Bengals’ struggles since Larry Lewis left following the 2006 season. In a series that dates back to 1921, Montana owns a 44-13 advantage over ISU. The Griz have won 13 times in 23 trips to Pocatello. Since Washington-Grizzly Stadium opened in 1986, Montana has won 27 of the last 29 games against Idaho State.
Idaho State OC Matt Troxel/by ISU Athletics
Phenicie is well aware of Montana’s prestige and the dominance UM has held over his current team. When Phenicie was at Montana, the Griz went 6-1 against the Bengals. Saturday could be the next step in changing the perception for Phenicie’s program in Pocatello.
“It’s not about me versus Montana,” Phenicie said. “It’s about our kids and executing our assignments. The guys know the history with me and Matt Troxel but that’s not an issue. We have a bigger picture in terms of what we are trying to accomplish here and that’s to remain undefeated at home and win more games here than they have in a long time and be relevant in the Big Sky Conference where people respect the brand on the side of our helmets and not look at Idaho State as a guaranteed win.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez and contributed. All Rights Reserved.
