Divine guidance?

SPOKANE — Utah was the “dream” school of Idaho senior outside linebacker Kaden Elliss when he was a high school standout in Salt Lake City, drawing interest from colleges.

But apparently, praying trumps dreaming.

“I almost signed with Weber (State, just up the road in Ogden, Utah), but I took my last visit to Idaho,” Elliss recounted Monday at Big Sky media day. “I was dead set on going to Weber before that visit, and when I was praying about it, as soon as I got there (to Moscow) it was like, that was where I was supposed to be.”

Elliss has flourished in Moscow.

As a freshman in 2015, he was second on the Vandals in tackles. His sophomore year, he was all-Sun Belt honorable mention, and helped Idaho win the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

As a junior he was named second-team all-Sun Belt at linebacker, and added part-time duties at tight end, catching seven passes — two for touchdowns.

Now, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Elliss is attracting interest from pro teams.

All, in part, because of a decision to come to Idaho.

“I loved Coach P on my visit,” Elliss said. “I loved his excitement and his passion that he showed, his competitiveness. There are very few people in this world that are as competitive as me, and he’s right up there. He’s awesome. I loved the family atmosphere, I loved the chance to go to a program and help it grow.”

Elliss’ father, Luther, starred at Utah, later played in the NFL, and is now an assistant at Idaho. Kaden’s mom swam at Utah.

“They talked to me after my junior year in high school,” Kaden said of Utah. “I was about 195 (pounds) my senior year. They asked me at one camp if I’d like to play safety and I said I wanted to play quarterback (the position he played at Judge Memorial, a Catholic school in Salt Lake). Maybe it was all God’s plan getting me to Idaho. Utah had been my dream school growing up, but I’m glad where I’m at.”

In addition to being a triple-option quarterback at Judge, Elliss also played some safety.

“I had like 40 career tackles,” he recalled.

OK, so how did he become a linebacker at Idaho.

“Coach (Alfred) Pupunu (a Vandal assistant at the time) called me, and asked me about playing linebacker. Little did I know he wanted to get me up here and move me to tight end, since he was the tight ends coach,” Elliss said. “I got up here and worked with coach (Eric) Brown (linebackers coach at the time). Coach Brown was awesome in my development.

“And coach Petrino has long practices, and long practices mean a lot of reps for younger guys — meaning me. So coming in was a perfect fit because I got a lot of reps. There was one scrimmage where I had 170 live tackle plays. It was basically having a season before my first season, which was awesome in my development in a linebacker.”

Elliss grayshirted one year before enrolling at Idaho, and that year did him good. He beefed up to 225 for his freshman year.

Though the priority for the Vandals is for Elliss to play defense, Petrino likes him to play some offense as well — but says he has to be careful not to overwork Kaden. After the Vandals’ spring game in April, Elliss said his summer focus was to get in better shape, to handle the increased workload.

How’s that going so far?

“It’s going well,” he said. “A lot of running, and having a better diet obviously helps you a lot with your energy.”

And if he ends up on roster in the NFL or elsewhere, he doesn’t care what position the play him.

“At that point, just let me play,” he said.

And there’s another reason Elliss is happy he decided to come to Idaho.

“I’m getting married in 11 days, so I’m glad I made the decision,” he said. “I met her up here.”

- The Big Sky’s kickoff event wasn’t just limited to the usual question-and-answer session with the media.

On Sunday, as part of some promo shots for ROOT Sports, which televises a Big Sky game of the week, Idaho fifth-year senior running back Isaiah Saunders found himself posing while a fog machine created atmosphere.

“They were spraying everybody with water (to make it look like sweat),” Saunders said. “I wouldn’t exactly call it fun. I don’t like being wet, unless I’m in a pool.”