Talkin' Troxel, Louie-McGee, Hauck's return and redshirt rules

Kids of coaches are always good to have on a team, Idaho State football coach Rob Phenicie said last week at Big Sky media day in Spokane.

He was talking about Gunnar Amos, son of Coeur d’Alene High football coach Shawn Amos. Gunnar transferred to Idaho State from Idaho last fall, will be the No. 2 quarterback for the Bengals this season as a junior, with a chance to become the starter next fall.

But, as it turns out, Phenicie was also talking about someone else.

“That’s why Matt Troxel was such a good player,” Phenicie said.

Troxel, a receiver and kick returner, starred at Lake City under his father and coach, Van Troxel.

Phenicie helped recruit Matt to Montana, where he was his position coach.

Troxel finished up at Montana as a student assistant coach. He was a graduate assistant for two seasons at Idaho, then spent the last seven seasons at Idaho State — the last two as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

He’s in his first season at Oregon State, working as an offensive quality control assistant.

Phenicie said he could see the coach in Troxel when he was playing at Montana — where his father also played.

“He knew everything,” Phenicie said of Matt. “He was a smart player. He was hurt his senior year, so he started coaching with us then, and you could see it then. It came to him naturally.”

Bobby Hauck, in his first season in his second stint as head coach at Montana, also fondly remembers Troxel. Hauck coached the Griz the first time around from 2003-09.

“Matt was our first recruit, the last time around,” Hauck said. “His aunt was my next-door neighbor (in Missoula). I’d known his dad since I was a college kid. When he got done playing, he coached for us, and he has become a great football coach in his own right.”

Hauck said “for sure” that he could see the coach in Troxel when he was still a player at Montana.

“I don’t think there was any doubt, from the time he was a high school kid on, that’s what he was preparing himself to do,” Hauck said. “Some guys go out there and know their assignment; Matt always wanted to know what everyone was doing on either side of the ball. When he started coaching for us, he wanted to know how the whole operation worked … he’s an astute young football coach. He’s a good coach because he can coach anything (Matt was the offensive line coach for three seasons at ISU). That comes from his dad, and his grandfather (Ed). I would say grandfathers — on both sides of the family.”

- Hauck has a similar receiver at Montana now — and from the same school — in Jerry Louie-McGee, who will be a junior receiver and kick returner.

Last year, under third-year coach Bob Stitt, Louie-McGee had a team-high 50 receptions, for 645 yards and made All-Big Sky honorable mention. As a redshirt freshman in 2016, he caught a school-record 21 passes in a game vs. Cal Poly.

Hauck said he was aware of Louie-McGee when he took the job.

“I’m an alum, so I paid attention,” Hauck said.

“Jerry, I’m impressed with and proud of,” he added. “A year ago he had a lot of success, and sometimes when you have a (coaching) change, it’s hard on guys to have to adapt. He did not resist any of that at all. He had a really good offseason and a great spring, and I’m just expecting big things out of him. He showed a lot of character the last six months, and I’m proud of him.”

Hauck envisions a similar role for Louie-McGee that he’s had the past two seasons.

“His role is to play receiver and return … we’re not moving him to defense or something like that,” Hauck said with a laugh. “He’s going to do his thing, and hopefully do it very well.”

- In Hauck’s first stint at Montana, the Griz went 80-17, won or shared the Big Sky title each season, and advanced to the national championship game three times.

He left Missoula for UNLV, where he went 15-49 in five seasons as Rebels head coach. Four of those seasons were two-win seasons; the other season (7-6) concluded in a trip to the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Hauck spent the last three seasons as assistant head coach/special teams coordinator under Rocky Long at San Diego State.

“The one thing that going to San Diego State was good for me because it reinforced what I held as truths —developing winning football teams and how to approach the game,” Hauck said. “To see a head coach in Rocky Long whose view is identical to mine. … it was good to have my views reinforced.”

When Hauck last coached at Montana, the Big Sky consisted of nine teams. This year, there are 13.

Other than that ...

“It’s not been too different,” he said. “There’s a few new faces, but it’s comfortable.

“Familiar, and comfortable.”

- Colton Richardson planned to redshirt last year as a true freshman and the third-string quarterback at Idaho.

Then starter Matt Linehan was lost for the season with a thumb injury. Then backup Mason Petrino, son of Vandals head coach Paul Petrino, was injured early in Idaho’s second-to-last game of the season at New Mexico State.

In came Richardson, the former Lewiston High star.

He threw a touchdown pass against the Aggies. A week later in the season finale, he threw another TD pass in a victory at Georgia State.

Since last season, the NCAA passed a rule saying a team could claim a redshirt season for a player if he played in four or fewer games in that season.

Even though it may appear retroactive, Idaho plans to ask for an extra season for Richardson.

“We’re going to do an appeal,” Paul Petrino said last week at the conference’s media day. “I sat in on a meeting yesterday and someone else said they were going to appeal, so we’re going to get on that. I don’t know if we can, but it won’t hurt to try.”

He said last year “we didn’t have a choice” but to play Richardson, “but if we can get it (the year) back, that would be great.”

Petrino said the new redshirt rule could change how he plays true freshmen.

“I think early in the year, if they were ready to play you were going to play them anyway,” he said. “But now, if they’re good enough to help you win at the end of the year, you’re going to play them for sure. It will get them some experience, and help your special teams and depth.”