Some of the biggest offseason news in the FCS this winter was the sudden… or seemingly sudden… departure of former Montana head coach Bobby Hacuk back in February. Hauck, who had coached the Grizzlies for 18 seasons over two different stints… decided to call it a career, at least in terms of head coaching. A few short days later he was on his way to Illinois as the next defensive coordinator in a move that surprised quite a few. It all came on the heels of a 13-2 season that resulted in a run to the semifinals;
normally a really good year. For the Grizzlies and their fans, though, 2025 left behind a particularly sour taste because of how it ended.
Losing to the rival once is hard enough but twice? In the minds of many Griz alumni and fans, it is unacceptable. And that’s exactly what happened to Montana in Hauck’s final season. A late November loss to Montana State at home was followed up by one on the road just a month later in the semifinals. While MSU got vaulted to their first national title in 41 years, Montana was left to look itself in the mirror and now it must try and pick the pieces up with a new man in charge. It will be former wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy who will be tasked with trying to steady the waters and, whether it’s fair or not, he might just have the toughest job in the country this season because of everything that’s happened in the last six months.
When Montana AD Kent Haslam named Kennedy as Hauck’s successor earlier this offseason he made it very clear that Kennedy would not be an interim coach and that he would indeed be the team’s full on head coach. While he won’t be coaching beneath the shadow of that tag, though, he is still under just a one-year contract with Haslam saying simply, “we’ll evaluate where we’re at at the end of the 2026 season.” in regards to Kennedy. That says one thing; that Kennedy’s future is likely dependent on how well the Grizzlies do this fall.
Montana should be an FCS contender once again and, barring some major unforeseen setback, ought to be a playoff squad once more. Kennedy, to his credit, has also had a solid first couple months leading the team in terms of recruiting and navigating Spring ball. UM has gotten the commitments of a handful of big name in-state recruits already for 2027 much to the delight of Griz fans. The team just held its annual Spring game last Friday as well, concluding what has been a productive March and April. All of that is a nod to the work he’s done up to this point. What really matters, especially to fans in Missoula, however is winning. How much of it will Kennedy need to do in Year One to extend that contract?
Following up a semifinal season is never an easy task, especially for a new coach. Just ask South Dakota State’s Dan Jackson. Last season the Jacks (who were admittedly hampered by major injuries) went 9-5 and reached the second round of the playoffs where they coincidentally lost to Montana. All that came on the heels of a semifinal run in 2024 and, by many standards, SDSU and its fanbase view last season as not good enough. That same expectation is there for the donors and fans at UM but it has been ramped up even more than usual in light of all the recent successes of Montana State, much of which that has come at the detriment of the Grizzlies.
None of that is Kennedy’s fault and yet he will be the one man that feels the pressure of it more than any other come August. A frustrated fanbase that expects greatness from a team that has failed to get over the hump time and time again in recent memory paired with the fact that the team they hate the most is entering as the heavy favorite to repeat might make for a pretty short leash. Throw in the fact that Kennedy has never been a head coach before and it’s a brutal task to undertake.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Kennedy’s team has some truly star-studded pieces returning this season, headlined by quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat and running back Eli Gillman. Ah Yat, who led the FCS in passing last year, is set to be arguably the best signal caller in the country again and Gillman is looking to close out his career with yet another 1,000-yard season. The Grizzlies are shaping up to be really good again this year.
Whether or not really good is going to be good enough remains to be seen and, while Montana likely won’t give Kennedy the boot after just one season, his seat could heat up really quickly if things start to take a dip at any point in 2026. It’s a tough business as it is and it’s made even tougher when the pressure and expectations are so high. Kennedy, so far, has been up to the task and has met every challenge that’s come across his desk up to this point. But it will be a whole new ball game come fall and if there aren’t results sooner rather than later, everything will be up in the air.
Kennedy’s first game as UM’s head coach will come on August 29 when the Grizzlies host Southern Utah.
