Before Montana head coach Robin Pflugrad took the podium in Kalispell and glowed over the future of Griz football, a great man and a great fan was honored.

Dell McManus, a steadfast supporter of Flathead High athletics and a Montana Grizzly football season ticket holder for more than 30 years, passed away last week after a strong battle with leukemia. He was 79.

"We lost a very special person," Keith Ori, a local resident and close friend of McManus, said in the opening of the annual Flathead Chapter banquet for the Grizzly Scholarship Association at the Hilton Garden Inn on Thursday evening.

McManus was always trying to help out local kids, Ori said, whether it was buying them shoes so they could play basketball or taking them to Missoula on game-day Saturdays during the fall so they could experience Montana Grizzly football.

"He was an incredibly positive influence not only on those kids but on their parents, too," Ori said.

With his family sitting together at a table surrounded by a room filled with maroon and silver, McManus received a much-deserved standing ovation.

A day after this year's recruiting class was announced, with Montana signing 11 in-state players, athletic director Jim O'Day and Pflugrad reassured Flathead Valley fans that the future is bright.

There was no mention of the dispiriting end to last season, and the crowd likely wanted it that way.

After suffering a home loss to Montana St. in the regular season finale last November, the Griz failed to make the FCS playoffs for the first time in 18 years. This came in the shadow of looming changes in conference alignments across the country, with rumors swirling that Montana would move from the Big Sky to the Western Athletic Conference. In the end, Montana chose to stay put.

"To be completely honest, the decision to remain in the Big Sky and not move to the WAC was easy," O'Day said on Thursday. "It became apparent that we weren't ready to do anything."

O'Day outlined a few changes he would like to see in the coming future that would ensure the Grizzlies get back on top in the Football Championship Subdivision, including improved facilities and a new academic center for student-athletes.

"We have a lot of Montana kids who are self-made," O'Day said. "The Marc Marianis, the Tim Haucks, the Colt Andersons. On and on, the list is long of kids who came to us at 140 pounds who jumped into that weight room and became the great representatives of the University of Montana that we have today. We owe it to them to help them academically, we owe it to help them athletically and then in addition we'll continue to enjoy what they do for us on the field. Again, it's a great time in Grizzly athletics."

O'Day also said putting lights in Washington-Grizzly Stadium is in the works, with an ideal situation being a night time homecoming game once a year.

In the spotlight already, Pflugrad, who was named head coach on Dec. 31, 2009, said the program is getting closer to fitting the mold of offense he and his staff are trying to implement. His first mention of this year's recruiting class focused on the three athletic offensive linemen signed this year - Joe Dahl of Spokane, Wash., Samson Kaleikini of Hawaii and John Schmaing of Billings.

With able-bodied linemen, the Griz will be able to utilize more screen plays, which didn't happen last year, Pflugrad said.

"That's one of my goals is to be outstanding in the screen game," he said.

Pflugrad referenced the high-octane play of Oregon and Auburn, the two teams that played in the BCS National Championship game.

"Our offense is a little bit different than coach (Bobby) Hauck's offense, who was different than coach (Joe) Glen, and coach (Mick) Dennehy and Don Read," Pflugrad said. "So as change occurs, you have to recruit to what you believe in and what your philosophy is. And our philosophy is fast-paced offense."

In an interview prior to the banquet's start, Pflugrad pointed out cornerback Nate Harris of Chino, Calif., and wide receiver Hassan Richardson of Hawaii, as the top recruits. Defensive lineman Jesse Ginn of Missoula was also highly praised as well as safety Connor Lebsock of Billings. The program is also still keeping its eye out for a quarterback, he said.

For the second year in a row, Montana will have an especially huge hole to fill, as senior running back Chase Reynolds graduates. This, a year after NFL Pro Bowler Marc Mariani graduated.

But, as Pflugrad said, "We're hungry. I think our players are hungry."

Especially since last season's sour ending will likely linger for quite some time.

"That last game (against Montana St.), we fairly dominated the football game other than parts of the first half and holding onto the football," Pflugrad said. "It comes down to one or two plays that we didn't hold onto the ball. You shut your eyes in that last game and I see Chase Reynolds running over people, running around people. The problem is we don't have Chase Reynolds anymore. So now that's our job, is to develop that next Chase Reynolds."