I had to chuckle at the other, unintended message from the other day.

"Three years ago," Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said on Monday, at a news conference/pep rally to introduce the Vandals' fifth different football coach since 2004, "the University of Idaho went into Northern Illinois and beat that team.

"Well, guess what? Three years later, Northern Illinois is playing in a BCS game," he added.

"Why not the University of Idaho?"

What was not said was that the head coach that guided them to that game - the Orange Bowl vs. Florida State - has already left to take another job higher up the coaching ladder, at N.C. State, and won't coach Northern Illinois in the bowl game.

That's not to suggest that would happen here, where Idaho just hired Paul Petrino as its 33rd head football coach.

But, if Spear finds himself in that position three years from now - Vandals in a bowl game, Petrino looking to move on to a bigger program - well, given the results of the past two seasons, that would be a heckuva problem for him to have.

That would mean, just three years removed from a two-year stretch where they went 3-21, the Vandals were back to being competitive at the FBS level.

AND THAT was the other little tidbit of news that came out on Monday, for those who wish Idaho would go back to the FCS level and the Big Sky Conference.

"We want to stay FBS," Petrino said. "We want to do our best to be successful as an independent (in 2013)."

And as the conference shuffling continues ...

"We've just got to go out and put a great product on the field, and put ourselves in a position to end up in a conference," he said.

Listening to Petrino the other day, he certainly has the fire and the passion to get the Vandal faithful excited.

And with a record of high-powered offenses in assistant coaching stops at Louisville, Arkansas and Illinois, he’s optimistic that style will work in Moscow.

“That’s something we want to get back to,” said Petrino, 45. “That excitement and that fire and that vision, that people want to come watch us. And the ball’s going up and down the field, and we’re scoring all kinds of points.”

That should excite a quarterback like Chad Chalich, the former Coeur d’Alene High standout, who redshirted as a freshman this fall at Idaho. As of now, Idaho will have three returning QBs — Taylor Davis, who will be a senior, as well as Chalich and Austin DeCoud, who also redshirted as a freshman.

But you figure Petrino — a Butte, Mont., native who played quarterback at Carroll College in Helena, Mont. — will bring in at least one junior college quarterback, so he has at least two upperclassmen at the position.

“I believe everything is built around your quarterback — what he does best, that’s where it will all start,” Petrino said. “But we’ve got to have some great tight ends, great receivers, and have them go make plays.”

He mentioned FTS ... “that stands for Feed The Studs,” he said. “We want to find the biggest studs that we’ve got, get the ball in their hands.

“Offensively we’re going to score a bunch of points, we’re going to be exciting, and people are going to want to come to the games.”

OTHER PETRINO thoughts:

“We’re going to play our best players on special teams,” he said. “If you’re a starter, there’s a good chance you’re going to start on special teams. And if you have to take a play off, it might be on offense or defense, because to me, so many games are won and lost on special teams.”

I think back to 2008, when receiver Eddie Williams was Idaho’s best offensive player. I remember watching him blow out his knee trying to cover a punt in the Boise State game, and missing the rest of the season. Then again, injuries could happen to anybody on any play.

Asked about resurrecting the Vandal Football Camp for area high school teams, an on-again, off-again event in recent years, Petrino said “I want to do that, no question.”

“I couldn’t have eaten most of the year (without the money from those camps),” said Petrino, an assistant at Idaho from 1992-94, remembering “that chicken under the lamp after 11 that you get for free at the Chevron.”

Yum, yum.

“I want to make that camp real big,” he said.

BETWEEN SALARY and media payments, Petrino will make roughly $400,000 over his three-year contract — which can be extended another two years based on Idaho reaching paid home attendance goals.

Here’s some perks from his deal:

• At least seven regular season wins — $13,461.53

• National coach of the year — $10,000

• BCS bowl game appearance — $100,000

• Non-BCS bowl game — $25,000

• Team is ranked in the top 25 — $13,461.53

• Conference coach of the year — $5,000

• Beating Boise State — Sorry, sore spot there

If Petrino leaves Idaho before the end of 2013, he owes the school $500,000; if he leaves in 2014, he owes $250,000. If the contract is extended, the buyouts go down to $100,000 in 2015 and $50,000 in 2016.

But few of those extras will matter if Petrino doesn’t make Idaho better — and fast.

“The first thing, we have to do is win a few more games,” Petrino said. “You do that and you get a little more interest ... it’s my job, first of all, to put a great product on the field.”

If that happens, let the bowls — and whatever else comes along with that — be next.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.