THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Jan. 30, 2014

Last summer, at a football camp at the University of Idaho, Vandal coaches asked Coeur d'Alene High quarterback Gunnar Amos to run some pass routes, and catch some passes.

Never mind that the Viking senior-to-be had never played the position before - except, perhaps, way back in his flag football days.

But the Vandals liked him as a slot receiver, offered him a scholarship as a slot receiver - and Amos verbally committed to Idaho a couple weeks ago as a receiver.

"I knew going in that they were my top choice," said Amos, who verbally committed to Idaho two weeks ago Friday, during his first official visit. "I just got there, and I really liked it, it blew me away. It had a big-school recruiting feel. They made me feel important, and it just felt like the right fit."

THE NEXT day, a Saturday, Amos was called in to Idaho coach Paul Petrino's office.

"He said he reevaluated my senior tape, and thinks I could play quarterback for them," Amos said.

One problem - Petrino also has a commit from a quarterback for this year's recruiting class, Jake Luton from Marysville-Pilchuck (Wash.), and he promised Luten he wouldn't take another quarterback this year.

So Petrino made another offer - if it was still Amos' dream to play quarterback, the position he has played most of his life, he could grayshirt next season, and come in as part of the 2015 recruiting class - and he would be the only quarterback Petrino recruited for that class.

"Right when he told me, I kind of figured that's what I wanted to do," Amos said. "But I wanted to take my time on it and think it over."

Amos, starting quarterback for the Vikings the past two seasons, went back to Coeur d'Alene after his recruiting visit and talked it over with family, friends and future teammates, then let Petrino know the following Wednesday he would take him up on his grayshirt offer.

By grayshirting, he would delay his enrollment until the second semester of next year, and enroll at Idaho in January 2015. He would go through spring practice and fall camp with the Vandals prior to his freshman season in the fall of '15.

"He (Petrino) said they loved me as a wide receiver, but he said with the new age of quarterbacks coming out, with quarterbacks that can run around and make plays outside of their first, second and third reads, it just kind of hit him that I could do that, that I have that skill set.

"It was kind of a gracious thing for him to do."

SO WHAT will Amos do in the meantime?

He said he'll take some classes at North Idaho College this fall, and help his dad, Coeur d'Alene High head coach Shawn Amos, as an assistant this fall. Shawn also played at Idaho.

"With grayshirting, I'll walk out of the University of Idaho after my four years of playing football with a master's degree," Gunnar Amos said. "I really have no idea (in what), but when I have to give an answer I say business or marketing."

Amos said he is still rehabbing, and soon should be fully recovered from the broken ankle he suffered in Coeur d'Alene's state quarterfinal playoff game last fall. He watched from the sidelines as the Vikings went on to win their third state title in four years.

Amos' primary recruiter at Idaho was Bryce Erickson, Vandal quarterbacks coach, and son of former Idaho coach Dennis Erickson.

After committing to Idaho, Amos canceled recruiting trips to Idaho State and Army. His primary recruiter at Idaho State was Matt Troxel, the former Lake City High standout who is now coaching the offensive line with the Bengals.

"I loved getting to know him," Amos said of Troxel, who as a junior helped Lake City win the state title in 2002. "I remember specifically (as a Viking ballboy in those days) watching him run back and forth on the field, making guys miss. He was a shifty little guy."

IN ADDITION to Luten, other quarterbacks at Idaho include Chad Chalich, the former Coeur d'Alene High star who started seven games as a redshirt freshman last year; Josh McCain, a junior college transfer who will be a senior next year; and Matt Linehan, who redshirted as a freshman last fall.

Amos could also redshirt in the fall of '15, though he said that option hasn't yet been discussed. Amos did say that Petrino - who went 1-11 last fall in his first season in Moscow - "gave me the vibe" that if it became apparent he wasn't going to start at quarterback eventually, he could be moved to receiver.

"We don't want you standing on the sidelines; we need to get athletes like you on the field," Amos said Petrino told him. "So if you're going to sit as second-string quarterback for three years, he said 'I'm not going to do that to you, I'm going to move you to wide receiver, and you're going to get on the field.'

"So either way, I'm going to be playing."

Would Amos be OK with that switch?

"I'm fine with that," he said. "That's what I thought I was going to be doing when I committed."

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