Idaho striking while the iron's hot

The national spotlight doesn’t shine on University of Idaho athletics very often.

It did a couple of months ago, when the Vandal football team won nine games — the most wins by the program in 18 seasons — capped by a 61-50 thrashing of Colorado State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, in a game nowhere near as close as the score indicated.

From the outside, it validated the rebuilding job of fourth-year Vandal coach Paul Petrino, who won one game in each of his first two seasons in Moscow, then led Idaho to a four-win season in 2015, then 9-4 last fall.

From the inside, Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said he already knew the program was headed in the right direction.

“We always knew the process was right, between the walls of the building, what Paul was doing and how he was building it was absolutely the right way,” Spear said recently in Coeur d’Alene, just prior to a booster function at The Coeur d’Alene Resort to highlight the Vandals’ football recruiting class. “It took a bit longer for the outcomes to materialize, so it was so nice to see us have that success this year, and for the players and coaches to see the fruits of their labor. It was a difficult situation that he inherited, and he’s done a wonderful job, totally changed the entire culture of that program, and it’s paying dividents now. So now, the priority is, is to sustain that success, and give him the resources that he needs to continue down the road, and again be successful.”

KEEPING THAT momentum going won’t come without obstacles — the potential pitfalls of dropping to the FCS level in football in 2018, the eventual loss of revenue from money games against FBS foes, as well as loss of donations from some boosters peeved their football program will no longer play at the highest level.

“What I control is providing our coaches with resources, improving facilities, making sure our student-athletes have a great experience,” Spear said. “That’s where my focus is.”

The 2017 football season will be Idaho’s last in the Sun Belt. The Vandals will then return to the FCS Big Sky, after 22 seasons as an FBS school.

Nevada, Wyoming and San Jose State, all FBS schools in the Mountain West Conference, canceled future games with the Vandals, because Idaho is dropping back down to FCS.

Spear said the difference in pay to an FCS team compared to an FBS team for a money game is “roughly half, depending on the league. As you know, the SEC pays well, probably better than the Pac-12 overall. We’re estimating we’re going to receive roughly half of what we’ve received in the past.”

Spear said three FBS schools — Florida, Penn State and Indiana — plan to honor their existing contracts with Idaho, signed back when they presumed the Vandals would still be an FBS squad.

Florida will pay the Vandals $1.2 million in 2018 — making up for their scheduled game in ’14 in Gainesville, which was canceled after the opening kickoff because of lightning.

Penn State will pay $1.45 million for Idaho to come to State College in 2019, and Indiana will pay Idaho $1.3 million and $1.4 million to visit Bloomington in 2021 and ’22.

“There is going to be a financial impact that we’re going to have to figure out, which is why we have an increased emphasis on our fundraising,” Spear said.

That would explain why last week, Idaho asked the state board of education for an extra $1 million in the budget for each of the next four years, a request the board tabled.

THERE’S ONE other thing that Idaho is doing well.

The Vandals stepped up to be the host institution for the first and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Spokane last year, and will be the host school for an NCAA women’s regional at the Spokane Arena in 2018.

Washington State used to serve as the host institution, but opted out in recent years.

The Zags are right in town, but as you can imagine, their staff has had other things to do that week for oh, the last two decades.

Which leaves us to Idaho.

“Gave us a nice presence in Spokane for those few days,” Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said of the 2016 event.

Spear praised the help of the staff of the Spokane Arena, as well as the Spokane Sports Commission, which has put on a few of these tourneys. Also, staff from other area colleges — as far away as Montana State — helped Idaho with the behind-the-scenes stuff.

“It taxes your staff, but it was also a great opportunity for people who have never worked an NCAA tournament,” Spear said. “Great thing for our young employees in our department.”

AS FOR other improvements, Spear said the weightroom has been upgraded. Next up, new artificial turf for the Kibbie Dome.

Not just for football. For women’s soccer as well.

Why soccer?

Just look back to last fall, when Idaho hosted the Big Sky women’s championships — but because its home field was unplayable because of all the rainfall last fall, Idaho moved the tourney to Cheney.

“We had such a problem with hosting a conference championship on our field because of the weather, we never want that to happen again,” Spear said.

Turf will be in the Dome from end wall to end wall. The soccer field will meet minimum NCAA requirements of 110 yards long and 70 yards wide.

“We think we can create a unique environment,” Spear said. “I think we’re the only school that’s going to play soccer inside. ... we’ll be able to use the video board, able to have streaming capabilities, we’ll be able to create atmosphere in there for our soccer program.”

Plus, they could host a conference tourney on their home field, “or if you’re lucky enough to get to the NCAAs, you could put a bid in to host (an NCAA tourney game),” he added.

Spear said the current turf in the Dome is roughly 8 years old, and a new one will include technological advancements since then.

“The current system, you roll it out, it has the grass blades and you have the rubber infill,” he said. “The new system is, they put a pad down first, and then the carpet sits over the pad, and then the infill doesn’t go all the way up to the top of the grass.”

Because there’s more padding, you don’t need as much tire infill.

“And I’m sure our janitors will love it,” Spear said. “Because that stuff gets everywhere.”

Spear said the turf, made by Hellas, will be the same type of turf used at AT&T Stadium (aka JerryWorld) in Arlington, Texas. An outdoor version of the Hellas turf will eventually replace the current turf on the Vandals’ practice field, he said.

Also last week, the state board of education gave Idaho permission to begin design of an arena for its basketball teams.

“We’ve had a lot of success with our fundraising,” Spear said. “We’re probably about $16 million in, and ... hopefully we can break ground sometime in 2018 and have that thing open in 2020.”

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@CdAPressSports.