THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Ford on Vandal football ... and other things (part 1)

While in town for a signing day function the other day, second-year Idaho football coach Thomas Ford Jr. sat in a sun-lit conference room on the seventh floor of The Coeur d’Alene Resort, with the calmness of Lake Coeur d’Alene in plain sight. 

He reflected on recruiting, the state of Vandal football, retaining and losing players, and the current climate of coaching college football. 

Here is the first installment of those reflections ... 

ON THE PURPOSE OF HIS VISIT — TO DISCUSS THIS YEAR’S VANDAL RECRUITING CLASS 

Idaho signed 21 high school players and 15 college players. 

“In our high school class we were looking for a little bit of everything,” Ford said. “I think we got at least one player in each position group from our high school group. But we were very strong on the offensive line; I think we did a good job getting four really good players in that room from the high school level. We got two corners that we were looking for. And pretty much everything else, we needed at least one. 

“And then with the transfer guys, it was really big on defensive end and corner," Ford said.  

That was because of departures.  

“We had three senior defensive ends, and Matyus McLain (from Priest River High, who had a stellar redshirt sophomore season, then transferred to Washington State) obviously got into the transfer portal, so we had four immediate holes that we wanted to fill right away, and I think we did a really nice job of that. 

“Corner was similar. We had graduation with Deuce (Blenman), and (freshman) Caleb Ricks left, Joshua Barnes left, so we had some holes we wanted to fill there. Coach (Lee) Stalker, our new defensive coordinator, with his scheme, we wanted to be a little bit more DB-heavy, so getting some guys who could not only play corner, but could also potentially play some slot corner at that nickel position. And then we needed a couple running backs as well, in terms of transfer guys.” 

Idaho lost two of its top three running backs (Eli Cummings and Nate Thomas) to graduation. The returnee, Art Williams from Rocky Mountain High in Meridian, is coming off an injury. 

WHO ARE THE “PRIZE” RECRUITS? 

“I don’t think there’s one guy, there’s multiple guys,” Ford said. “The running back room with Ferrari Miller (Diablo Valley College) and Damonte Bias (El Camino College), those two guys come in right away and fill two big needs.” 

Ford said the Augustus twins, Jamarion (Northern Iowa) and Javen (Coastal Carolina), both from Montgomery, Ala., will have huge impact at defensive end. Ditto for RB Wilson V (Texas Southern) and Luke Teskey (New Hampshire).  

Cornerback Ishaan Daniels is a transfer from Weber State. Cornerback Tyrane Stewart, a transfer from North Texas, started 10 games at North Carolina in 2024, Ford said.  

“I feel like we got some really good pieces that we needed in terms of veteran presence,” Ford said. 

ON RETENTION, VS. RECRUITMENT 

Idaho was young last year, but most of that youth returned. 

"You look in that wide receiver room,” Ford said. “Marquawn McCraney, Ryan Jezioro, last year had zero snaps coming into the season. This year they clocked over 300 snaps last year. I think we got a lot more experience by default with our returners, and retention, and then got some key transfers that have played a lot in their respective places.” 

Those include Daniels, who played over 600 snaps at Weber last year, and Teskey, who played over 200 snaps at New Hampshire. 

"Guys like that that have done it at this level, and have done it well for a lot of snaps,” Ford said. 

ON THE NEWS OF BOBBY HAUCK’S SURPRING RETIREMENT AS MONTANA HEAD COACH 

Ford said he had “no clue” it was coming. 

“It was a big topic in our group chat among our coaching staff (Wednesday) morning,” Ford said. “Yeah, very surprised, obviously I think coach Hauck has done a phenomenal job at Montana. He’s always been really good to me, even when I was an assistant coach with coach (Jason) Eck, so I have a lot of respect for him, and it’s sad to see him go. 

“But I think the Vandals got better with the subtraction of coach Hauck,” Ford said, “because I think he does such a nice job organizing and motivating his club. We’re hoping that our trip to Missoula is a little bit easier next year, without him on the sidelines.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.