History of Idaho Vandals football
[4] When Iowa football coach Alden Knipe retired after the 1902 season, school officials considered hiring Griffith but went with John Chalmers instead.
[4][6] The Vandals' first-ever forward pass was attempted against Washington State in 1907: it was completed for a touchdown from a drop-kick formation in the fourth quarter and led to a 5–4 victory.
[13] Charles Erb was hired in May 1926 as head coach and director of athletics of the Vandals,[14] where he compiled a 10–9–5 record in three seasons, including a PCC co-championship in 1927.
[25] Following a 4–3–1 record in his third season on the Palouse in 1937, Bank was on the short list of many to succeed Harry Kipke as head coach at Michigan, his alma mater.
[43][44][45] Alumnus James "Babe" Brown was the interim athletic director and basketball coach during the war, then led the Vandals football program in 1945 and 1946, compiling records of 1–7 and 1–8.
Idaho's only conference victory under Stahley came in his first season: the winless Vandals (0–5) surprised and shut out rival Washington State 10–0 in Pullman in the Battle of the Palouse in 1954.
[94] Andros served in the U.S. Marines during World War II and saw action at Iwo Jima; he later played on the line at Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson.
While Idaho had joined Division I-AA and the Big Sky Conference as a charter member in 1963,[106] the Vandals remained an independent for football through 1964 under Andros.
[110] Musseau's 1965 team, with fullback Ray McDonald,[111] won the Battle of the Palouse over Washington State for the second straight year, this time on the road in Pullman, and finished at 5–5.
[113] Under Andros, Idaho viewed the six-team Big Sky as an answer to its basketball scheduling problems, as well as other sports, but had desired to continue as an independent at the top level in football.
[118] Although his 13–17 (.433) record[119] was better than each of the previous eight head coaches, pressure from alumni and boosters forced Musseau's resignation,[120] despite a signed petition by the Vandal football players that he remain for a fourth year.
[137] Troxel had turned down the head football job in May 1970 and again in December 1973, but later accepted after persuasion from his players and concessions from the new athletic director, namely a fourth assistant coach.
[140] Despite this turnover at OC before Troxel's third season in 1976, the Vandals went 7–4 (5–1 in the Big Sky),[141] with center John Yarno selected as a Division I first-team AP All-American.
With key players lost to graduation and beset by injuries, Idaho fell to 3–8 in 1977[143][144] and five weeks later, on December 30, Troxel was asked to resign by new UI president Richard Gibb.
[164] Flying from Pocatello to the Palouse on the afternoon of the game because of unavailable lodging, one of ISU's two chartered Convair 440 aircraft had carburetor problems soon after takeoff and had to land.
[191] On December 11, 1981, San Jose State offensive coordinator Dennis Erickson was named the 26th head football coach of the Idaho Vandals.
[262] After losing to I-A opponent Central Michigan by a score of 34–21,[263] Gilbertson's squad defeated Cal State Fullerton by a count of 25–17 on September 20.
[297][298] Following consecutive conference championships and advancing to the Division I-AA national semifinals, Gilbertson interviewed for the UTEP head coaching position in December 1988 but withdrew from consideration.
[304] Smith, who had no prior head coaching experience, also served as defensive coordinator at Nevada from 1977 to 1981 under Chris Ault and at Wyoming (1986) and Washington State (1987–1988) under Erickson.
[305] Under his leadership, the Vandals won two Big Sky conference championships and made the 16-team NCAA Division I-AA playoffs five times, advancing to the national semifinals in 1993.
[337] Smith's Vandals alternated between win and loss for the remainder of the season; defeating Idaho State by a score of 46–21,[217] losing a close contest to Eastern Washington by a count of 34–31,[338] beating Northern Arizona by a margin of 44–28,[177] losing a 35–34 nail biter to Montana for the Little Brown Stein and defeating adversary Boise State by a count of 28–24.
[365] Quarterback Doug Nussmeier, who threw for over 10,000 yards during his college career and won the Walter Payton Award in 1993;[366] was selected in the fourth round with the 116th overall pick in the 1994 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints.
The bowl victory propelled Idaho to an impressive 9–3 record in 1998,[429] their third season back in Division I-A, and Tormey was named coach of the year in the Big West.
[503] Following the 2003 season, Cable became the first Idaho head football coach fired in 22 years when he was dismissed by newly hired athletics director Rob Spear.
[525] During the 2004 season, in September, redshirt freshman cornerback Eric McMillan was shot and killed outside his on-campus apartment after a dispute with two Seattle acquaintances.
[540] Holt decided to take the offer to play the game for a few reasons: it offered the Idaho Vandals an opportunity to increase program visibility to recruits in the region, it gave the Vandals a rare chance to play on national television and get national exposure, and the University of Idaho would receive $600,000 from the University of Southern California for the appearance.
[543] On February 8, 2006, in a surprise turn of events, it was announced that Dennis Erickson had been rehired as the Vandals head coach after Nick Holt's departure.
[561] Erickson did not stay true to his word, as he left the Vandals to accept the position of head coach at Arizona State just one year after returning to Moscow.
[579] Akey's team rebounded the following week to defeat in-state I-AA opponent Idaho State by a score of 42–27 and break its 11-game losing streak dating back to the previous season.
[655] In May 2013, Akey filed a lawsuit against the University of Idaho administration, seeking money he felt he was owed from the contract extension he received three years earlier.
