VERMILLION — Among the subplots for Saturday’s season opener at Montana for the University of South Dakota football team is one that involves the leader on the sideline.
Head coach Joe Glenn is tasked with opening his USD head coaching tenure with a road game at one of the nation’s toughest FCS locations. It also happens to be one of the stops in his 24-year coaching career.
“It’s awesome for him, we know he’s excited,” senior receiver Will Powell said Tuesday after an afternoon practice inside the DakotaDome. “He gets to represent his alma mater and go back to a place where he was super successful.
“We just hope he brings that kind of success here and can help move us forward.”
That’s where Saturday afternoon figures to be a mix of old and new on both sides. Both programs are looking to put certain parts of their recent pasts behind them, but are also faced with aspects of that past — mostly in the face of Glenn.
“It’ll be a little surreal for me, coaching at a place where I was at previously,” Glenn said in Monday’s Missouri Valley Conference media call. “A lot of old friends, (and) it’ll be a little bit different.
“Fortunately I’m not playing, the kids are doing the playing.”
Glenn, at age 63, and Montana head coach Mick Delaney, 70, have a history of coaching against each other, including in the Mountain West Conference.
Delaney spent 15 seasons (1993-2007) as running backs coach at Colorado State, a period that overlapped with Glenn’s six years (2003-08) at Wyoming. Glenn also spent three years at Montana from 2000-02, guiding the Grizzlies to consecutive FCS national championship games.
Now, the tables are turned and he will face both his former school and a former foe in Delaney.
“We know what type of coach Joe is. I don’t think it’s a total unknown thing; a little bit probably,” Delaney said during this week’s Big Sky Conference media call. “There’s a little unknown in every team from year to year.
“It’s not what they’re doing, it’s how they’re doing it, and they will do it very very well under coach Glenn.”
Glenn, who amassed a record of 39-6 in his time at Montana, will be inducted into the UM Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 14 — USD has a bye weekend, so he will be in attendance.
Times have certainly changed in Missoula since Glenn left a decade ago.
Montana is still reeling from numerous off-season issues. In wake of sexual assault allegations involving football players, UM fired athletic director Jim O’Day and head coach Robin Pflugard in March. Starting quarterback Jordan Johnson, owner of nearly 3,000 total yards last fall, was suspended this summer after being charged with sexual assault.
“When you losing your starting quarterback, that hurts right there,” Glenn said. “They lost their head coach and athletic, and when you lose two quality people like that, you know it hurts.”
Delaney, who spent four seasons as associate head coach, was named interim head coach in March and that tag was removed in July. He is tasked with bridging the gap and continuing the momentum from last season’s 11-3 record — and run to the FCS playoffs semifinals.
“It’s just been a tremendous challenge and a very unexpected event,” Delaney said. “As I got into the thing, after the first shock of the first couple days, it’s been very humbling and exciting to be back with this young group of guys.
“We’ve tried to put things together, and I think we’re getting close to that.”
On the other side, the Coyotes — who lost all five road games last fall — are looking to add to those woes. Powell acknowledged that the Grizzlies might be under added pressure to put those issues behind them.
“We feel they’ll be vulnerable because that media has been on them and they lost a lot of key players,” Powell said. “We’re going to to take advantage of that. We haven’t really paid too much attention to that, but we’re ready to go up there and win.”
Head coach Joe Glenn is tasked with opening his USD head coaching tenure with a road game at one of the nation’s toughest FCS locations. It also happens to be one of the stops in his 24-year coaching career.
“It’s awesome for him, we know he’s excited,” senior receiver Will Powell said Tuesday after an afternoon practice inside the DakotaDome. “He gets to represent his alma mater and go back to a place where he was super successful.
“We just hope he brings that kind of success here and can help move us forward.”
That’s where Saturday afternoon figures to be a mix of old and new on both sides. Both programs are looking to put certain parts of their recent pasts behind them, but are also faced with aspects of that past — mostly in the face of Glenn.
“It’ll be a little surreal for me, coaching at a place where I was at previously,” Glenn said in Monday’s Missouri Valley Conference media call. “A lot of old friends, (and) it’ll be a little bit different.
“Fortunately I’m not playing, the kids are doing the playing.”
Glenn, at age 63, and Montana head coach Mick Delaney, 70, have a history of coaching against each other, including in the Mountain West Conference.
Delaney spent 15 seasons (1993-2007) as running backs coach at Colorado State, a period that overlapped with Glenn’s six years (2003-08) at Wyoming. Glenn also spent three years at Montana from 2000-02, guiding the Grizzlies to consecutive FCS national championship games.
Now, the tables are turned and he will face both his former school and a former foe in Delaney.
“We know what type of coach Joe is. I don’t think it’s a total unknown thing; a little bit probably,” Delaney said during this week’s Big Sky Conference media call. “There’s a little unknown in every team from year to year.
“It’s not what they’re doing, it’s how they’re doing it, and they will do it very very well under coach Glenn.”
Glenn, who amassed a record of 39-6 in his time at Montana, will be inducted into the UM Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 14 — USD has a bye weekend, so he will be in attendance.
Times have certainly changed in Missoula since Glenn left a decade ago.
Montana is still reeling from numerous off-season issues. In wake of sexual assault allegations involving football players, UM fired athletic director Jim O’Day and head coach Robin Pflugard in March. Starting quarterback Jordan Johnson, owner of nearly 3,000 total yards last fall, was suspended this summer after being charged with sexual assault.
“When you losing your starting quarterback, that hurts right there,” Glenn said. “They lost their head coach and athletic, and when you lose two quality people like that, you know it hurts.”
Delaney, who spent four seasons as associate head coach, was named interim head coach in March and that tag was removed in July. He is tasked with bridging the gap and continuing the momentum from last season’s 11-3 record — and run to the FCS playoffs semifinals.
“It’s just been a tremendous challenge and a very unexpected event,” Delaney said. “As I got into the thing, after the first shock of the first couple days, it’s been very humbling and exciting to be back with this young group of guys.
“We’ve tried to put things together, and I think we’re getting close to that.”
On the other side, the Coyotes — who lost all five road games last fall — are looking to add to those woes. Powell acknowledged that the Grizzlies might be under added pressure to put those issues behind them.
“We feel they’ll be vulnerable because that media has been on them and they lost a lot of key players,” Powell said. “We’re going to to take advantage of that. We haven’t really paid too much attention to that, but we’re ready to go up there and win.”
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