The scout team is an often overlooked part of any football team, but it’s vital to a team’s success as they are the ones who push the starters each week in practice to prepare them for the week’s game.
While all team members would rather be in the starting lineup, the scout team is an opportunity for young players to showcase their skills and prove they belong on a college football field. Idaho coach Robb Akey said it’s a tough job for any player.
“They have a big job,” Akey said. “They provide the look of the opponent that we’re facing, so what we’re doing to attack an opponent, they’re running those plays, those coverages. It’s also their opportunity to go against our starters every day.”
Each week the scout team has to study film from the upcoming opponent and then mimic them in practice to give the starters an idea of what they are going to see on game day. Junior quarterback Dominique Blackman said it is a job that requires commitment.
“We have a lot of meetings, a lot of film,” Blackman said. “We have to take an offense that a team has run, however long that coach has been there, switch it and run it within two days. It’s very important and very hard. We have our own meetings. Scout team is like our own team and we have to prepare like it’s a game every Tuesday and Wednesday.”
Blackman runs the scout team offense each week under center. He transferred last semester from Old Dominion, and is having to sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules, but will compete for the starting job next season. Blackman said running the scout team gives him a chance to learn from other offenses and tone his skills.
“It helps me work on all my tools. Our offense tries to take things from everyone and make our offense better,” Blackman said. “It just helps me get ready for next year.”
The scout team is primarily made up of underclassman that won’t get a shot on the field this season. It may come as a disappointment for some players, but running back Justin Parkins said it is all part of the process.
“I view it as a stepping stone,” Parkins said. “It’s just your progression towards playing time.”
Parkins is a freshman from Moscow. Parkins said he values the chance to go against the first-team defense each week because it helps him become a better player.
“Going against the first-team defense, obviously you’re going to learn new things,” Parkins said. “I’ve been getting better every day. You just need to go from that so next year you’re prepared to play on a different team.”
For new players, who are just coming into the program, it may be intimidating to stare across the line of scrimmage at juniors and seniors who have more games under their belt. Redshirt freshman safety Tom Hennessey said it is scary at first, but in the end it is just playing football.
“When I first got here it was intimidating, going up against guys that I’ve only seen on TV,” Hennessey said. “Now I’m on the field with them, but you get over it real quick. After the first snap you’re playing football. The intimidation is gone and you’re just playing.”
They may be unknown and go largely unnoticed, but the scout team is a vital part of any team’s success. They give starters the looks they need for any given week. Being on the scout team is the first step for many players, because in a few years, they’ll be the one’s starting.
“They’re just as important as the guys that play on Saturday, because they’re the ones who get them ready to play on Saturday,” Akey said.