Saturday will make a milestone in Idaho coach Paul Petrino’s life, the first time he will lead a football team out onto the field for a game as a head coach, a moment he said he’s been preparing for all 46 of his years.
File photo by Theo Lawson | Argonaut
Coach Paul Petrino yells at his team during Idaho’s first spring practice March 22 at the SprinTurf. Petrino will face his first test as a collegiate head coach Saturday in Denton, Texas, when the Vandals visit North Texas.
But don’t expect there to be a moment of awe or sudden realization of ‘this is it, I’m a head coach’ before the game.
“Hopefully it’s right after the game I say, ‘this is it, the first win,'” Petrino said. “I think since I was a little kid as a head coach and half the time … I thought myself a head coach when I was an assistant coach. So, I don’t think it will be a huge deal.”
Idaho’s season opener at North Texas is simply another step in the process for Petrino. Game preparation has been going on for at least a week already, but this week officially marks game-week, and just more of the game for Idaho – business.
Idaho will spend Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at practice before flying out to Denton, Texas, on Friday. Kick-off on Saturday will be 4 p.m.
“It’s all about execution,” Petrino said. “Really watching tape on them, watching tape on ourselves and really understanding every last little detail of every play, going out there and executing them.”
The question on everybody’s mind is who the starting quarterback for Idaho will be, which Petrino is playing close to the vest. Smart money may be on redshirt freshman Chad Chalich, who had the majority of the snaps with the first team offense during last Friday’s mock game at the Kibbie Dome. He also took the majority of the snaps during the scrimmage on Aug. 17, clearly outplaying competitors Taylor Davis and Josh McCain.
“I think as anyone who comes to watch practice sees who has a good chance,” Petrino said.
Chalich was also selected to meet with the media during Friday’s football media day after going 17-of-20 for 325 yards in the mock game. He wouldn’t say if coaches had told him if he were the starter or not.
“Just for me it’s all about executing, coach wants to see us come out and just make good reads, good decisions and just be tough with the ball,” Chalich said. “Just for me I’m trying to be perfect every game and just come out with passion and love for the game every time to take the field.”
The door still seems to be open for McCain and Davis. Petrino said it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to play multiple quarterbacks, citing his time as offensive coordinator at Illinois when he would play freshman starter Nathan Scheelhaase for Eddie McGee on certain drives.
“(McCain) is improving too, and I think it’s important, you got to get them all better because I think in this day and age, it’s a violent sport,” Petrino said. “You coach every single player to improve on every single play, because everyone is one snap away from being your guy.”
Freshman running back likely to start
As obvious as it might seem in practice that Chalich will take snaps under center on Saturday, it seems as likely that freshman Richard Montgomery will be taking carries often as well, Petrino said on Friday.
“I think there’s about a 95.5 percent chance he has a chance to do that. He’s taken the most reps in camp, he’s played harder than most people,” Petrino said. “…he’s worked too hard, he’s had too good of a camp. There’s a great, great chance. If you were a betting man I’d bet a lot.”
Montgomery is also too fast to keep off the field, offensive coordinator Kris Cinkovich said.
“Being in a situation before where you’re really working to turn around a program one of the ways you can do it is when you get play-making caliber speed,” Cinkovich said. “The best drive, guys, is a one-play drive.”
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]