Rob Phenice
Tight Ends
Montana football head coach Bobby Hauck has added former Idaho State head coach and long-time Grizzly offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie to his staff as an offensive analyst, the University of Montana Athletic Department announced Wednesday, March 9.
Phenicie, who helped lead the Grizzlies to three national championship appearances under Hauck from 2003-2009, returns to Montana after seven seasons at ISU, with five spent as the Bengals’ head coach from 2017-2021.
Prior to his time at Idaho State, Phenicie also coached under Hauck at UNLV from 2010-2014, serving as the Rebels’ offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and tight ends coach over the five-season span, helping lead the team to the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl.
Phenicie now reunites with Hauck at Montana, where together they won seven-straight Big Sky championships from ’03-’09.
“I think we won the lottery a little bit in hiring Coach Phenicie as an offensive analyst for next fall. We’re getting a guy that we're familiar with, who’s been a head coach in our conference and a coordinator here at UM. I think he will really help us in terms of our schematic development, game planning, and self-analysis on what we're doing and how we're calling things,” said Hauck.
“It's just such a home run for our team.”
At Idaho State, Phenicie’s offenses were consistently some of the most productive in the Big Sky. In his time as head coach, the Bengals produced nine first-team all-conference players, including Mitch Gueller, who would become the program’s all-time leading receiver with 3,249 career yards. ISU quarterback Tyler Vander Waal was also named the league’s newcomer of the year in the spring of 2021 with 1,843 passing yards and 12 touchdowns in six games.
Phenicie now returns to Montana where he coached several All-Americans during Montana’s run to seven-straight FCS playoff appearances as UM’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. During that time, he helped mentor legendary names like Craig Ochs, Marc Mariani, Chase Reynolds, Lex Hilliard, Cole Bergquist, and a host of future professional offensive linemen.
“Coach Hauck always said that you have a home here. It's fun to get back, seeing a lot of familiar faces and old friends, but just seeing the level of where this program has gone to since we left in ‘09 is pretty special,” said Phenicie.
“My job is to supplement what Coach (Timm) Rosenbach and the offensive staff does, give them an extra set of eyes, and alleviate some work in terms of looking at opponents and self-scouting to let them really focus on the task at hand.
“It’s going to be fun being back in Missoula and in the Big Sky. I love this conference. It's a great, great, great level of football to be at, and I’m just excited to be back.”
Brent Pease
Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
Griz legend Brent Pease officially joined head coach Bobby Hauck’s staff in February, 2018, as the associate head coach and receivers coach, beginning his second tenure on the Montana coaching staff.
Pease, a prolific Grizzly quarterback and national championship winning assistant coach under Don Read, returned to Missoula after 27 years coaching some of the premier programs in the nation, and six years playing professionally.
Over the last two decades, Pease has served as a position coach and offensive coordinator for notable programs such as Kentucky, Baylor, Boise State, Florida, Washington, and most recently, Texas El Paso.
As a senior on the 1986 Grizzlies, Pease led the nation all of DI-AA football in total offense, averaging over 309 yards per game, and passing for 3,056 total yards and 30 touchdowns, a school record at the time.
After graduating from Montana, Pease was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the eleventh round of the 1987 NFL Draft. He spent his first two seasons in the league with the Houston Oilers before moving to the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears for one season each. He finished his playing career in the World League and Arena League, suiting up for Birmingham, New York/New Jersey and Cincinnati.
After playing professionally for six seasons he returned to Montana to begin his coaching career in 1991 as an offensive assistant under Read through the 1995 season, when he was promoted to offensive coordinator.
In his first season as OC, Pease's offense, led by quarterback Brian Ah Yat, set still-standing school records for most passing yards in a game (560) and most passing touchdowns in a season (42) en route to the 1996 national championship game.
After a two-year stint as the OC at Northern Arizona under former Griz coach Jerome Souers, Pease went on to the SEC where he was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator of the Kentucky Wildcats under head coach Guy Morriss. After two years at Kentucky, Pease followed Morriss to Baylor for three seasons.
Pease then joined head coach Chris Petersen at Boise State in 2006 as a receivers coach, getting promoted to assistant head coach a year later. During his time at Boise State, Pease helped mentor Heisman Trophy finalist and record-breaking quarterback Kellen Moore, who became the first quarterback in FBS history to win 50 games in his career.
In his six seasons in Boise, Pease and the Broncos played in six-straight bowl games and helped lead the team to a No. 4 national ranking.
Pease then took over as the OC for the Florida Gators in 2012 and 2013 before re-joining Petersen at the University of Washington as the receivers coach. After two seasons in Seattle, Pease then took over at the OC at UTEP in 2016 and 2017.
Pease's wife, the former Paula Good, is also a Montana alum and member of the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame. The former Grizzly Track and Field star was a member of the 1987 team that scored 173 points on the final day of Mountain West Conference Track Championships to win the team title. She won the 100 and 200 meter dashes, and was a member of the winning 400 and 1600 meter relay teams, earning her Mountain West MVP honors that year.
His son Karsten is currently a distance runner on the Montana track team.
Justin Green
Recruiting Coordinator / Running Backs
Coach Green is in his eighth season at his alma mater coaching the running backs and serving as the Grizzlies’ recruiting coordinator.
Green, from San Diego, Calif., has worked with the running backs at UM the past seven seasons. He worked as a student assistant coach at Montana in 2011, also working with the running backs.
He coached one of the most prolific halfbacks in school history in Jordan Canada. Canada is ranked fourth at Montana in rushing yards (3,435) and rushing touchdowns (40). In his senior season of 2014 he rushed for 1,207 yards the seventh most ever in a year. In 2014 he became the second player in UM history to have back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons (he gained 1,062 in 2013).
2017 marked the first season Green had not coached one of the Nguyen brothers, who each rank in Montana’s top ten all-time rushers. Peter Nguyen is ranked eighth in school history with 1,985 career rushing yards from 2009-12. Peter’s brother John Nguyen finished his career at UM in 2016 as the Grizzlies’ sixth all-time leading rusher with 2,066 career yards. Both brothers earned All-Big Sky honors during their career.
Green had a stellar two-year career at running back at Montana, and he also played for four seasons in the National Football League.
He rushed for 1,784 career yards in his two seasons at Montana in 2003 and 2004, which ranks him 11th in school history. As a junior, he rushed for 1,146 yards and 14 touchdowns, and was chosen the Big Sky "Newcomer of the Year."
He was a fifth round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2005, and had a four-year career in the NFL. He played three seasons at fullback for the Ravens, and then played one year for the Phoenix Cardinals for one season.
Between his stint with the Ravens and Cardinals, he coached for one season at Berean High School in Walnut Creek, Calif., working with the running backs, linebackers, and cornerbacks. He returned to Berean High School again, after his final NFL season with the Cardinals, once again working with the running backs, linebackers, and cornerbacks.
He came to Montana from San Diego Mesa College where he played for one season (2002), and was team captain and co-MVP, rushing for 874 yards and 7 TDs, and was a JC Gridwire All-America honorable mention. He started his college career at San Diego State, where he redshirted in 2000, and he lettered for the Aztecs in 2001.
He was a standout running back at University of San Diego High School where he rushed for 5,397 career yards which at the time was the most in San Diego County history. He was a first team All-C.I.F. selection as a junior and senior. His junior year in high school he rushed for 2,385 yards, which was the fifth most in California prep history, while his senior season he rushed for 1,801 yards and 20 TDs and was tabbed a USA Today honorable mention All-American.
He earned a degree in sociology at UM. Justin and his wife, Meghan, have two daughters, Giana, Karis, and son Brycen.
Bryce Erickson
Wide Receivers
Montana head coach Bobby Hauck added Bryce Erickson to the staff in the spring of 2019, making the 2020/21 season his first at the helm of the Grizzly tight ends.
Erickson, the son of College Football Hall of Fame head coach Dennis Erickson, came to Missoula after serving as the head coach at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene for three seasons and more than a decade in the college ranks prior to that.
Before he became a high school head coach, Erickson worked as the quarterbacks’ coach at the University of Idaho, running backs coach at Arizona State, and offensive coordinator at New Mexico Highlands in a coaching career spanning 15 years.
Erickson, who was born in Moscow, Idaho, and whose mother Marilyn attended UM from 1970-1972, also has family ties to the Grizzly football program. His grandfather Pink Erickson was an assistant coach at Montana under Jack Swarthout in 1967
Erickson began his coaching career at New Mexico Highlands, where he served as the quarterbacks’ and wide receivers’ coach before becoming the Cowboy’s offensive coordinator.
He then moved to Arizona State to work under his father Dennis - known for operating some of the most potent offenses in college football - as a graduate assistant before moving up to coach the running backs.
At ASU, Erickson coached Cameron Marshall and Deantre Lewis, one of only two Pac-12 running back duos ever to rush for over 500 yards each. Marshall and Lewis combined for over 1,300 rushing yards and 16 total touchdowns in 2010.
After five seasons in Tempe, Erickson took his first head coaching job in the high school ranks at South Albany High in Oregon in 2012. He then returned the college level the following season for the chance to once again coach under his father at Idaho.
As the Vandals’ quarterbacks’ coach, Erickson mentored one of Idaho’s all-time greats in All-Sun Belt honoree and Famous Idaho Potato Bowl MVP Matt Linehan, who was a four-year starter in Moscow and threw for nearly 11,000 yards.
Another of Erickson’s former recruits and players at Idaho was Jake Luton, who played in eight games as a freshman for the Vandals before eventually transferring to Oregon State, where would go on to earn an All-Pac-12 honorable mention and was selectred in the 2020 NFL Draft.
He also coached another one of the best freshmen QBs in UI program history, who would, as luck would have it, go on to become a record-breaker for the Grizzlies.
In 2013 Erickson coached former UM signal-caller Chad Chalich in his breakout redshirt freshman season, where he led the Vandals to a win over Temple with 106 rushing yards and 310 passing yards - one of the best offensive games ever at Idaho. Three years later, Chalich would go on to set a Montana school record with seven touchdown passes in a single game against Idaho State in 2016.
Joe Pawlak
Offensive Line
University of Montana head football coach Bobby Hauck announced on Feb. 6, 2024, that Joe Pawlak has been hired to coach the Grizzly offensive line.
Pawlak (pronounced PAV-lik) comes to Montana after five seasons coaching the O-Line at North Dakota where he helped the Fighting Hawks reach the FCS playoffs four times, including a quarterfinal run in 2021.
Prior to his time at North Dakota, Pawlak was a Graduate Assistant at Iowa where he assisted in leading a Hawkeye front that won the 2016 Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in college football.
As a player he was a three-year starter and all-conference performer at Northern Illinois where he helped the Huskies win the 2011 MAC championship.
Pawlak replaces former UM O-Line coach Chad Germer who has moved on to pursue other opportunities.
“Joe is a terrific young offensive line coach. The way his lines compete really pops off the film. He is an outstanding man and mentor for our players. We are very excited to have Joe join the Griz football family,” said Hauck.
Pawlak arrived at UM on Monday and will immediately begin working with the team as it prepares for winter conditioning.
“It’s a humbling opportunity and I’m excited to be a part of the university, the community, and the Montana football tradition,” said Pawlak.
“I’m also really excited to get around the players, get to know everybody, and be part of this team. Talking to the guys early on I know we're going to be tough, smart, and physical. Those are the three traits we want to embody, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Under Pawlak, the Fighting Hawk O-Line helped produce one of the top five rushing attacks in the Missouri Valley in each of the last three full seasons, helped along by five-time All-American left tackle and fifth-round NFL Draft pick Matt Waletzko.
In 2023, UND advanced to the playoffs and earned a 49-24 home win over North Dakota State to highlight a season where the O-Line protected for quarterback Tommy Schuster, who had the fifth-best completion percentage and the seventh-best 3rd down conversion percentage in FCS football.
Pawlak’s Fighting Hawk O-Line again helped UND quarterbacks to one of the best completion percentages in the FCS at No. 11 that season. The protection up front also allowed the Hawks to find the end zone 91.5 percent of the time when in the red zone – the sixth-best conversion percentage in the nation.
The Fighting Hawks were anchored up front by two-time All-MVFC left tackle Donny Ventrelli in both those seasons, All-MVFC Newcomer Brayden Bryant in 2022, and All-MVFC Newcomer Cade Borud in 2023.
In 2021 Pawlak’s O-Line was led by Waletzko and finished as the top passing offensive line in the nation with only three sacks allowed. They also ranked at the top of the conference and inside the top-3 of the FCS with the fewest negative plays allowed. Waletzko was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round (155th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.
UND turned back to its dominating running ways under Pawlak in 2020, helping the squad rank inside the top half of the conference in rushing offense, time of possession, total offense, turnovers lost and passing offense. The Hawks upped their scoring as well, leading the MVFC with 29.9 points per game.
Seniors Nathan Nguon and Ryan Tobin each earned all-conference accolades, with Nguon earning All-America status from the Associated Press. Waletzko also earned an all-conference selection and entered the 2021 season as an NFL draft prospect.
In his first year coaching the offensive line at UND, Pawlak helped the offense turn to a passing attack. The Hawks broke multiple offensive passing records in the 2019 season while the offensive line surrendered only 19 sacks. The offensive line also paved the way for a rushing attack that eclipsed over 1,600 yards and 18 scores.
Prior to coming to North Dakota, Pawlak spent the previous three seasons as a graduate assistant at Iowa he assisted with the Hawkeye offense. While in Iowa City, Pawlak helped the Hawkeyes win a combined 28 games over three seasons, matching the third-best total in school history over any three-year period. He helped coach the offensive line to a 1,000-yard rusher in each of his three seasons, including a pair of backs who crossed over the 1,000-yard plateau in 2016 for the first time in school history. The Iowa offensive line earned the 2016 Joe Moore Award, which is presented to the best offensive line in college football.
Pawlak served as a graduate assistant on the Northern Illinois coaching staff for two seasons before moving to Iowa. There, he helped the Huskies earn back-to-back bowl appearances in 2014 and 2015, including six straight appearances in the Mid-American Conference championship game.
A three-year starter at NIU, Pawlak started the final 41 games of his career and appeared in 52 total games. As a member of the 2011 MAC championship team, he was part of an offensive line that allowed just 12 sacks to rank 10th in the nation for fewest sacks allowed as the NIU offense broke 12 single-season records led by future Heisman finalist Jordan Lynch at quarterback. Pawlak earned all-conference honors in 2010 and academic all-conference recognition in 2011.
Pawlak graduated from Northern Illinois with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 2011 and a master's degree in sport management in 2015. He also completed his master's degree in leisure and recreational sports management at Iowa in 2018. He is married to Natalie Pawlak.
Brent Pease
Bryce Erickson