The University of Montana has announced Bobby Kennedy as its 38th head coach, following the retirement of Bobby Hauck.

Athletic Director Kent Haslam introduced Kennedy at a press conference attended by a majority of the Montana Grizzlies team, who filled the Canyon Club to show their support.

Kennedy expressed gratitude to Hauck, with whom he had been living since August when he got to Missoula to coach Montana’s Wide Receivers, and emphasized his commitment to recruiting top talent across Montana, which has been an area for concern amongst Griz fans after the Bobcats have taken the majority of the top 10 players coming out of Montana the past few years..

“Trust me when I say this. We are going to recruit Montana,” Kennedy said. “It’s a priority for us to recruit the good players in this state and to be in every school and to have UM represented.”

Kennedy, who is taking on his first head coaching role, shared his enthusiasm and noted that he anticipates this being his final coaching job. He also plans to maintain the culture established by Hauck and intends to hire a special teams coach following Hauck’s departure.

Kennedy’s high-energy approach is expected to be beneficial as Montana’s transfer portal opens soon. “I don’t know if you can tell but I am jacked. I am jacked. And I am ready,” he said. Kennedy will have to shift his attention to Montana’s tranfer portal opening later this week for a 15 day period and then continue winter conditioning before Spring football starts up again in April.

Idaho Vandals (13-9, 5-4 Big Sky) at Montana State Bobcats (13-10, 7-3 Big Sky)

Bozeman, Montana; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Idaho plays Montana State after Isaiah Brickner scored 31 points in Idaho’s 79-62 win against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.

The Bobcats have gone 8-1 in home games. Montana State ranks second in the Big Sky at limiting opponent scoring, giving up 70.9 points while holding opponents to 44.4% shooting.

The Vandals are 5-4 in Big Sky play. Idaho is seventh in the Big Sky with 13.2 assists per game led by Kolton Mitchell averaging 3.7.

Montana State makes 46.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.6 percentage points higher than Idaho has allowed to its opponents (43.7%). Idaho has shot at a 45.2% clip from the field this season, 0.8 percentage points above the 44.4% shooting opponents of Montana State have averaged.

The Bobcats and Vandals meet Thursday for the first time in Big Sky play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jed Miller is averaging 14.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals for the Bobcats. Christian King is averaging 2.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Mitchell is shooting 38.2% from beyond the arc with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Vandals, while averaging 14.1 points and 3.7 assists. Biko Johnson is averaging 14.8 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bobcats: 7-3, averaging 77.1 points, 30.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 6.7 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.0 points per game.

Vandals: 5-5, averaging 76.9 points, 30.6 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 6.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.