Biggest Offseason Questions for Montana, MSU, SDSU, USD, UND

April 2, 2026·53 min·4 clips

What does Montana football look like without Bobby Hauck, and will a new coach finally get them over the hump?

1. The episode is a sample from Sam Herter's new Mondack Football Show, co-hosted with Brad Jones, covering FCS programs in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. 2. Herter and Jones format the episode as one big-picture question and one on-field question per team for Montana, Montana State, UND, USD, and South Dakota State. 3. For Montana, the big-picture question is what Bobby Kennedy, hired on a one-year contract, needs to accomplish to keep his job beyond 2026. 4. Herter notes that Bobby Houck built a sustained program but may have been stuck in his ways recruiting and retaining players in the modern portal era; Kennedy represents a potential reset. 5. Jones raises a specific win-condition scenario: a 10-2 regular season with a loss at Bozeman and a semifinal exit would be considered excellent for most first-year coaches but may not satisfy Montana's expectations given how often they have stopped at that ceiling. 6. Both hosts agree Kennedy will be judged primarily on his record against Montana State, with the 2026 game in Bozeman against what may be an even stronger Bobcat squad serving as the defining test. 7. For Montana State, both hosts agree the team is the clear favorite to repeat, with the gap between them and number two — probably Montana or SDSU — being significant. 8. The big-picture coaching question for Montana State is how long Brent Vegan stays: he was reportedly very close to the Washington State job two years ago, and Oregon State told him he could finish the season before taking their head coaching position. 9. Vegan has two kids on the Montana State team and genuinely likes Bozeman, but both hosts acknowledge a successful mid-major coach will keep being targeted in FBS searches. 10. Montana State's biggest on-field question is the cornerback group after Carson Williams transferred to Indiana, Seth Johnson to Iowa State, and Chase McMillan to UCLA — all three as redshirt freshmen. 11. Returning corner Takari Carr, who played over 400 snaps, and FBS transfer Gianni Edwards from Arizona are the primary pieces to rebuild around, but the hosts note true outside corner depth is thin. 12. Jones argues that offensive line quality is the non-negotiable separator between FCS contenders and champions: every recent title team — NDSU, South Dakota State, Montana State — had at least two future NFL linemen on its offensive line. 13. For Montana specifically, the on-field question is whether the Grizzlies' defensive scheme will change from the 3-3-5 that Bobby Houck favored, with new defensive coordinator Eric Sanders hired from Eastern Washington. 14. Montana returns only two of its top 12 players in snaps on defense — linebacker Peyton Wing (first-team all-conference) and edge player Solomon Tulio Pupu (second-team) — and must replace most of its defensive line and secondary. 15. For UND, the big-picture question is whether this is the breakout year for a program that has repeatedly started in the top 10 then 'found the banana peel,' losing to teams it shouldn't and missing out on top-eight seeds. 16. Quarterback Jerry Kaminsky is back after 2,500 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 600 rushing yards in 2025, but the team loses top running back Sidy-L to Wake Forest and top receiver BJ Fleming to Tarleton State. 17. For USD, the question is whether program trajectory can continue through a second coaching change in two years, with Matt Bitsum elevated after Travis Johansson left for Rutgers; standout Mikey Munn followed Johansson to Rutgers. 18. For South Dakota State, the hosts ask whether the program can dominate the Missouri Valley in year two under Dan Jackson, noting the team opted into the House settlement for in-house revenue sharing and retained several players who reportedly had Power Four offers. 19. The conversation is lively and collegial, with both hosts frequently challenging each other's framing and adding detail; Jones catches Herter's slight on Montana State quarterback Justin Lampson from a previous episode and brings it up as a running joke. 20. Listeners who follow the Big Sky Conference and Missouri Valley football closely will benefit most; casual fans without familiarity with these specific programs and their recent histories will need additional context.

As heard by us

A clear look at playoff seeding, road wins, and success standards for the Dakotas and Montana teams.

The episode settles into a solid discussion of playoff seeding and what a successful year should look like for the Dakotas and Montana teams. The clearest stretch comes when the hosts move past broad bracket talk and get specific about football: avoid the bad loss, find a…

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If you want the playoff-seed pressure for the Dakotas and Montana, spelled out fast.

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