COACH AND PROGRAM
After Idaho won only one game in 2001, head coach Tom Cable didn’t have to look past the Vandals’ defensive statistics to figure out what went wrong.
Idaho was No. 110 out of 115 Division I-A schools in total defense, allowing 478.5 yards per game. And it got worse. The Vandals were last in the nation in scoring defense, giving up 45 points every game.
Citing a need for improvement in the performance of the defense and special teams, Cable said the contracts of David Hansburg (special teams coordinator, safeties), Tony Crutchfield (cornerbacks, returners) and Todd Hoiness (running backs, kickoff return) would not be renewed when they expired on June 30, 2002.
"We have not performed up to the level of expectations in those areas," Cable said. "It’s time to make some changes."
Cable also announced at the end of the 2001 season that, if Ed Rifilato stayed, he no longer would be the Vandals’ defensive coordinator. Rifilato decided to resign.
"This is tough," Cable said. "Ed and I are great friends. I love him dearly.
"He had the option to stay but he just felt like he wasn’t going to stay around and feel like a burden. I respect that and appreciate that."
Rifilato did help Cable’s staff finish recruiting during the junior college signing period.
It didn’t take Cable long to start filling the vacancies on his staff.
He was looking for experience, innovation and a strong recruiting background when he went shopping for a defensive coordinator.
He found all three in Ed Lamb, a one-time defensive coordinator at the University of the Redlands and, in 2001, a BYU graduate assistant.
"Ed has experience as a coordinator and with all three defensive positions," Cable said. "His organization and his coaching philosophy make him a good fit for us."
While Lamb comes to Idaho from BYU, his three years as defensive coordinator at Redlands were one of the things that drew Cable’s attention to him. Under Lamb’s guidance, the Bulldogs won two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles (1999 and 2000) and for all three seasons they led the league in overall defense. They were 21-6 during his tenure.
Not only does Lamb have the coaching heritage, he learned defense first hand as a player at BYU, where he first played safety, then moved to linebacker and eventually wound up at defensive end.
Cable hired George Booker as the Vandals’ defensive line coach, and Idaho’s all-time leading rusher, Joel Thomas, was hired as the Vandals’ running backs coach. Cable hired Gary Coston as the Vandals’ special teams coordinator.
QUARTERBACKS
Junior Brian Lindgren (6-4, 209) emerged after spring practice as the successor to John Welsh at quarterback. Lindgren started three games in place of the injured Welsh during the 2001season, and played in 10.
In his second career start, Lindgren set an NCAA record for most total offense (657 yards) by a sophomore against Middle Tennessee State. He also set Idaho records for passes attempted (71), passes completed (49), yards passing (637) and total offense (657). Lindgren threw for five touchdowns, but the Vandals lost because of a poor outing by the defense.
For the season, Lindgren completed 126-of-213 passes for 1,611 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Lindgren came to Idaho after a record-shattering career at DeSales High School in Walla Walla, Wash. He was USA Today’s Player of the Year in football after breaking the national record for most career touchdown passes (162) and a state record for career passing yards (12,545).
Sophomore Adam Mallette (6-2, 234) and red-shirt freshman Michael Harrington (6-4, 188) figure to make the battle for the No. 2 quarterback slot an interesting one.
RUNNING BACKS
Senior Blair Lewis (5-11, 211), who was making his mark in highlight-reel fashion before tearing ligaments in his knee at Middle Tennessee State last season, continued his rehabilitation this spring and should be back in the fall.
He earned the feature back role for the Vandals last fall and before the injury he ran for 509 yards on 98 carries in five games. He also had 19 receptions for 142 yards and 21 kickoff returns for 520 yards.
Lewis’ 347 all-purpose yards (54 rushing, 108 receiving, 185 returns) at MTSU tied an Idaho all-time record. He had three games of more than 100 yards rushing and three games with more than 200 all-purpose yards.
While Lewis was gone, the battle was on going between junior college transfers Shung Peoples (5-10, 182) and Malfred Shaw (5-10, 207). Returning junior Zach Gerstner (5-10, 208) adds to the competition.
Peoples and Shaw were on hand for spring drills. Peoples played last year at Long Beach City College in Lakewood, Calif., while Shaw played at Sierra College in Sacramento, Calif.
All three returners at fullback -- senior Kevin O’Connell (6-2, 247), sophomore Willie Sipoloa (6-2, 261) and junior Nate Griffin (5-11, 247) have starting experience.
O’Connell came to Idaho as a quarterback and spent one season as a tight end before moving to fullback. Last fall, he played in 10 games and started nine, gaining 18 yards on five carries.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Seniors Josh Jelmberg (6-1, 190) and Chris Belser (5-11, 173) are back and listed as the starters at "Z" and "X" receivers, respectively.
Jelmberg has been a consistent player for the Vandals the last two seasons. He begins his final season with 82 career catches for 931 yards. Jelmberg caught eight passes for 106 yards in 2000 against West Virginia.
Belser worked his way into the starting ranks as a freshman. He had his most productive season last year with 44 receptions for 603 yards and an average of 13.7 yards per catch.
Junior Orlando Winston (6-0, 185) has shown promise. He played in 11 games last year and caught 17 passes for 201 yards.
Cable said he will be looking to transfers at wide receiver for depth, along with red-shirt freshman Jeff Stowe (6-0, 186) in particular. He was a standout receiver at Richland (Wash.) High School with 147 career receptions for 2,735 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Cable likes the group at tight end -- junior Michael McCoy (6-3, 245), sophomore Luke Smith-Anderson (6-5, 225) and red-shirt freshman Kevin Neill (6-6, 214).
DEFENSIVE LINE
Cable likes what he sees, not only in returners Brandon Kania (end), Mike Jones (tackle) and Brian Howard (tackle) but in an up-and-coming group of youngsters.
Kania (6-3, 222), a sophomore, made his first start as a freshman against Washington. He had his best game of the fall with six solo tackles and three assists. He finished the season seventh on the team in tackles with 46.
Jones (6-3, 276), a senior, broke his left leg just two games into the 2001 season and didn’t return to action until the second-to-the-last game. He played sparingly and missed the season finale.
Howard (6-3, 286), a junior, made an immediate impact when he earned a starting position last year. He broke into the starting lineup the third game of the season against Washington. He finished the season with 44 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss and four sacks.
"When August rolls around and with it the addition of five transfers, things should heat up for the defensive front," Cable said.
Also listed as starters on the spring depth chart were end Dan White (6-2, 246), a sophomore, and tackle Dennis Taeatafa (6-3, 270), a senior.
LINEBACKERS
The key returnees are senior Jordan Kramer (6-2, 220), junior Patrick Libey (6-2, 233), junior Jordan Lampos (5-10, 239), senior James Staley (6-1, 218) and junior Chad Kodama (6-2, 226).
Kramer started the 2001 season at linebacker but moved to strong safety to shore up a depleted secondary. He will be back at linebacker in 2002. He had 65 tackles last year and has 166 for his career.
Libey was a backup the last two seasons. He walked on and red-shirted in 1999, then earned a scholarship in 2000. Libey played in all 11 games last year and made 28 tackles.
Lampos started the Vandals’ first three games last year and played in every game. He finished with 53 tackles, fifth best on the team.
Staley started the first six games last year before sustaining a stinger and missing the final five. He is expected to be a full strength in the fall.
Kodama was originally recruited as a quarterback, but moved to linebacker. Last season, he had four tackles.
Cable is also high on red-shirt freshman Mike Anderson (6-2, 206). Anderson, who walked on last year, was a three-sport standout at Lewiston (Idaho) High School. He set an Idaho high school record in the 400 meters at the state championship meet.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Newcomers and red-shirt freshmen will be looked at seriously as the Vandals try to shore up the defensive backfield.
Returning are sophomore safety Nick Williams (6-0, 192) senior safety Sergio Robleto (5-10, 185) and senior cornerback Ed Rankin (6-1, 202).
Williams played last year as a freshman and was the Vandals’ sixth-leading tackler with 47. He started five games. Robleto started last season and led the Vandals with 67 tackles. Rankin also started last year and finished with 34 tackles.
Also in the mix at safety will be red-shirt freshman Nate Nichols (6-2, 209), who started three seasons at Walla Walla (Wash.) High School.
Senior Sammy Ruben (5-9, 165) was listed as a starter at cornerback. He played six games last year before being hampered by a hamstring strain and a shoulder injury.
RECRUITING CLASS
Cable and his staff had an outstanding recruiting season. He credited the success to the efforts of the current Vandals and a slightly rebuilt staff.
"The No. 1 thing is our kids did a great job recruiting," Cable said. "These kids said, 'What are you going to do for our team?' The kids really stepped up to try and make their team better.
"This class -- it’s really neat. We got what we needed but we also got better with young players; we got people to develop and keep feeding the pipeline -- so to speak." The task of filling immediate needs goes to junior college players who bring experience and speed to the tailback position, strength and size to the defensive front and height, speed and experience to the secondary.
The defensive front is where Cable sees a lot of what he wants -- size. It comes in the forms of defensive tackle Ryan Atoe (6-2, 314), defensive end Kelly Nead (6-4, 236), defensive tackle Johnny Parra (6-3, 310) and defensive end Kodh Kraus (6-3, 228).
On tap to help shore up the secondary are cornerbacks Rod Bryant (6-1, 180), Darryl Murphy (5-11, 185), Robert Ortega (6-1, 200) and J.R. Ruffin (6-1, 190).
Cable and his staff also found success in Idaho, where they landed fullback Andrew Stobart (6-2, 235) from Boise’s Borah High School and defensive end Nick Pilon (6-4, 231) from Coeur d’Alene’s Lake City High School.
"What’s neat is we were able to go into Idaho and get two good players," Cable said. "We felt like those two guys are the cream of the crop in Idaho."
Cable also set about keeping the foundation in place for the type of offensive line he likes -- huge.
"We want to keep building a giant offensive line around here," Cable said.
The high school players on that line range from 6-5, 298-pound Jade Tadvick from Stevensville, Mont., to 6-8, 285-pound Matt Newell from Las Vegas. In between are 6-6, 290-pound Nate VanderPol from Federal Way, Wash., and 6-7, 318-pound Hank Therien from Corvallis, Oregon.
Cable also was able to use the lure of the Sun Belt Conference and Idaho’s passing game to convince Wendell Octave (6-1, 185), a speedy wide receiver, to relocate from his home of St. James, La., to Moscow.
"I’m ecstatic about what we were able to go out and do to make this team better for 2002," Cable said. "From that standpoint, I’m as happy as one could be today. We got done what we set out to do."
A late addition to the class was defensive tackle Jason Jones (6-4, 330) from Pasadena City College.
"He was one of the prizes in the class," Cable said. "He’s going to be an impact player."
Jones started for two seasons at Pasadena City College. He graduated from Van Nuys (Calif.) High School.
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
Idaho’s Vandals are back home in the Kibbie Dome for the 2002 football season -- a year that also features 12 regular-season games.
The Vandals take on some of the nation’s heavy hitters as they prepare for their second season in the Sun Belt Conference. After opening at Boise State, Idaho is at Washington State (10th AP and 11th USA Today/ESPN in 2001) and Oregon (No. 2 in both polls) before coming home for a Sept. 21 game against San Diego State.
"This schedule presents some great challenges and opportunities," Cable said. "Our goal is to make a run at the Sun Belt Conference championship and the New Orleans Bowl."
In addition to returning to the Kibbie Dome for 2002, the Vandals also are back in an afternoon time slot -- 2 p.m.
"We’re excited about playing full time in the Dome again," director of athletics Mike Bohn said. "I believe our students and fans are looking forward to creating a competitive edge inside."
Cable hired four new coaches and also let his players know that more will be expected from them in 2002. His words to them before spring practice were, "Let the competition begin."
No job is secure as Cable and the Vandals kick off 2002 with the intent of erasing the memories of a dismal 2001.
"I don’t care if you played before. You’re going to have to go out and earn it every day because the guy behind you is almost as good -- if not better -- with opportunity," Cable told the Vandals. "We have enough depth right now, it’s going to create some enormous competition.
"That’s what you want on a good team -- competition."
The Vandals should be more competitive in 2002, and that will lead to more than one victory. The difference will come on defense, although Lindgren has the ability to put up some big numbers on offense.
"In two years now, I think we’ve improved our talent," Cable said. "Now it’s time for us to learn how to win and how to be a good team and be a team of character when it’s tough times.
"That’s what we have to do. It’s a one-day-at-a-time thing."
