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It's a new era for the Vandals, who have given control of their program to Nick Holt, a former assistant coach at USC. Holt, who previously coached at Idaho under John L. Smith, has vowed to return the program to the prominence it once enjoyed as a Division I-AA school.
Holt inherits a program that hasn't had a winning season since 1999, which means the first thing he must do is instill a can-win attitude on a team that hasn't tasted much success in recent years.
"I really like our kids," Holt said. "They want to be good. They just have to learn how to be good. That's why we're here."
Junior Michael Harrington, the younger brother of Detroit Lions quarterback Joey Harrington, is expected to run the show. Harrington started a handful of games last season and was effective at times but didn't deliver enough points.
The good news is that he has most of his top receivers back from a year ago, including Orlando Winston, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. Tight end Luke Smith-Anderson, who has played in only one game the past two years because of knee injuries, appears to be healthy.
The concerns for the Vandals are finding the one back -- Cliff Mason appears to the favorite -- for the offense. Mason had a solid spring both running and catching the ball.
Depth on the offensive line is a concern, though a trio of 300-pound sophomores Jade Tadvick, Hank Therien and Nate VanderPol is a nice place to start.
"We want to get the ball back for our offense," Holt said. "We're going to attack from all angles."
Holt said the Vandals will utilize multiple defenses, and junior Mike Anderson, the top tackler last season, could play a variety of positions this season. Anderson is still expected to see action at middle linebacker, but he could line up as a defensive end as well.
Brandon Kania is another proven pass rusher, while the strength of the Idaho defense could be in the secondary, where a handful of veterans return. It's also the position Idaho stocked up on in recruiting.
Holt is counting on a bunch of newcomers to see action on all special teams. Idaho did lose its top two return specialists, Matt Miller and Cedric Thompson, as well as stellar punter Ryan Downes.
He'll get little help from a schedule that sees Idaho play four of its first five games away from home. The lone "home" game in that stretch is against Washington State -- a game that will be played on Wazzu's home field but will count as an Idaho home game.
Holt's first game is at Boise State, which hasn't lost at home since 2001 and has a five-game winning streak over Idaho. The Vandals play only three true home games this season.
The good news is Idaho wasn't far from making noise in the Sun Belt a year ago. If the Vandals can grasp Holt's new offensive and defensive concepts, plus shake the losing attitude, 2004 could be a good year in Moscow.
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