MOSCOW, Idaho – Head Coach Thomas Ford enters his first spring as the head football coach at Idaho, looking to keep the momentum the program has built and maintained over the last few seasons. The Vandals recorded their third season with 10 or more wins in program history. Included in those ten wins was a 17-13 win against Wyoming which made Idaho one of just three programs to have recorded multiple wins against FBS opponents over the last three years. Idaho also notched a 34-13 playoff win over Lehigh, making the Vandals one of just six programs to have back-to-back seasons with playoff wins.

Much of Idaho's success last season was secured against top-tier competition. In addition to having a win over an FBS team, the Vandals also tallied four wins against top-25 opponents last season. A large credit to that success goes to the Vandal Family who helped propel the Idaho football team to an unscathed 7-0 record in the P1FCU Kibbie Dome last year.

This year, Ford and the Vandals look to build off the past and use it to catapult the Vandals to the top of the Big Sky Conference.

OFFENSE

The Vandal attack, led by Idaho legend Matt Linehan, is anchored by five returning starters from last year's squad. Idaho returns four quarterbacks from the 2024 team. Of the returners, redshirt sophomore Jack Wagner saw the most time and accumulated the most stats. He's joined by Walla Walla, Washington native Nick Josifek, and a pair of redshirt freshmen in Holden Bea and Rocco Koch.

Star running backs Eli Cummings and Nate Thomas, both of whom rushed for over 500 yards last season, will man the Vandal backfield in what should be a potent ground game. They'll be running behind an experienced group of offensive linemen that is featured by three-year captain Nate Azzopardi. Layton Vining, Kiegan Henson, Tyler Skinner, and Charlie Vliem are all linemen who saw a good amount of snaps last season.

The Vandal wideouts are comprised of some players who have previously been with Idaho, and new transfers. Fifth-year senior Michael Graves brings a big body to the wide receivers room, while Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar is also a name that Vandal fans should be familiar with and is anticipated to contribute. Intra-conference transfers Lonyatta Alexander Jr. (whom many of his teammates call "Junior") and Daveon Superales are some of the newcomers that people will want to keep their eyes on. Alexander has power-four experience having played at Washington and Arizona State, while Superales just barely made a position switch from quarterback but it displaying loads of potential.

There are nine tight ends on roster for spring ball, with fifth-year senior Jake Cox bringing the most experience to the group.

DEFENSE

In 2024, the Vandal defense was one of the best in the Big Sky Conference. The 2025 Idaho defense, under the direction of Cort Dennison, brings in lots of new talent and hopes to build off the previous season's success.

Familiar faces Sam brown and Zach Krotzer will be back on the defensive line for the Vandals this season. Washington transfer Maurice Heims and Donovan Parham, who comes to the Palouse from Mississippi Valley State, will also be seeing snaps in the trenches for Dennison's defense.

The linebacker crew is led by Isiah King and Dylan Lane who both got a lot of reps last season. King recorded nearly 50 tackles last seasons, among which was a sack, and he also intercepted two paces and recovered a fumble.

Idaho's defensive backfield saw three transfers in during the last portal window. Tim Jackson (College of the Canyons), Khaled Rawls (NE Mississippi CC), and Zahkari Spears (UConn) all came to Moscow to play for Coach Ford.

SPECIALISTS

While returners are yet to be announced, the Vandals return all of their kickers/punters (Owen Adams, Owen Forsman, LJ Harm, Cameron Pope) and long snapper (Xander Echols) from last season.

UP NEXT: Idaho's spring game will be on Friday, April 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. The event will be free for fans to attend and will not be broadcast. More information regarding pregame events and game formatting will be released at a later time.

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