In early March of 2016, the Idaho football program, already trending downward after half-a-decade of defeat, was dealt yet another deadly blow.
After two seasons as the youngest member of the Sun Belt Conference, the Vandals were being booted, along with fellow member New Mexico State. Conference officials decided the conference did not need 12 football programs, and Idaho, which had won five games in its two seasons as a member, would be shown the door.
Fast-forward to April, and Idaho still remained adrift, a program without a home once again. The Vandals competed in 2013 as an independent after the Western Athletic Conference dissolved its football affiliation after mass departures from other teams. Now, Idaho once again would have to wait for new opportunities to open up.
President Chuck Staben and former Athletics Director Rob Spear were under pressure to find a conference Idaho could stay competitive in that also housed teams within geographical range. Scheduling challenges as an independent team had left a sour taste in Spear’s mouth, as recorded in an interview with Sports Illustrated, after the Vandals allowed Florida State to score 81 points in a cross-country away game.
“Our kids went, and our coaches coached their hearts out, but they scored 81 points on us,” Spear told SI. “I left the field that day feeling so miserable, because I was the one that scheduled that game and put our kids and coaches in that situation.”
Midway through the month, Staben, Spear and Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino gathered for a press conference. Staben drove the conversation, announcing Idaho would be rejoining the Big Sky Conference, becoming the first program to voluntarily drop from the Football Bowl Subdivision to the Football Championship Subdivision.
Essentially, Division I football is split into two groups. At the top, in the FBS, sit the best programs in the country — Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and the like. When a team in the FBS records six or more wins in a season, it becomes eligible to play in a postseason bowl game. The top four teams, ranked by committee, play
for the national championship.
The FCS, meanwhile, practices a much more expansive playoff system similar to the NFL, with 24 teams getting a shot at the title at the end of the regular season.
The move, needless to say, received sharp criticism from fans and alumni. Vandal Scholarship Fund chapters voiced their opposition to the move. Critics on social media began the “Fire Chuck Staben” campaign on Facebook. Even Idaho quarter- back Matt Linehan help up a fan-made sign emblazoned with “Stay FBS” following his team’s 2016 bowl victory.
Nevertheless, the decision stood strong among the whirlwind of controversy, and Idaho football channeled the energy into motivation, going 9-4 a mere six months after the announcement. The Vandals earned a berth into the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and put up a whopping 606 yards of offense. Idaho cruised to its third bowl victory, exiting the FBS with a bang.
Now, a new era approaches for the Vandals, with a new docket of old rivals and games scheduled much closer to home. With a 1-1 record, only time will tell if Idaho can truly ascend to new heights in the Big Sky.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill