University of Idaho football concluded their 2021 spring season at Northern Arizona University April 17, closing off its short season with a final record of 2-4, 2-4 Big Sky Conference.
Senior kicker, Cade Coffey, wrapped up his collegiate career finishing second in the Big Sky for punting after averaging 45.8 yards per punt. Coffey said although this season was difficult, it was one of the best seasons he has played as a Vandal.
“Week in and week out, we didn’t know if we would have our whole team there and we still had to go out there and lay it all out on the field,” Coffey said. “I would definitely say, through this, we built some resilience as a team.”
Junior linebacker, Tre Walker, earned All-Big Sky First Team honors. Walker led the Big Sky with 13.5 tackles per game in the spring and was a unanimous selection.
“I took away from this spring season that we are on the way to a championship team,” Walker said. “I feel like we gave a glimpse of who we are as a program and who we are working to become. I feel like the conference saw that from us in this spring season and they saw a range from us of what we are capable of.”
Walker said the Vandals have been through the worst already this year and are ready to take on what is to come. They will play a regular season of 11 games, beginning with a home game against Simon Fraser University, Sep. 4.
“We have been here on this road before and it’s not anything new to the Vandals,” Coffey said. “It is just understanding we are chasing something bigger than what we are playing for right now. It is about getting everybody dialed in and understanding that the possibility to be that championship team is not gone as long as we continue to chase that dream.”
Several of the football team’s second and third-string players were able to strut their stuff during games where the first string was not available, for many reasons including injury and illness.
“One word I would use to describe this season would be crazy,” Coffey said. “This was definitely crazy challenging, but at the same time I’ll never forget this year, all the memories and all the hard work we had to put in.”
Head coach Paul Petrino said his players faced a lot of different obstacles and adversity throughout the season. He said Vandal Football sacrificed so much to be able to play this year.
“These guys worked their tails off, they learned how to fight and gained so much experience,” Petrino said. “This is what I told the guys Sunday night is that we just have to get that much better, and we will never have to have another season where we have this many guys out.”
This spring season brought the Vandals a short offseason, as they plan to return in the fall for a full season without any major setbacks, like the pandemic. Nearly half of next season’s games will be played on the home field.
“You always have regrets looking back on a season, but we were very safe and worked hard to keep everyone healthy,” Petrino said. “The future is very bright for the Vandals and we will just keep looking forward to next year.”
Morgan McDonough can be reached at [email protected]