NAIA Football: College of Idaho Head Coach Mike Moroski

welcome into the Victory Sports Network I'm your host Jason Danley as we take this opportunity to talk with some of the coaches around the Nia in anticipation of what is technically the first week of Ni football and we are joined by the head coach of college of Idaho coach Mike moraski coach moraski as always as I like to tell my guests appreciate you taking time out of your schedule I know it is a busy week as you get set for that first game against Lincoln no my pleasure thanks for thanks for having me on and it's always great for the season to get started and we're excited and it's early but it's a good early yeah it's certainly nice to kind of get that first game out of the way and really do it in a week of advance from what most teams out there getting to play did did you have any apprehension in in and getting in early and getting a game you know really in I guess what I would consider week zero a week sooner than what you normally would be playing or or was this just you know something you kind of planned and you wanted to have for your program well I think there was a few factors one was just getting a sixth home game uh we have a big roster inexperienced team so I thought it was advantageous to get a little bit more game experience uh and then the way that our schedule was falling we were going to have an opening game and then a buy and I thought it would be better to have two games and then the buy would be um make the buy week more productive for us so uh what I didn't anticipate was uh we couldn't by uh either niia rules or Frontier conference rules we couldn't go to Camp maybe campus rules we couldn't start practice until August 1 so we got shorted a couple of days so the camp really felt compressed but got a great group of guys I thought we got done what we needed to get done and now we'll uh obviously early season games you have to keep progressing too so so hopefully that that's the third or fourth and final uh Advantage I think is Maybe gets us further down the road in terms of uh improving that that's what we believe in our program we have to keep improving throughout the season you talk about uh you know the some of the inexperience on this team you do have some nice experience back but I have to imagine offensive line Losing You know guys like Garrett reberg and and Ryan hallford off of last year's squad on the offensive line and then bringing in you know kind of a new group a couple new guys to you know join with the starters you had last year had to be an area of focus I guess talk about how the offensive line has come around because really for what you guys do and and for what anybody does on the offensive side that it all starts up front yeah that was one of the big concerns coming in losing uh Garrett and Ryan um our sener uh Liam copinger who had a really solid year uh also transferred so he was our first nil uh uh and transfer portal casualty um lots of lots of issues there and I'm sure he's doing great at Eastern Kentucky a great young man and then uh Dawson pacwood another guy that started uh got hurt in our final game so had surgery which is going to keep him out most if not all the year so uh so really that's four main guys uh we still do have two starters Ashton Patterson and Brett gson and a few others that played a lot of football for us so uh it's just more we're just inexperienced and with the o line uh in my experience it takes a while for those guys to come together they're like a team within a team maybe different from any other position group and so it it just takes a while and uh so uh we're still working through that I would say we're um making steady progress I wish we were further along but but that's that's a big issue for us for sure yeah and you will find out obviously Saturday with Lincoln University coming to town uh Lincoln is a is an interesting program not affiliated with the nii not affiliated with the NCAA they are an accredited four-year institution so it counts towards a final record how did you you know come to be to uh scheduling Lincoln for this game and uh what was some of the the thought process behind you know not only just them as an opponent but wanting that that early game we played them last year and uh and I think they maybe it was m Mutual you know I I know some people down in the in the Bay Area and um and then they got win that I might be interested in a game so we did play them last year so we do have some experience uh the problem with teams like Lincoln from from our standpoint is you never know what's going to show up we don't know a whole bunch about their personnel or Too Deep or uh we do have film from last year so exchanged our whole Seasons you know and so we're uh we know but for all we know they have new coaches so it's kind of a normal first game is always U cause for nervousness enough because you don't know what changes the other team has made um so this is ramped up five or tenfold I think because we literally don't know what they're going to do so so we kind of plan for everything uh and yet there's a positive Edge to that too because you have to have your guys ready for anything it's a game of adjustments so uh so we're excited about where we are and and uh I think we have enough knowledge and then the other great thing about Lincoln as an opponent is they're very big and they're very fast and um and I think that gets uh our players attention it's not hard to see on the film they presented some real problems for us last year even the film that we have is uh comes from places like East Tennessee State and Lamar and Kennesaw State which are uh calp which are legitimate FCS and and FBS uh schools so it's fun film to watch I mean our guys are dreamers and they picture themselves there so it's it's a it's a big game I mean they're they're uh uh have great potential last year they had a great running back that was very difficult to tackle um and they did some good things they're big on the offensive line their quarterback I thought was a good player and defensively they have some guys that can really run around and and uh you know we tend to think you know they're going to man us up but then we see other film where they back off and play zone so again it's back to that prepare for everything which which at this time of year is really good we're focused on ourselves mainly and and uh but game's a game you know so it's uh so I'm I'm excited you know it it the game matters it's gonna have uh National poll ramifications not that that's our big concern our big concern is that we that we continue to improve when we PR play solid our players play fast and free and disciplined um so which every coach in America is saying so we're we're just working through that still preparing Thursday having evening practice tonight and uh but it's an exciting time of year it's the greatest time of year in the time of political unrest and conventions and this and Bs as far as I'm concerned it's uh i' like to say thank God for football season I I I've been so I I worked a lot this summer doing preseason articles and and studying more and more into the ni uh programs for this year just because I'm like you I want to avoid all of that I just I want to be the dumb guy where somebody speaks something to me politically I can just be like I don't know college I ho got Andy Peters back at quarterback and that that dude can play like that's and I'll just change the conversation because my my feeling is you don't want to most people that I talk to is like you don't want talk about ni football to me as much as I don't want to talk politics to you so let's just talk football we make it easier I mentioned him there Andy Peters uh I considered uh best quarterback in the ni last year you've got him back this year uh obviously that helps the offense but talking about the offseason I mean you you kind of brought it up you had one one player kind of lost to the transfer Porter and Porter in nil did you have any apprehension uh in the off season maybe about somebody kind of coming in and you know godfathering Peters and giving him an offer he couldn't refuse or or or how did that all go for you yeah fortunately it wasn't an offer he couldn't refuse because he did refuse it but uh uh he did get you know some significant offers he had some friends from his Boise State days who are who are playing at uh division 2 school I believe in Minnesota and uh they offered to pay for his NBA and but Andy's a you know he works through it he's always very pragmatic in his approach as is his family and so they they weighed it and flew out there and considered all the options and and so uh I think it was a it's a good process for a young guy to go through versus just uh making a snap decision which uh or following where the best money offer was what what are some of the other factors involved so for Andy he's he's uh emerged into a terrific leader I mean different from any other leader to be honest with you that I've ever been around on a team I mean quarterback is a natural but but he just kind of is a pretty happy go-lucky guy on the surface but on the underneath he's really serious really driven and all those things just kind of come out um in the best possible way so he has a high level of respect um he's still learning and growing I think and he Embraces that as well and um but even little things and I've said this to a few people but in the weit room I asked our strength and conditioning guy hey who who's really leading the show down there and he says Andy Peters and Kaden young Kaden Young's our backup quarterback who's also a very very good player good athlete all that but I just thought I'm not sure I've ever had a strength coach ever in my time say that their quarterbacks are uh at least part of that driving force in a place like the weight room so uh but it really is everywhere Andy was student body vice president last year he's uh uh very much into football he has his favorites he's wearing his Patrick Mahomes Jersey and and stuff like that so and and not just just Pat's Jersey but he's got a string of Jersey so he's a football guy he's got multiple interests he's gonna be super successful he's a great student so so he just exudes a a refreshing kind of confidence uh that I'm not sure you see much in in pro ball or or division one ball or there there's just so much scrutiny where I think he's relishing I just want to play football with my guys you know and this is and this is the big time so uh you know some great coaches in the past said the big time is where you are and I think Andy realized we have something special going that he's really contributed to and brought us to a whole different uh place and um so I think he and his family really appreciated that but we're also very very happy to have him back and I'll say this we hope to even get him back for another year so anyway so we'll see how that goes I like that I like that so I you know two things you said there one always love a good Frosty westering qu uh quote I one of my alltime favorite small college coaches good job Jason and and you were talking about uh the jerseys he was wearing now has he busted out a 1985 Houston Oilers Mike morosi jersey yet or is that a tougher one to find No in fact I got you know you never want to do that because I think I was wearing the same Jersey that uh GF the great gford neelson wore great BYU product so uh I think people mistook me for uh for gford neelson but I did I think I did survive or show up on a great n best hits of 1985 and these weren't big plays they were big hits so I got crushed a few times uh there but uh abs absolutely not haven't seen a powder blue Houston Oiler Jersey um anywhere anywhere onbody little yeah a little tougher to come by in calwell Idaho I would bet we we haven't talked about your defense at all yet Coach and you've got some really nice returning ball players there uh Willie Nelson at linebacker was a guy that made our nii in 99 talk a little bit about the defense their development in the off season and and how they've done in Camp so far well our inexperience on uh on offense and I and I mentioned that I am very excited about the offense but defensively we've had our best camp that we've ever had so uh best spring best summer uh we lost a couple really good players especially at the cornerback position um but we do have a lot of experience returning you mentioned Willie Nelson I think at the end of last year in our playoff run um quarterfinal win at Grand View and and uh and and taking Kaiser deep into the game and and even beating a great Montana Western Team U over at their place um Chase Brown our safety I think might have been one of the best players in the country down down the stretch and I thought we were playing very very good defense so we've been able to build on that a little bit Chase is back uh more healthy if if anybody remembers against Grand View had a huge cast on his hand and he intercepted the ball and pick six that really changed the course of the fourth quarter for sure and maybe W us the game um so Chase Brown's been great Willie Nelson has been a fantastic leader for a number of years now and then on the defensive line Tucker French uh from Capitol High School here in boisee has just emerged as what I like to think as the heart and soul of our team where he's just a very disciplined very strong very smart and uh just comes to play every single down very well respected by his team but he's a he's a key component to our defensive line where we play seven or eight guys linebacker will play four maybe five guys secondary will playay play uh six seven or eight guys so so we're we're deep uh We're Young we're talented and I think dialed in on the on the scheme that we're uh using a little bit more than we have been in the past at this time of year well good to hear because like you said with Lincoln University coming up here this weekend you got to have those guys dialed in because you don't know what you're going to see until you step on the field really on Saturday which is a little nerve-wracking but following the Lincoln game you've got a first year program in Simpson kind of the same thing don't really know what you're going to get but it is a first year program and then after that uh I just look at your schedule and I shake my head I look at everybody's schedule in the frontier conference kind of shake my head it's like Murderers Row Montana Western Southern Oregon Montana Tech Rocky Mountain then Arizona Christian uh are your games at fire off so you've got a very tough road to Ho over the next month a lot of things to prepare for you know what have you done uh to try to keep the uh Squad focused here uh as you head into week one to not get them looking down the road not get them looking at the frontier conference and all the great rivalries there and just try to get them honed in on day at a time what we're doing today we're only looking at this game great question well we're I'm a Believer and and really this been since I since I got here in 2013 um but every game's important you know it's the greatest game on the face of the Earth in my opinion and and uh there's not that many opportunities we're not playing um 50 games or 30 games or whatever we got 10 games typically 11 11 this year and and uh and they matter and Saturday Saturday football fall is a is a big deal and um again that Frosty westerling quote has is far-reaching and uh it's exciting and and I just want our guys to be super excited for every single game realizing they got a finite number of football games in them and it's a special honor to be a college football player part of the college Idaho football program I hope they feel that um so those are the kind of things we try to instill and then appeal to their best senses appeal to their intelligence I mean I got smart guys they understand there's there's no sense in looking down the road at uh at Montana Western Montana Western will be there when we when we show up at their new stadium you know or Southern Oregon who's going to be really really good this year and they're all really good so we've been through it for for 10 years now and and uh uh whatever ranked number one by the coaches but to me no one really knows what each other has and and so we have high expectations for ourselves and that includes us being at our very best uh Thursday afternoon in Caldwell you know get having a great Thursday practice having a great Friday practice having a great Friday you know I mean it's just just really gets down to that I don't know if you remember I was telling the team Jason Stanford's a great running back touchdown Tommy vardell I forget who he was in Camp with maybe the Cleveland Browns or something like that but I remember just being intrigued kind of a interesting guy and um so they're announ reporters uh interviewing him and says so Tommy what are you looking forward to next and it's the middle of training camp and he said you know what I'm really looking forward to is having a good lunch doing a great job at lunch and that made me laugh for one because I think our guys enjoy lunch and dinner and whatever meals as much as anything but it also speaks to hey just focus on being in the moment and and nutrition is important your rest is important everything you do and uh with young guys that's not always the easiest thing to do that's why I believe in not so much imposing you got to do this or got to do that or got to do this and and uh I refuse to follow my guys around and make sure they're doing the right thing I feel like if I have to do that then I've recruited the wrong guys but I want that energy and that high standard of Excellence to kind of organically move through the the group and uh again with a young guy we got 50 freshmen on the team um they're from various different high schools and and some great programs some not as great but uh you know it's it's a it's a lot of lot on our players you know it'd be impossible for the coaches to impose that culture if if you want to use that word but uh I'm counting on our older guys our leadership and and uh to teach them kind of what we do at the College of Idaho and and the high expectations that's just part of the deal so so again I I love our guys I think we got great guys freshman included um so it's exciting but it's uh again this is the this is the most uncertain time of year in a certain sense yeah and I completely understand that because now after you get through this game on Saturday now you really get that opportunity to get into the structure you've got the game weeks you know what the prep is like uh there's a little more structure than going through 2 days so one thing that you're saying there coach it makes me smile as a guy now that uh is uh you know in the outside world with the real job of managing people the little things you talk about and I remember my coaches in college telling me the same thing and just kind of go oh whatever coach but you know looking for that moment right now what are you doing next we got lunch I got this next appointment now I got a customer I got to go see after that I need you make this don't worry about what's happening two 3 weeks from now just go in control what you could control every single day and and think will work out if you if you start worrying about what's happening 2 three weeks from now or something's coming up do what you got to doday today to prepare for it and you know as a guy managing people now I like to hear that because sometimes uh you get some new employees and applicants you kind of go wow I wish I really wish you would have played football in college because uh I I think you would get what I'm trying to say here so I I do certainly appreciate that um in recognition of your time I know you've got a lot of things going on today I don't want to spend much more time you know on on this interview and we we've talked about you know Andy Peters we've talked about the ball players on your squad uh but who are offensively we go to that side because you lost some some weapons on on offense as well you know who are some of the other guys that maybe fans out there can expect to see or will take a larger role on the offensive side of the ball for the yats this year one of the biggest losses we had was John scoffield who scored 22 touchdowns last year and was a was just a great guy so so great receiver was our wild cat quarterback so so we got to figure out how to replace him and I've been very impressed with the receivers so I think we're in in good shape there some guys that are uh will be back Brock Richardson won't be back right away but had a has had a great career and this will be his his last year coming off an injury not quite ready yet but some young guys have really stepped up so I think we got six deep uh Jace applebe uh will have a great year for us uh Keegan CAU we move from defense to offense um Tommy Hower is a um transfer from the University of Idaho um Travis morero was a young freshman last year who we think uh could really do some great things and and maybe the best who's been a four-year starter for us John creps has been incredible and he's at a great camp and so so I like what what I have at the receiver position um tight end we lost u a really good player and Ben Ruby uh good lead leader good physical guy so we have to regroup there that's the position I coach so I think we have some good young players to um to fit in there our o line is coming together I'm not sure all the way there yet and then running back uh we have a hunter Gilbert back who's very good broke his collar bone in that Montana Western playoff game uh which hurt us down the stretch I think but Hunters back full speed Full Tilt we have a transfer from UC Davis um Jeremiah chuku Adobe who could be good and a couple really good young players so uh I think we have some weapons I think we're going to be really really exciting uh should say I love my offensive staff um Braden Bale former players our offensive line coach brand new receivers coach Eric Hernandez uh who's doing a great job and our offensive coordinator who's been the coordinator for five years now Brian Taylor does a does a great great job with a variety of um approaches and and presentations of of what we're doing so so I think we're going to have a big exciting year we'll be a little bit different and maybe we'll do some different things throw the ball downfield a little bit more but uh uh I'm excited about the offense yeah I was uh really excited to see you know what you had coming back knowing that your your staff has been in place for a while and you've got some really good coaches on both side of the ball there uh and then watching your program down the stretch and just seeing how you perform performed on the road at Grand View how you performed on the road at Kaiser even in a loss watching that game I'm going man this is this is one or two plays away from College of Idaho being in the national title game instead of Kaiser winning the championship so whether it's good or bad coach I have to come out with predictions and write articles about who I think's going to win national championships and so I unfortunately for you did pick College of Idaho as as my pick to win the national championship this year so I apologize for that now to put that Target on you and and all the things that go with that but I I just think it speaks volumes to watching your program through the years and seeing those little progressions you know getting to the semi-finals last year and seeing how close you were uh I don't think I'm the only one out there that's got a lot of respect for what you guys have done at College of Idaho well thanks I appreciate that and I do take that as a compliment to all the hard work that the coaches and the players and we've had great players for for 10 years now who just great people and and they they've caught the vision you know see see what we can do and and our goal has always been to do something special and and uh every season's new everything's different I I do believe in football I did want to say that I I think football does create a certain uh something in a in a young man that that's um Irreplaceable and maybe uh unable to be found anywhere else and I'm sure there's other things but uh again I I feel great about what we're doing and who we got and uh now it's their time to to rise up you know this new 2024 team and uh expectations aside from the outside I'm more interested in what our expectations are for ourselves you know our our individually each guy what are standards of excellence as the great Bill Walsh used to say uh which I'm not sure I've mastered how to how to how to do that quite yet but again that is our is our emphasis of of what I think is what I can give to these guys that will help them tomorrow today in practice Saturday in the game and also also for life ahead excellent coach thanks for talking with us today this this was a great conversation I look forward to watching you guys on Saturday sounds great thanks so