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While most University of Idaho students aren’t old enough to remember the glory days of Idaho athletics, it wasn’t long ago that Boise State and Idaho were in opposite situations.

The Vandals were consistently winning and the Broncos weren’t.
Men’s basketball was winning at the highest level. Idaho was the Gonzaga before Gonzaga.
The Vandals were ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP poll and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1982. Between 1981 and 1990, the Vandals went to the NCAA tournament four different times.
With the arrival of Dennis Erickson as head football coach in 1982, football also proved to be a successful endeavor for the Vandals.

From 1982 until 1999, Idaho went 146-68 with five Big Sky Championships, one Big West Championship and a Humanitarian Bowl win.
But since 1999, both of UI’s major sports have taken a turn for the worse, and Vandal fans have had to watch helplessly as Boise State has taken over as the preeminent athletic institution in the state.

Changing of the guard

Rather than lamenting on its failures, Boise State set itself up for future success by getting the proper facilities in place. While Idaho was winning, Boise State was building.
With a strong, stable and committed administration, along with impressive facilities, the Broncos hit the ground running when they made the switch to Division I in 1996.
“For us, the key to success through the years has been a combination of factors,” said Boise State Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier. “It comes down to tremendous community support, a rich tradition of athletics and a central administration that supports the campus.”

Since the 1996-97 season, Idaho has not been able to keep up with Boise State's win totals in football (above) or basketball (below). -Graphic by Jin You/Argonaut

“The biggest struggle for us was the instability conference-wise,” said Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear. “Being in the Sun Belt for football and the Big West for all other sports was not the most advantageous position to be in, but it was the best position we could be in at the time and the people that were in charge back then did the best they could. But that was the biggest thing was not having conference stability.”
And while Idaho and Boise State took the same path conference-wise until 2000, what happened next changed the fortune of both programs forever.

Following the 2000 season, the Big West eliminated football, meaning teams would have to find a new conference to call home. Idaho settled for the Sun Belt Conference for its football team while Boise State took a big step forward.
Thanks to their facility advances, the Broncos were able to escape the Big West and made a smooth transition to the Western Athletic Conference in 2001, four years ahead of Idaho.

“It takes a lot of work to switch conferences. You can’t just switch,” Bleymaier said. “For us, we were invited by the conferences to join, and it all depended on the timing and the specific needs of the conference.”
What the conferences needed was a team that was ready for the big time, and Boise State was certainly that.

A question of facilities

Bronco Stadium, which opened in 1970 with a capacity of 14,500, has continued to be upgraded, with expansions in 1974 and 1996 and another expansion coming this year.

Following their estimated $36 million expansion, the largest in BSU’s history, the Broncos will feature a football stadium that can hold more than 30,000 fans.
BSU Pavilion (now Taco Bell Arena) opened in 1982 and holds more than 12,000, leaving the Broncos with a strong 1-2 punch facility wise.
These strong facilities have allowed Boise State to recruit high-level athletes and attract a committed fan base that is willing to donate financially, both of which have allowed the Broncos to move quickly through the Division I ranks.

Idaho on the other hand has had a much less glamorous facility history, which has left Spear with a clear No. 1 priority.
“At the end of the day, improvement of facilities is of the utmost importance for us moving forward,” Spear said. “I am confident it will happen, we all have to get behind it and embrace it and let’s get it done.”

-Graphic by Jin You/Argonaut

But prior to the so-called “architectural wonder” that is the Kibbie Dome, Idaho had bigger, better and in hindsight, much smarter stadium plans.
In 1973, Idaho planned to move into the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, which would later become the Big West. They also had plans to build a 23,000-seat football stadium that could eventually be covered, along with a 10,300 seat basketball arena.

But Idaho’s two biggest rivals, Boise State and Idaho State, and their supporters didn’t want this to happen. The two schools had enough political power to block Idaho’s move, and the State Board of Education voted down Idaho’s request to leave the Big Sky, forcing the Vandals to stay in the conference.

The PCAA mess along with a weak economy caused Idaho to scale down their plans to what is now the Kibbie Dome, which opened in 1975.
The Kibbie Dome decision immediately came back to haunt Idaho. In 1978, the NCAA came out with its division classifications, which required a 30,000-seat stadium or an average of 17,000 fans to be a Division I-A school.

Idaho had just stuck a roof on a 16,000-seat stadium, which meant the Vandals were stuck playing Division I-AA football.
To remedy the situation, Idaho was forced to play its home games in Pullman in 1999 to average 17,000 fans, and it appeared Idaho will continue to be able to retain their Division I-A status with little hassle.

But while Idaho eventually escaped lower division football, the Vandals are still stuck with the same stadium with no new facilities built in more than three decades.
“The university has not had a fan facility built in over 30 years and the students are due. I think the students have earned it and I think the University of Idaho deserves it,” said executive director of the Vandal Scholarship Fund Rick Darnell.
And players feel the same way.

“We will probably practice outside every day this spring unless it’s a downpour, just because the turf kills everyone’s knees and the line’s back and all that stuff,” Idaho quarterback Brian Nooy said. “That is going to be a huge improvement and not just for the upcoming season, but recruiting in the future. That is going to be big time.”

The coaching carousel

Even with the disastrous decision to build the Kibbie Dome, Idaho was seeing success in both of its revenue sports in the mid-’80s.

Erickson was turning the football team into a recognizable entity, and Don Monson was turning Idaho men’s basketball into a national powerhouse.
So with all the success Idaho athletics were seeing, how did things turn sour? Idaho was unable to capitalize on its success.

“The Vandals were winning, so I guess that our leaders didn’t see the need to push for a new arena,” said Marlin Smith, a UI graduate, lifelong area resident and Vandal athletic historian of sorts. “This was a major mistake in my mind. The Don Monson Coliseum should have been built circa 1985.”
But facility problems can’t alone be blamed for Idaho’s struggles. Bad luck and poor choices in regards to coaching have left the Vandals wanting.

While the Broncos have continued to make successful hire after hire, Idaho has been left with the likes of Kermit Davis (basketball) and Tom Cable (football).
Idaho basketball has had four different coaches since the 1996-97 season, and since the hiring of Davis in 1996, the Vandals have gone just 113-178 to date.
On the gridiron, things have been even worse.

Idaho is on its fourth head coach since 2000, and since the hiring of Cable in 2000, Idaho has amassed a record of 20-61.
Tommy Ambrose, a former UI football player (1947, ’48, ’49) has noted the poor coaching in recent seasons.

“I keep close contact with several of my old team members, and we have noted the poor showing the last decade. I have seen fewer games the last seven to eight years, but during this time I recall concluding they were poorly coached,” Ambrose said. “Personally, I would prefer to see them in their old conference fielding a coached ball club.”
Vying for the starting quarterback position this fall, Nooy also noted the importance of a coaching staff.

“For me, coaching is huge,” Nooy said. “It’s just how they treat the players. Erickson was great. (Robb) Akey is the same way. They have respect for the players, they know what it is like to go through school and football and everything, and they have respect for the players and it is really nice to have someone who understands what we are going through.”
But Ambrose also sees positives coming out of the administration and new coaches.
“I have watched Rob Spear over the past few years and I am impressed with him and his energy and thoughtfulness in managing the spectrum of athletic programs,” Ambrose said. “I have also met the new coach and was pleased with his ability to communicate.”

That new coach is former Washington State defensive coordinator Robb Akey, who was hired over Christmas break.
On the hardwood, George Pfeifer took over for Idaho basketball last season.
And while Pfeifer struggled in his first season as coach of the men’s basketball team, Pfeifer’s fall recruits have Spear excited.

“For the first time in a long time, we signed basketball players in the fall. We are always signing them in the spring but we have signed great players this fall, so that program is going to improve and turn the corner,” Spear said.
Akey was signed to a long-term deal to coach the Vandal football team, and his contract includes a $1 million buyout clause, ensuring stability in the football coaching ranks.

“We improved a little bit with our football record last year but we have had the instability with the coaching situation. Now I really think some of those negatives have turned into positives with the hiring of Robb Akey,” Spear said.

The future

Perhaps Idaho is just in a lose-lose situation. For Ambrose, simple geography is a major obstacle Idaho has to deal with.

“Now that college football requires substantial fundraising, it is unclear if the necessary support can be achieved,” Ambrose said. “The Boise Valley has the funding and spectator base and they represent the state very well on the national college football scene. A campus in the middle of the Palouse doesn’t have the funding or spectator base.”
But Smith disagrees, and he believes Idaho can compete with Boise State, despite having a much smaller base to draw from.

“My take is that if WSU can compete against the caliber of competition that they have to compete against in the PAC-10, then Idaho sure as heck can find a way to compete in the WAC,” Smith said. “BSU has some advantages over Idaho, but Idaho also has some advantages over BSU. The main difference the schools have right now is facilities. Boise State has a 30,000-seat football stadium and a 12,000-seat basketball pavilion. Idaho doesn’t.”
So what is being done now to remedy what ails the UI?

A little more than a month ago, UI received permission from the Idaho State Board of Education to spend $1.6 million in federal grant money for designing an events pavilion on the Moscow campus and studying how to finance it. Plans also outline possible improvements to bring the 32-year-old Kibbie Dome up to fire code.

“Facilities are the future, it is the future, it is a golden opportunity to accomplish goals that were set in place and desired by people in the ‘60s,” Darnell said. “It was a historic day and I am excited about the future.”

Some improvements to the Kibbie Dome are expected to include replacing the wooden east and west walls with translucent fiberglass panels in a steel structure, lowering the field 10-12 feet to accommodate an additional 3,600 seats, adding suites on the north side and adding club seating in the end zone.
If completed, the Kibbie Dome’s capacity would reach 20,000. New turf is also expected to be installed in time for the start of next season.

But the new events center, which could cost up to $60 million according to preliminary costs from Spear, is what really could put Idaho back on the map.
The 6,000-seat event center would be the new home for Idaho basketball as well as events such as the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.
As for a timeline, Spear said everything is driven by finances.

“It’s going to take a group grassroots effort to get this done and we are going to have to have everyone step up. In an ideal world, you would like a couple top-end donors, and hopefully we can find those individuals,” Spear said. “When we generate the resources to move forward, that is going to drive it. The nice thing about the project is there are several areas for people to invest, but it just depends how successful we are with our fundraising when we get started. Raising money is the next step.”

So while one event or date in history can’t be pinpointed as the cause for Idaho’s recent slide in athletic performance, a combination of things have led to the demise of Idaho’s glory.
A lack of facility improvements, a rash of bad hires and the non-existence of stability within the administration and coaching ranks have left Idaho behind the curve.

But with such major plans in the works, the administration in Boise sees nothing but positives coming out of Idaho, and what Spear and company are committed to doing.
“I have the utmost respect for Rob Spear and President White and what they are accomplishing,” Bleymaier said. “They know what needs to be done to make a successful program. They are keeping the best interest of everyone in mind.”

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