The line for the USS Montana at #7 Washington

The Montana Grizzlies football program (or "Griz") represents theUniversity of Montana in the Division I Football ChampionshipSubdivision (FCS) of college football. The Grizzlies have competed inthe Big Sky Conference, where it is a founding member, since 1963.They play their home games on campus in Missoula at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, where they had an average attendance of 24,380 in2013 (2nd in FCS).[2]The Grizzlies had a winning season from 1986–2011. In Washington-Grizzly Stadium they have a winning percentage of .890 includingplayoffs. They hold the records for most playoff appearances in a row(17), Big Sky Conference titles in a row (12), and overall playoffappearances (19). Their success made them the most successful programin all college football in the 2000s (119 wins) and third most successfulteam in FCS in the 1990s (93 wins).[3][4]Contents1History1.1Early years (1897–1934)1.2Doug Fessenden era (1935–1948)1.3Mountain States (Skyline) Conference era (1951–1961)1.4Jack Swarthout era (1967–1975)1.5Don Read era (1986–1995)1.6Mick Dennehy era (1996–1999)1.7Joe Glenn era (2000–2002)1.8Bobby Hauck era (2003–2009)1.9Robin Pflugrad era (2010–2011)1.10Mick Delaney era (2012–2014)1.11Bob Stitt era (2015–present)2Home venues3Rivalries3.1Montana State Bobcats3.2Idaho Vandals3.3Eastern Washington Eagles4All-Time Record vs Big Sky Opponents5Possible FBS membership6Uniforms6.1Colors6.2#37 Jersey7Program achievements7.1National Championship appearances7.2Conference championships8Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs results9Individual awards and honors9.1National honors—players9/6/2017Montana Grizzlies football - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana_Grizzlies_football2/25ColorsMaroon and Silver[1]WebsiteGoGriz.Com (http://www.gogriz.com/index.aspx?path=football&)9.2National honors—coaches9.3Big Sky Conference honors9.4Other awards and honors10Head coaching history11Yearly season records12Program alumni who played professionally13Future non-conference opponents14References15External linksHistoryEarly years (1897–1934)The University of Montana's first football season was in 1897 where theywon a single game against future rival Montana State. The team playedonly schools from Montana until it helped found the Northwest Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NWIAA) in 1902. Inaddition to Montana, this original Northwest Conference included Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State,Idaho, and Whitman College. Despite the association's stated goal of increasing intercollegiate athletics, Montana continuedto play only the nearest teams. More unfortunate for the team, it would not win a game against a conference opponent until a10-0 win over Washington State in 1914.In 1915, the Northwest Conference began to become superfluous with the creation of the Pacific Coast Conference which by1924 already included the five public Northwest Conference schools from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho in addition toCalifornia and Stanford. Montana joined the conference in 1924 and remained through the 1949 season. Montana won onlynine conferences games (8–16 against rival Idaho), and never played a home game against a team from the state ofCalifornia.[5]No team was organized in 1918, due to World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic.[6]Doug Fessenden era (1935–1948)(46-40-4) Record, (9-1) vs. CatsDoug Fessenden was the first Montana coach to last more than five years and was the first to end his career with a winningrecord that coached more than two years.The program was on hiatus for the 1943 and 1944 seasons, due to World War II.[7][8] Of the six teams in the northerndivision of the PCC, only Washington continued through the war.[9]Mountain States (Skyline) Conference era (1951–1961)In 1948, the Montana board of education announced that it was de-emphasizing athletics at the state university. Key to theuniversity's decision was the feeling that continued affiliation with the conference was incompatible with the goal to "keepintercollegiate athletics properly subordinated to the academic function" and they would "seek to develop competition in allsports with institutions similar in purpose, size, resources and academic standing." The conference was only "preferable tohaving no conference affiliation."[10]In 1951, Montana joined the Mountain States Conference, popularly known as the Skyline Conference. It would competehere until the conference dissolved in 1962, never having a winning season and not winning more than three games until1960. In 1963, Montana joined Gonzaga, Idaho, Idaho State, Weber State, and Montana State in forming the Big SkyConference. (Gonzaga dropped its football program in 1941 and Idaho did not compete in conference play until 1965.)