AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Thomas Ford enters his first season as head coach of the Idaho Vandals, stepping into a program riding high on recent success.
Idaho has reached the playoffs three years in a row, and despite a new coaching staff and several transfer additions, the team’s postseason expectations remain strong.
“The players in our building that have been with the program don’t know any different,” said Ford.
Since 2022, the Vandals have consistently made the playoffs: a standard that Ford, who was part of the coaching staff during those runs in 2022 and 2023, knows well.
Though new to the head coaching role at Idaho, Ford understands the culture and the winning mentality the Vandals are about. This confidence is reflected in the roster, as Idaho returns the second most players in the entire Big Sky conference.
“As soon as coach Ford got the job, I was doing everything I could to text everybody who was on the edge trying to convince guys to come back, trying to tell guys what we could do this year if we just ran it back… and give Moscow what they deserve, which is a championship,” said fifth-year offensive lineman Nate Azzopardi.
The Vandals kick off their season on the road against Washington State in Pullman on August 30th.
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