George Ferguson Column: Bobby's Back: Griz Nation breathes a sigh of relief

Who says you can't go home again? Not Bobby Hauck.

Last Friday, Hauck was introduced as the 37th head coach of the Montana Grizzly football program. It was only fitting considering the legend of the No. 37 at Montana, including being worn by Hauck's brother, the great Tim Hauck.

The introductory press conference last Friday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium's Canyon Club also ended an intriguing, and tumultuous two weeks for the Grizzlies, the university and for Hauck, who was also the Griz' 34th head coach from 2002-2009.

The whirlwind of emotion, speculation, rumors, despair and, ultimately, elation, for all of Griz Nation started when the clock struck zeroes in Bobcat Stadium on Nov. 18 and ended with Hauck standing at the podium in a triumphant return to his roots. Yes, Hauck is Montana. He didn't just coach the Grizzlies for seven special seasons, which included three trips to the FCS national championship game, and seven Big Sky championships, he also graduated from UM, and, as he noted last Friday, had at least 18 relatives in attendance who had UM roots.

So last Friday was a joyous occasion for Griz Nation, no doubt. But, getting there wasn't easy, not in the least.

For one, to get Bobby Hauck back to Montana, a man had to lose his job. That man being Bob Stitt, who spent the last three seasons coaching the Grizzlies to 21 wins, but also no Big Sky championships, just one playoff appearance and a 1-2 record in - as Hauck called it in his press conference - "the rivalry game."

I personally wasn't comfortable with Stitt being let go when it happened and I expressed that. I felt it was risky for the Griz to once again have to start over. I also feel that, three years is a short amount of time for any head coach, in any sport to be judged off of, but especially in football, where you play a minimum amount of pressure-packed games each season.

I also liked a lot of what Bob Stitt did in his time at Montana. I liked his offensive philosophies, I liked the type of athlete he was recruiting on that side of the ball, I liked his steadfast belief in football players being students first, and obviously, I loved the first game he ever coached at Montana. You might remember that one - where the Grizzlies toppled four-time defending national champion North Dakota State in the 2015 season-opener in front of a national ESPN audience. I have a lot of favorite moments in Missoula, and that game will always be one of them.

However, as much as I liked Bob Stitt, including personally, there was something inside me that was much different than the days when Bobby Hauck led the Grizzlies to 81 wins, and seven straight playoff appearances, not to mention, a 5-2 record in "the rivalry game." In those years, I knew the Griz were going to succeed. But in the last three years, I was only hoping they would.

And that's the difference, and it's a big one - hoping versus knowing. And that's one of the many reasons I'm like so many others in Griz Nation right now - I'm giddy that Hauck chose to come home. I'm giddy because, when Stitt was let go, I was never certain it was going to be Bobby, and for me, he was the only right choice once Kent Haslam decided to make the change. My mind-set over the last two weeks was, if it somehow couldn't be Bobby Hauck, then I would have preferred the change not be made. And that's precisely why the last two weeks were so intense, so confusing, and at times, so frustrating.

I think it's fair to say, much of Griz Nation wanted Bobby Hauck back in Missoula. But, it seemed like the process to get there was one of pure agony. There were plenty of negatives written and sentiments expressed about Hauck's first tenure in Missoula, and I thought it was classy and professional, how he addressed those last Friday. Not only did he address those concerned with his return, but he also addressed some of the issues those people were concerned with. It was, to me, a very poignant moment in Bobby Hauck's next stint with the Griz, and it came eight months before he even is set to coach his first game.

Yes, it was a stressful two weeks to be a Griz fan. Message board fodder, social media, plenty of people in the know, all were certain it was going to be Bobby in the end, but it was painstaking to get to last Friday's press conference, and make it official, that's for sure.

Now though, we are here. Now we know that Bobby Hauck is once again the head coach of the Montana Grizzlies. And to me, that means we know, and feel, perhaps for the first time since the last time he was the head coach, that the Griz will be moving forward.

Former Griz great and Havre Blue Pony Marc Mariani, who spent five glorious years with the Grizzlies under Hauck, summed it up for all of us.

"I'm so excited and happy for coach Hauck," Mariani said. "I'm also really excited for the kids that are there right now because I know, and the guys in the classes I played with during my time there know, exactly what coach Hauck brings to the table. I know that if you work hard, you're going to succeed. I know that because that's what we did when we were there with him. Every player in that program is going to benefit from having coach Hauck as their coach."

No question, under Hauck the Grizzlies won and won and won. In fact, Hauck's seven years were part of a decade in which the Grizzlies won more football games than any other program in the United States. And no, I'm not talking about just the FCS, I'm talking about ALL OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL. That's how dominant the Griz were.

And unlike the last few years, Hauck gives Griz Nation the feeling that it can happen again. He believes it, Mariani and many ex-players who played for Hauck believe it. I was there watching those days, too, up close and personal, and I believe it, too.

Now, even Hauck said in his press conference last Friday that it will take time, but he said time is the only variable. In other words, it's not going to be overnight. While not impossible, it's also not likely that we're going to wake up on the morning of Jan. 5, 2019 in Frisco, Texas, and start tailgating for the Griz' latest foray to the FCS national championship game. Rome wasn't built in a day.

But unlike in recent years, where the Griz have went through so much turmoil, so much uncertainty, and certainly not the success that all of Griz Nation is accustomed to, the feeling is with Hauck, and perhaps no one else right now, the Griz will get back to that. The Griz will indeed get back to being what they once were, which is simply the premier program in the Big Sky Conference and a perennial FCS powerhouse.

"My expectation for us is to win championships here," Hauck said last Friday. "We're going to do that. The only variable is time. I don't know how long it's going to take. I will have to get out on the field with our team to give you a more exact assessment of how long that's going to take. But we're going to win championships here."

I for one believe it. Hauck has done it before. And while times have changed in the eight years Hauck has been away, so too has he, saying Friday that he's a better, more experienced coach than he was when he left Montana to go to UNLV in 2009.

So, while I certainly was a skeptic of Stitt's firing, fearing an even bigger setback to the Grizzly program, in the end, I'm feeling much different than I did two weeks ago. Again, I've spent the last few seasons hoping the Griz succeed. After last Friday, I know, with Bobby Hauck back, one day, the Griz will succeed again. And it's a good feeling, and I'm certainly not alone in feeling that way. I'm not alone in feeling like Montana got this one right.

"I'm super pumped, as a Griz fan and as a player who played for coach Hauck," Mariani said. "I think the expectations will be as high as they've ever been there, but I think that will only motivate his teams even more. I just know, having played for coach Hauck, that they're going to win. They're going to be successful. They're going to do it the right way. I can say that because of how special my time was there under coach Hauck. We did it. And they can do it. It's a really exciting time for Griz Nation."

You did do it Marc. And you're right, expectations are going to be sky high in Missoula. But, being the coach that Bobby Hauck is, he won't want it any other way. And no matter what it took to get here, we're here now, and Griz Nation is happy again.

And all I can say now is, how long is it until September?