Griz Fan Pod

Joined with Samuel Akem for the entire pod, Mike, Brint, and guest host Kyle recap and discuss the Grizzlies 47-0 shut out over the Northwestern State Demons.  Sammy, with a perspective as a former player, shares his thoughts and opinions on the game, where the program is at, and where it’s headed.  A good portion of the pod are reflections from all the guys on the game, what they saw on offense, and the tremendous defensive performance. 

After that, a quick overview on what to expect for the upcoming game against the South Dakota Coyotes.  From there, the guys move into fan questions.  Knowing Sammy was joining as a guest, there were plenty of questions to go over!  

It’s time to kickoff the 2022 season!  After a long spring and summer of practice reports, transfer news, and preseason accolades it’s finally time for football.   The Grizzlies start the season as a top-5 team and have been voted as favorites to win the Big Sky Conference.  Their defense has 3 players on the Buchanan watch list and the offense welcomes back Marcus Knight.  For all of the questions, hype, and discussion around this time, it’s finally time to prove it on the field.  

The Northwestern State Demons come to Missoula after a 3-win 2021 season.   A once familiar playoff team (playing in Missoula in 2001, 2002, and 2004) the Demons have had a rough stretch of late.  They now have a new transfer QB, a re-tooled offense, and a defense with a handful of conference standouts.  On this pod the guys have plenty to cover when it comes to expectations, questions, and what to look for.   There’s discussion on other Big Sky games, FCS games, and thoughts on the gameday atmosphere.  As always the pod ends with fan questions, topics, and wild scenarios.  

After a long summer break, the GFP is back!  Riley Corcoran, the Voice of the Griz, joins Mike and Brint to talk about media day and early camp impressions.  There’s a lot to discuss as well!  Who are the fresh faces standing out so far?  How are the new transfers fitting in?  What are the strengths on the team, and where are the possible challenges? 

Over a few beers, with a Dodgers game on for Riley, and with some frequent interjections and opinions from James – the guys spend 2+ hours talking up the 2022 season.  There’s some discussion on early predictions for the regular season schedule, and some looks around the other top teams in the conference too.

Griz football kicks off in a little over 2 weeks, and the GFP cannot wait!

Montana’s spring camp has wrapped up and now the Grizzlies look to full prep for the 2022 season.  With Luke out on assignment, Mike and Brint, with guest Kyle got together to discuss what their overall thoughts on where the team is at right now.  Who stood out in spring ball?  What new names will you be hearing a lot from this season?  We’re going to have a new QB this season as well, how did the QB group look?  Some thoughts are shared from the spring game and scrimmages that were seen as well.  We also cover areas where we might expect to see some off-season help, discuss transfer portal activity, and look ahead to the 2022 schedule. 

Montana’s current bearer of #37, Jace Lewis, joins the guys for beers to reflect on his time as a Griz.   We chat with Jace about his upbringing, playing football in Townsend, and his recruitment to Montana.   There’s insights into what it was like during the coaching change at Montana.  Additionally there’s plenty of stories from this season where fans will appreciate a players perspective from some of the biggest games.  We get some fun looks into some of the dynamics of the team, what to look forward to, and some names to keep an eye out for.   For best enjoyment of this episode we recommend to grab a few CL Smoothies, sit back, and enjoy!

It’s been over a month since the GFP was together! Now, with the holidays behind us, signing day complete, and the basketball season in full swing we found plenty of topics to cover. There’s plenty of discussion given to the newest additions to the football roster. Where will the new transfers fit in? Who should we expect to see right away? What positions still need help? For most of the first segment of the show Mike, Luke, and Brint share their thoughts overall. From there, the discussion moves to basketball as both the Griz and Lady Griz are in the final stretch of the regular season and poised pretty well for favorable tournament seeding. And of course, it wouldn’t be a GFP without those fan questions.

We’ve got some funny stories, and preview some upcoming guests, including who slid into President Bodar’s DM’s.

TOC:

0 – 11: Intro & update from James

11 – 25: Catchup, UM happenings, updates

25 – 1:15: Signing day, roster talk, practice bubble

1:15 – 1:30: Basketball

1:30 – 2:08: Fan questions

The 2021 season for the Montana Grizzlies officially came to a close with a loss against James Madison.  With the season now in the rear view mirror the guys take time to discuss their thoughts and observations from the game.   The talk then spans out into a more broad discussion reflecting on the season as a whole.  While there’s the pain of a playoff loss, we celebrate the many successes of this season as well.  Montana finished with it’s first back to back double digit win seasons since 08-09.  Big wins over MSU and revenge against EWU, plus a stunning upset of Washington.  Also, they talk on what the 2022 outlook is and what shoes need to be filled by losses from graduation and transfer.  There’s then a 15 minute discussion covering the two semifinal games.  The guys do give some extended thought given to the MSU game.  Finally, and as always, fan questions.  With so much to discuss the fan questions take up over half the pod.  The questions leave practically no topic uncovered; recruitment, staffing, favorite plays, future pods, roster talk, the transfer portal, and more.  

TOC:

0 – 9 – Intro with James

9 – 1:03 – JMU recap and season reflection

1:03 – 1:18 – Playoff semifinals

1:18 – 2:56 – Fan questions/topics

The Montana Grizzlies are once again in the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs.  To get there, the Griz had to play the Eastern Washington Eagles again, a team they lost to in the regular season.  EWU was all talk in the weeks leading up to the game but in the end Montana came away with a decisive win.  With guest Kyle Sample the guys go over all aspects of the game.   From the atmosphere, to the officiating, to the big plays, and more.  

And now it’s time to shift focus to this Friday’s game against the JMU Dukes, the #2 ranked team in the FCS.  The Grizzlies have not faced JMU since a memorable upset win in the 2008 semifinals.  This JMU team is different than ones of prior decades though.  They’ve dominated their conference for years and are arguably the 2nd most successful FCS program of the last 10 years.  We spend quite a bit of time talking about who to look for, what to expect, and what Montana must do to win the game.

We close with your fan questions, Montana history trivia, memories from prior games, and some fun stories.  

TOC:

0 – 7:30 Intro & James

7:30 – 1:12 – EWU recap

1:12 – 1:30  – Playoffs

1:30 – 2:18  –  James Madison

2:18 – 2:57 Questions / end

On this playoff edition of the Griz Fan Podcast the guys are joined by Colt Palmer, a Griz player from 2001 – 2004.  Colt shares some incredible stories and insight from his time as a player.  What does a week of playoff prep look like?  How does this staff adjust it’s schedule with a Friday game?  What is it like playing the same team twice in one season?  Additionally, Colt goes on to share some memories from his playing time and brings up his continued disdain for all things Bobcat.  There’s also plenty to discuss about the upcoming EWU playoff game.  What’s changed on each team since they last met, and what needs to be done for a Grizzly win.   The final segment, as always, is your fan questions and comments.

TOC:

0-5 – James and intro of Colt

5-1:30 – Brawl wrap / team prep / general playoff talk

1:30 – 1:50 – EWU rematch

1:50 – 2:39 – Questions and close

Still euphoric, and with maybe 1 or 2 GFP members a little hungover, we’re celebrating the Montana Grizzlies dismantling of the Bobcats.  Shaun Rainey with ABC/Fox, SWX joins us for this marathon pod to give his thoughts and insights every step of the way as well.  

The Montana defense put forth its most dominant performance of the year.  The special teams were near perfect in every fashion, and the offense shocked MSU early and then steadily moved the ball through the day.  On this episode we go over our thoughts and observations from as many points of the game as possible. 

From there, it’s time to talk playoffs.  Montana is the #6 seed and will face the winner of UNI vs EWU.  We look around the bracket, discuss games worthy of watching, and talk about regionalization and the challenges its caused to the FCS playoffs. 

With a 9-2 regular season record we then move into discussions on the team as a whole, team awards, conference awards, and more.   Shaun also brings a fun trivia type game to the pod, where we try to identify what Griz player best symbolizes a Thanksgiving Day dish.  After that, we’ve got nearly an hour of questions and comments to cover.  At the GFP, we care about you and we know it’s a holiday week.  We wanted to get this pod out a day early, and make it a long one.  Hopefully it helps with some holiday travel or getting away from (or spending time with) family.

TOC:

0 – 5 – James & Shaun’s intro

5 – 1:07 – Recap of the Brawl

1:07 – 1:35 – Playoff talk

1:35 – 2:00 – Awards, team discussion, regular season wrap

2:00 – 2:15 – Shaun’s Thanksgiving game

2:15 – 3:02 – Fan questions and close