Linehan big part of Idaho's resurgence

COEUR d’ALENE — When Scott Linehan showed up on campus at the University of Idaho in 1982, the Vandals were coming off some lean years on the football field.

Idaho had four losing seasons in the previous five years, and a total of just 18 wins. The Vandals were coming off a 3-8 season that led to the ouster of the previous coach after four seasons.

Enter Dennis Erickson as coach.

And Linehan. And others.

“Tom Hennessey was in that class, Tom Cable ... I guess we’re old Vandals now,” Linehan recalled Thursday from Texas, en route to the airport to catch a flight to Spokane for this weekend’s Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame proceedings at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn. “I felt like we were pioneers in the program’s resurgence. I give all the credit in the world to coach Erickson, and coach (Keith) Gilbertson, and John L. Smith and guys that followed, for putting Idaho back on the map again.”

Linehan, Hennessey, twins Charleda and Maralee Foss and Heather Owen will be inducted into the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday night at the 54th North Idaho Sports Banquet, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Inn. Linehan will also be the featured speaker for the program, which honors North Idaho’s top high school and college athletes and teams from the past year.

Linehan, who played at Sunnyside (Wash.) High, redshirted in ’82, backed up Ken Hobart the following year, then started the next three years despite a broken collarbone as a sophomore and a broken foot as a junior.

Linehan’s name still adorns the Vandals record books. He is seventh all-time in passing yards (7,018), touchdowns (45), attempts (947) and completions (549).

In his three years as a starter, Idaho went 23-12 and advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) playoffs his junior and senior years.

“Probably my best memory is being part of that turnaround,” Linehan said. “We always felt proud that our class was able to see it through and win a Big Sky championship in ’85, and go to the playoffs.”

Linehan has been an assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys the past three seasons, the last two as offensive coordinator. Early in his coaching career, he did two stints as an assistant coach at Idaho, coaching wide receivers in 1989 and ’90, and serving as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 1992 and ’93.

His older brothers, Ron and Rick, played at Idaho in the 1970s. And now his two oldest sons, Matt and Mike, play for the Vandals.

“It was a dream of mine to coach there, and I was able to coach at my alma mater and be a part of some really good football teams in the early ’90s,” Linehan said. “And now I’ve got two boys playing there, and they’re part of another resurgence of the program.

“I’ve got a lot of affection for Idaho, I can tell you that. I was attached to Idaho as much as anybody that has been through there, from my parents going to school there, to my brothers, a lot of my family ... and now my kids are there.”

These days, he’s had to accept some good-natured ribbing from Matt, who will be a fifth-year senior this fall, in his fourth year as starting quarterback.

Scott has watched Matt surpass his father in many career categories. Matt Linehan is now fourth all-time in passes completed (724), fifth in attempts (1,184) and yards (8,696), and sixth in TD passes (46).

“He’s pretty much wiped out my name from being any part of the record book,” Scott Linehan joked. “I guess I’ve got to deal with that now.”

After his Idaho career ended, Linehan signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent in 1987, but was waived when doctors discovered shoulder issues that dated back to high school.

Linehan was a volunteer assistant for one season at Sunset High in Beaverton, Ore., where his brother Ron was head coach. Linehan wanted to get into coaching, but not at the high school level, In 1988, he watched Washington State, where Erickson was now coach, upset No. 1 UCLA 34-30 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

“That day I remember knowing for sure that’s what I wanted to do,” Linehan said.

The next day he called Gilbertson, who had become the Idaho head coach after Erickson left. Gilbertson left for the University of Washington after that season, so Linehan followed up with his replacement — John L. Smith, who the year before was WSU’s defensive coordinator. Smith gave Linehan his first college coaching job.

“I always wanted to coach, but I didn’t know if I was going to pull that off, with a communications degree,” Linehan said. “I feel fortunate and lucky that there were people still around the program that I knew, that would give me a chance.”

He also coached at UNLV, Washington and Louisville before making the jump to the NFL in 2002 with the Minnesota Vikings. He was also an assistant at Miami and Detroit, and was head coach of the St. Louis Rams for three seasons (2006-08).

As proud as Linehan was in playing a part in Idaho’s resurgence in the 1980s, he said he was just as happy to be part of some special Idaho teams in 1992 and ’93, led by quarterback Doug Nussmeier. With Smith as head coach, went 20-6 and made the I-AA playoffs both years. In ’93, Idaho made it all the way to the I-AA semifinals, and Nussmeier won the Walter Payton Award for top player in that classification.

“I look back at some of the things we were able to do offensively ... those years were as good a years for me in coaching as I’ve ever had.”

Once a Vandal ...

“Probably my most proud part of being a Vandal is watching my sons be Vandals now,” Linehan said. “I’m sure my dad felt the same way, watching three of his sons play there.”