This week, Montana's new head football coach Bob Stitt experienced his first visit to Park City, Utah for the summer meetings of Big Sky Conference football coaches and the media.

Stitt told KGVO News that he was impressed with the growth and enthusiasm he experienced in the Big Sky Conference.

"Being a part of this conference and seeing what a great organization they have and meeting all the coaches, I'm just excited to be a part of something with so much tradition," Still said.

Both coaches and the media have selected Montana to place third in the conference behind Montana State and Eastern Washington. Stitt said preseason polls are nice, but don't really mean much.

"Preseason polls are fun, but they don't mean a whole lot," he said. "It's nice they picked us third, but we'll have to go out and earn it. We're bringing in our own program and putting our own stamp on the team. I told the guys, I want to get the swagger back. We may have lost that in the last couple of years but I want our guys to go in to the season with a lot of confidence. That's what I saw in Montana football six or seven years ago."

Stitt said his philosophy in dealing with his players is very simple.

"I told them in the first team meeting that I don't have a lot of rules, I just have one. Just do everything right and we'll get along. We ask our players to be great students, great athletes and great members of the community. I think Griz nation will be very impressed with the way our players will conduct themselves both on and off the field and we've already stressed it, and it's only going to get stronger as we go,"

Montana starts the season ranked number 15 in the Sports Network poll, and will take on the number one ranked and four-time defending national champion North Dakota State Bison on August 29 inside Washington Grizzly Stadium. Tickets for individual games went on sale on Monday, with lines of fans for both teams waiting for a limited number tickets.

Spring drills will begin in early August.

 

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