Robin Pflugrad, the new head football coach at the University of Montana, is going to give Glacier High School’s Shay Smithwick-Hann the opportunity to do what he does best, and that’s play quarterback.
And Plfugrad is going to let Whitefish High School’s Derek Crittendon do what he does best, which is terrorize offenses and chase ball carriers down.
Smithwick-Hann and Crittendon are two of three Montanans in Pflugrad’s 2010 recruiting class. On Feb. 3, Pflugrad announced his first recruiting class as head coach of the Montana Grizzlies. Including transfers, the Grizzlies have 20 new commitments. The third Montana recruit is defensive end Zach Wagenmann from Missoula Sentinel.
“I’m very happy with the class that we signed,” Pflugrad, 52, said last week.
Smithwick-Hann finished his three-year career at Glacier with 5,584 yards passing, 37 touchdowns and a 53-percent completion percentage. His best year through the air was his junior season, when he finished second in the state behind Flathead High School’s Brock Osweiler in passing yards (233 per game) and touchdowns (22).
His senior year, Glacier switched to more of a run-based offensive scheme, and Smithwick-Hann adjusted admirably, though his passing statistics diminished. He finished the regular season with a school-record 724 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.
At 6-4 at 215 pounds, Smithwick-Hann has the body and arm for college football, though he joins a roster crowded with quarterbacks, including highly touted recruit Jordan Johnson. Johnson was the 6A player of the year in Oregon his senior year.
It has been suggested that Smithwick-Hann could play tight end at Montana, a position his father, Jim Hann, played for the Grizzlies in the early 1970s. But in an interview on Feb. 4 at Kalispell’s Hilton Garden Inn, before a widely attended Grizzly social event, Pflugrad said he intends to see what Smithwick-Hann can do at quarterback.
“We’re going to give Shay a great opportunity to play quarterback,” Pflugrad said. “That was part of our assessment of him. We looked at him long, we looked at him hard.”
Pflugrad talked about Smithwick-Hann’s athleticism, saying that he “runs fairly well – he runs better than I think most people think. So we’re excited about him. He’s a great athlete, good basketball player.” Smithwick-Hann was named second-team Class AA all-state at quarterback as a senior.
“We hope we brought good players in to help Shay be an excellent quarterback and I think him and Jordan (Johnson) are going to have a great battle,” Pflugrad said.
Crittendon is an athletic defensive lineman. He’s 6-3, 235 pounds and runs the hurdles in track. After anchoring Whitefish High School’s defensive line as a senior, Crittendon was named Class A all-state. Pflugrad believes Crittendon can play either defensive tackle or end for the Grizzlies.
“Boy I love that guy; he’s got great passion,” Pflugrad said. “He gets by people, he attacks the quarterback, he finishes plays.”
Pflugrad said he wants to watch Crittendon run the hurdles this spring.
“A big old guy like that runs the high hurdles – I’m excited to go watch him run this spring,” Pflugrad said.
He added: “We’re excited about him.”
Pflugrad is the 34th head football coach in UM history. He replaces Bobby Hauck, who took the head job at UNLV after compiling an 80-17 record in seven years at UM. Hauck went to three national championships, losing each. Pflugrad was Hauck’s wide receivers coach last year.