Idaho State first started fielding football in 1902, one year after the school was established as the Academy of Idaho. From 1902 to 1934, the program had 10 different head coaches, seven of which coached for less than three seasons. The Bantams and Tigers, as they were known until 1904 and 1934, respectively, found some success during this era, with a total record of 117–70–10 (.619). Herbert Cheney, the program's first ever head coach, has the highest winning percentage of any coach in program history, with a record of 5–1–1 (.786).
Guy Wicks era (1935–1940)
Guy Wicks spent six total seasons with the Bengals. He accumulated a record of 29–17–1 (.628). He only had one losing season with the program, during 1940, with a record of 3–5. Wicks was also the head basketball coach at the school from 1931 to 1941.
John Vesser era (1941–1951)
Wick's successor, John Vesser, stayed nine total seasons with Idaho State. He was the head coach when Idaho State moved from being an independent program to being a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). In total, he had a record of 41–27–6 (.595).
Babe Caccia era (1952–1965)
Babe Caccia played as both a center and a linebacker when he played for Idaho State (then known as Idaho Southern Branch) in 1936 and 1937. Babe was the head coach of the football program for 14 seasons, the most of any head coach, and won six conference titles. This included the first ever Big Sky title in 1963. After his run as head coach, he became assistant athletic director for Idaho State from 1965 to 1979, and athletic director from 1979 to 1986.[6] For one year in 1976, he acted as line coach for the Edmonton Eskimos (now Edmonton Elks) of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He boasted a fairly successful record of 79–38–2 (.664) with Idaho State.
Leo McKillip era (1966–1967)
Leo McKillip only coached for two seasons, having a losing record in both of them. He was Idaho State's first head coach to have a winning percentage below .500 since 1904, totaling 4–15 (.211).
Ed Cavanaugh era (1968–1971)
Ed Cavanaugh took over as head coach in 1968. He improved over his predecessor, with a total record of 20–19 (.596). He was the head coach when Idaho State opened the ASISU Minidome, renamed as Holt Arena in 1988.[7]
Bob Griffin era (1972–1975)
Bob Griffin took over in 1972, and he remained with Idaho State for four total seasons, accumulating a 21–20 (.512) record. He went on to have a successful career with the Rhode Island Rams after his stay at Idaho State.[8]
Joe Pascale era (1976)
Joe Pascale was the defensive coordinator for two seasons, then was promoted to head coach in February 1976 when Bob Griffin departed for Rhode Island. During the lone season Pascale led the Bengals, they managed just one victory, a close 27–22 win at home over Nevada;[7] ISU finished at 1–9 (.100) and winless (0–6) in conference.[9] His one-year contract was not renewed, and he became an assistant coach at Princeton in the Ivy League.
Bud Hake era (1977–1979)
Bud Hake came to ISU in 1977 from the junior college ranks; he was previously the head coach for a decade at Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, Washington.[10][11] In 1978, the Bengals traveled to Japan to play the Utah State Aggies in Nishinomiya on September 3, and were shut out 10–0.[12][13] Hake's three seasons resulted in a dismal 5–28 (.152) record with only two wins in conference, both in 1977. After a winless 0–11 season in 1979, he soon resigned.[8][14]
Dave Kragthorpe era (1980–1982)
Previously the offensive line coach at BYU, Dave Kragthorpe was hired as head coach in late November 1979,[15] During his first season in 1980, the rebuilding Bengals were 6–5 and won half of their conference games. In 1981, Idaho State had a 12–1 (.923) record, and won the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, beating Eastern Kentucky 34–23 in the 1981 Pioneer Bowl.[16] Despite this success, ISU finished at 3–8 the following season. In his three years leading the Bengals, Kragthorpe went 21–14 (.600). He departed in June 1983 to become the athletic director at his alma mater, Utah State,[17] then was the head coach at Oregon State from 1985 to 1990. Through 2022, Kragthorpe is the most recent Bengal head coach with an overall winning record.
Jim Koetter era (1983–1987)
Alumnus and assistant coach Jim Koetter was promoted to head coach in June 1983; he led the Bengals to the Division I-AA playoffs that season, but fell in the first round to Nevada to finish at 8–4. In five seasons as head coach, Koetter compiled a 23–32–1 (.420) record. Previously a longtime head coach in Pocatello at Highland High School, he then coached at Pocatello High School.
Garth Hall era (1988–1991)
Garth Hall was formerly an offensive coordinator at both Tulane[18] and Oregon State before he took his place as head coach in Idaho State. He failed to find much success, finishing 9–33–1 (.214), going 0–11 during his first season as a head coach. Hall coached the last Bengals game that ended in a tie, 35–35 at Southern Utah in 1991.
Brian McNeely era (1992–1996)
Brian McNeely took up as head coach after Hall. He finished with a record of 21–34 (.382).
Larry Lewis took over after Walsh, and he remained head coach for 8 seasons. In 2002, he and the Bengals were tri-Big Sky Champions, sharing the champion title with Montana and Montana State.[6] However, Idaho State was passed up for the playoffs in favor of the other two. Lewis holds a record of 40–49 (.449) with the Bengals.
John Zamberlin era (2007–2010)
Idaho State (in white uniforms) playing the Oklahoma Sooners in 2009
John Zamberlin was head coach at Central Washington before he went to Idaho State. He won four conference championships as head coach of Central Washington. Zamberlain's contract was originally going to end in 2009, but Idaho State extended the contract by two seasons. The choice was very controversial among students due to the team's lack of success.[citation needed] He averaged 1.5 wins per season, and he ended his career 6–39 (.133), the second-lowest winning percentage in program history. He was later a linebackers coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL from 2012 to 2013.[9]
Mike Kramer era (2011–2016)
Mike Kramer was previously head coach at both Eastern Washington and Montana State, winning one conference title with Eastern Washington and three with Montana State. His most successful season came with the 2014 Bengals, who had a record of 8-4 and finished the season ranked 25th in the FCS, but the team did not make the playoffs. His total record was 18–50 (.265).
Rob Phenicie era (2017–2021)
In 2017, Kramer resigned as head coach, and Idaho State promoted wide receivers coach Rob Phenicie to head coach the same day. After five seasons with a cumulative record of 16–35 (.314), Phenicie was fired on November 20, 2021.[20]
Charlie Ragle era (2022)
On December 10, 2021, former California special teams coordinator Charlie Ragle was hired to be the Bengals' head coach.[21] On November 28, 2022, less than a year after being hired, Ragle left the Bengals after his first season, accumulating only one win.[22] He currently holds the lowest win percentage in program history (.091).
Cody Hawkins era (2023–present)
After Ragle's departure, Idaho State hired Cody Hawkins, the offensive coordinator for two seasons at UC Davis. Hawkins quickly grew popular among the student body at Idaho State earning his nickname "Daddy Hawkins." Hawkins ended his inaugural season with a 3-8 record. The most notable win in the season being against Eastern Washington dubbed the "Minidome Miracle" after coming back from a 27 point deficit late in the third quarter to win the game 42-41.
Conference affiliations
Idaho State's conference affiliations have been as follows:
The Bengals have had five two-time All-Americans: wide receiver Eddie Bell ('68–'69), defensive end Josh Hays ('95–96), placekicker Pete Garces ('98–'99), defensive end Jared Allen ('02–'03), and punter David Harrington ('10–'11). Allen also won the prestigious Buck Buchanan Award in 2003 as the top defensive player in the nation in Division I-AA.[25] Wide receiver Rodrick Rumble was an All-American in 2011, a season in which he broke the Big Sky conference record for receptions with 112. Return specialist Tavoy Moore was given first-team All-American honors by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) for the 2010 season. Quarterback Mike Machurek was named a Kodak All-American for his 1981 championship season. Punter Jon Vanderwielen earned several All-American honors in 2009.[26]
Several head coaches have been inducted to the university's athletic hall of fame:[28]
Ralph Hutchinson – football (as player), basketball (as player), baseball (as coach)
Felix Plastino – football (as player)
Guy Wicks – football (as coach), basketball (as coach)
John Vesser – football (as coach), athletic director
Babe Caccia – football (as player), wrestling (as player)
Jim Koetter – football (as player), track & field (as player)
Facilities
Hutchinson Field, circa 1924
Detail about the team's early facilities is lacking. Before the 1922 season, there was a shared athletic field used by the football, baseball, and track programs, with "practically no provision for the comfort of spectators."[29]
Hutchinson Field
On November 4, 1922, the football team played its first game on Hutchinson Field, named after head coach Ralph Hutchinson.[30][29] There were separate football and baseball fields, surrounded by a quarter-mile track, and provisions for bleachers to hold 5000 spectators along with automobile parking.[29] This field was used until partway through the 1936 season. The area is now the Hutchinson Memorial Quadrangle (located at 42°51′40″N112°26′02″W / 42.861°N 112.434°W / 42.861; -112.434).[31]
Hutchinson Field was replaced by an outdoor stadium in 1936. The first game held there was a 19–32 loss to the Montana State Bobcats on November 11, 1936.[32][33][34] Newspaper reports indicate the stadium was named the "Spud Bowl" during the 1946 season.[35] It remained the team's home field through the 1969 season. At the south end of campus, the former Spud Bowl is now Davis Field (named for William E. Davis and located at 42°51′32″N112°25′52″W / 42.859°N 112.431°W / 42.859; -112.431), which continues as the home venue for outdoor track and field and soccer.[36]
The ICCU Dome in 2008 (under the former Holt Arena name.)
The team's current home venue is an indoor arena that was conceived by ISU athletic director Milton W. "Dubby" Holt in 1966. ISU students voted to appropriate not more than $2.8 million to the project two years later. Originally named the ASISU MiniDome, it was renamed Holt Arena in 1988 to honor Holt. The arena replaced the Spud Bowl as the Bengals' home football stadium in 1970.[37][38]
The arena is an indoor multi-purpose athletic stadium located on the north end of the ISU campus. Completed in September 1970, it is the oldest enclosed stadium on a college campus in the United States and the second-oldest overall.[citation needed] Only the Astrodome in Houston, completed in 1965, predates it.
Idaho State and Idaho have a rivalry that can be traced to 1916, when they played their first game against each other, with Idaho winning, 32–0. They have played 42 rivalry games since then. Idaho won the first 8 games in the series, with Idaho State winning their first game in 1969. The rivalry remained competitive throughout the 1970s and 1980s, neither team three-peating throughout that period. In 1996, Idaho moved up to Division I-A, now the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and the rivalry halted. The two schools played each other only 4 times during Idaho's stay in the FBS, Idaho winning all of them. In 2018, Idaho moved back down to Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and rejoined the Big Sky Conference. Since then, they have played an annual rivalry game dubbed "Battle of the Domes". Idaho leads the series 3-2 since rejoining the conference.
Weber State
Games Played
ISU Win
ISU Loss
Win%
First Meeting
Last Meeting
Next Scheduled Meeting
62
15
47
.242
W 42–20 (1962)
L 7–45 (2022)
November 4, 2023
Idaho State and Weber State first played each other in October 1962.[39] Weber State is Idaho State's most played rival, as they have played each other annually since both joined the Big Sky Conference as charter members in July 1963.
Portland State
Games Played
ISU Win
ISU Loss
Win%
First Meeting
Last Meeting
Next Scheduled Meeting
46
26
19
.578
W 27–7 (1965)
L 10–31 (2021)
2022
Portland State first joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996, and has become one of Idaho State's conference protected rivals.
All-time record vs. Big Sky teams
As of the 2021 season, ISU has the following records against other Big Sky teams.
Utah Aggies 136, Idaho Tech 0, on October 11, 1919: Idaho State (then known as Idaho Technical Institute) lost to Utah State (then known as Utah Agricultural College) by a score of 136–0.[40]
Idaho 1, Idaho State 0, on November 11, 1978: In the conference finale for both teams in 1978, a night game was scheduled in Moscow, Idaho.[41] ISU planned to fly up to the Palouse that afternoon in two vintage airplanes.[42] One developed engine trouble shortly after takeoff from Pocatello and returned. Both teams were at the bottom of the Big Sky standings and the game was not rescheduled; Idaho was granted a 1–0forfeit win.[42][43][44]
Idaho State 34, Eastern Kentucky 23, on December 19, 1981: In the 1981 season, Idaho State were ranked at the top of the Big Sky standings, and appeared in the Division I-AA playoffs for the first time in program history, ranked #2 in the nation. Idaho State defeated Rhode Island and South Carolina State in the playoffs on their way to the title game, then known as the Pioneer Bowl. Coach Dave Kragthorpe led the Bengals to an 11-point victory and the national title.[45]
Idaho State 30, Nevada 28, on September 16, 2017: Idaho State had lost each of their prior 10 games against Nevada,[46] and were 33.5 point underdogs against them. However, the Bengals were able to pull off an upset, beating Nevada, 30–28.[47] Nevada scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, but failed to defeat Idaho State. This was the first time Idaho State had beaten a school in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) since defeating Utah State in 2000.[48]
^"Athletics: Football"(PDF). Wickiup. Idaho Technical Institute. 1919. p. 47. Retrieved March 8, 2022 – via ISU.edu. due to the flu raging in the city, there was no school and consequently no football
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