One of the players who rode Read's system into the record books was Marvin Turk, a junior college transfer from California, who played wide receiver for the Grizzlies in 1990 and '91.
In his senior year, Turk cracked the 1,000-yard barrier to set UM's single-season record for receiving yards.
Before that, Turk spent several years coaching and played professional football in two of the most unlikely locations in the world - Sweden and Taipei, Taiwan.
At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Turk fit the rugged mold of several wide receivers who played for Read that were built more like tight ends.
He was recruited to UM by assistant coach Robin Pflugrad, out of American River Junior College in Turk's hometown of Sacramento.
"I liked Don Read," Turk says. "He was what they call a player's coach."
Among the highlights of his collegiate career, he says, were scoring four touchdowns and piling up 200 receiving yards in a victory over Idaho, and a three-TD, 195-yard receiving game in a win over Weber State.
The Grizzlies' rivalry with Montana State also stands out in his memory.
"The atmosphere around town and even around the state was this was a game you had to win," he said.
Former Bobcat basketball player Rusty Smith is the head hoops coach at College of the Sequoias.
"He and I go back and forth over the Griz-Cat games," Turk says.
Turk left UM in 1992 with a degree in psychology. The following year, he played one season of football in a professional league in Sweden.
The league required the majority of its players to be Swedish, according to Turk. But each team was allowed to have three or four American players.
After that season, Turk was recruited to play in a new professional league based in Asia, called the United Football League.
After attending a training camp in Kentucky, Turk was sent with his team to Taipei, Taiwan, where he played in one game.
Unfortunately, he says, the UFL "ran out of money. They couldn't get insurance and they sent us all home. I think I made $300."
For the next four years, Turk was a receivers football coach at his JC alma mater, American River College.
Then he returned to school, earning a master's degree in counseling and education at Sacramento State.
Turk got his first job as a counselor, specializing in advising student-athletes, at Sierra College in Rockland, Calif. In 1999, he was hired at College of the Sequoias in a similar capacity.
Helping athletes prepare for the transition from junior college to major four-year institutions is a large part of his job, Turk says. His own experience as a JC transfer at UM gives him valuable insight in that area, he adds.
Turk and his wife, Irene, have been married for five years and have two sons, Demetrios, 5, and Dominic, 4.
Aside from his work, Turk says he's refereed high school basketball games for the past six years, and he plays golf once a week year-round in Visalia, which is about 30 miles south of Fresno.
During his time in Missoula, Turk says, he made some lifelong friends.
"I still keep up with the (Judge Donald) Molloy family in Missoula," he says. "They were an inspiration for me and helped take care of me."
He also stays in touch with some former UM teammates, including Carl Franks and Mike Trevathan.
Turk says he still closely follows the Grizzlies during the football season.
"I'm always online seeing how they do," he says. "And I check out the scores on ESPN. I went to see their games at Sacramento State and Cal Poly. At one game, I was actually on the sidelines, holding the headphones for one of the coaches."
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