He immediately deflected the credit elsewhere.
“I view that as a staff award, and not an individual accolade,” said Hauck, who has guided the Griz to a 39-12 mark, including a 10-1 record this season. “It's a direct result of the great job this season by our assistant coaches.”
The correlation between the Grizzlies' record and their accolades is obvious. Montana, ranked second in I-AA, leads the Big Sky in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense and scoring defense. In the same offensive categories they rank second in the league across the board.
In all, 13 Griz defensive players were honored in some fashion by the Big Sky, either by first-team, second-team or honorable mention selections. On offense, 11 UM players were honored.
“I'm excited for our guys,” Hauck said. “Everybody likes to be recognized. It's a byproduct of a job well done by all the players on the team, not just the individuals who were recognized. Every guy on this football team is thrilled with winning a championship and winning 10 games.
“They understand that when you do those sort of things, the individual accolades come.”
Hauck, a 1988 Montana graduate, was on the Grizzlies' staff in 1988-89. He coached at UCLA from 1990-91, then assisted at Northern Arizona, Colorado and Washington before returning to UM as head coach in 2003. He's the fifth Griz coach to receive the Big Sky honor, joining Jack Swarthout (1969-70), Don Read (1989, 1993, 1995), Mick Dennehy (1996) and Joe Glenn (2000-02).
Hauck is also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, given annually to the top coach in I-AA. Glenn won the Robinson Award in 2000.
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