It was nothing official, to hear Matt and Ben Hulse tell it. But it was still a big deal for the 265-pound Matt, who was just beginning his football career, and his father, a former small-college basketball player.
The phone rang at the Hulse residence. It was Tim Hauck, Montana's secondary coach and brother to Griz head coach Bobby Hauck. It was one of three calls, back-to-back, from colleges that evening. Matt can't remember who else called. He spoke for a while, and then hung up.
An official scholarship offer came around three months later.
“August 9,” said Ben Hulse. “He's got the letter up on his wall. We were all pretty much floored by that.”
“We hadn't even got our pads yet,” added Matt. “I thought, let's just see how the season goes.”
Matt Hulse, you may recall, was mostly a basketball player growing up in Chandler, Ariz. His father played hoops at tiny Taylor University in Upland, Ind., before joining the Army in 1983 and meeting his wife, Army athletic hall of famer Alma Jo Cobb, on a basketball court in Fort Hood, Texas, in 1985.
So the younger Hulse grew up with a basketball in his hands. He apparently outgrew it last winter.
“His junior year was really difficult,” said Ben Hulse, an assistant on Hamilton High's basketball team. “A lot of foul trouble. I kept telling him, ‘You can be physical, but you've got to be subtle.' ”
In football, Matt Hulse may have found an outlet for not-so-subtle athleticism. A 235-pounder a year ago, he began hitting the weights after leaving the basketball team. By late April, when Hamilton was into its spring football drills, he was a monster.
High school spring drills have yet to be endorsed by the Montana High School Association, but they're a big thing in other states, coinciding with the evaluation process for college recruiters.
Hamilton is a football hotbed. Ben Hulse recalled noticing a hand-written letter one of the athletes had left on the floor of the locker room. It was from Florida.
“You have everybody and their brother,” he said. “There's Michigan, Notre Dame. You walk in and (USC coach) Pete Carroll is sitting there.”
Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson was the one who pointed Hulse out to Hauck.
“I remember the day Matt came over and said, I talk to so-and-so, so-and-so, and Montana,” said Ben. “For some reason that stuck in my mind.”
Matt Hulse stuck in Bobby Hauck's mind as well.
“He was a stud,” Hauck said Wednesday, then pointed at the eight-foot-high stuffed grizzly at the entrance to Adams Center's Sky Club. “I mean, he looks like that.
“I can get a better evaluation on guys playing that position while watching scrimmages in spring, or going through practice, than I can watching tape. I spent an hour and a half watching him.”
Again, Matt had yet to don pads. He did soon enough, and last fall played often at defensive tackle. He made one start for the Huskies, who oddly enough wear maroon and silver.
His new uniform won't be a major shock, not that the Hulse family counts on playing time right away.
“It's going to be a huge adjustment,” Ben Hulse says. “But we were so comfortable with the coaches and they know where he's coming from. He doesn't have to step into something right away. He can work and get better, and smarter, and stronger.”
That's a good place to start.
Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 523-5247 or by e-mail at fneighbor@missoulian.com.
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