Vandals building buzz ahead of 2026 season

Jun. 17—VANDAL NOTES

If Vandal fans blinked, they may have missed a busy start to the offseason.

Idaho football has quietly stacked up headlines over the past few weeks — announcing national TV appearances, adding key transfer portal pieces and preparing for a major presence at the upcoming 2026 Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane.

Wood, Hepburn, Ford bound for Big Sky Kickoff

Two weeks ago, the Big Sky Conference announced the attendees for the 2026 Football Kickoff weekend. The Big Sky Kickoff is an annual event that takes place each year in Spokane at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

The 2026 event officially begins on Saturday, July 25 and will run through Monday, July 27.

Idaho headman Thomas Ford Jr, junior quarterback Joshua Wood and senior linebacker and Lewiston product Cruz Hepburn will be at the event.

Wood and Hepburn are returners from the 2025 roster on track to be the leaders of their respective sides of the ball.

Monday will feature over four hours of live coverage of the event starting at 9 a.m. on ESPN+ and on Scripps Sports.

The coverage will have interviews from all 13 football teams, commissioner Tom Wistricill and other guests throughout the day. The exact schedule for the interviews is yet to be released.

The event will also function as the first public gathering with the new-look league, with the additions of Southern Utah and Utah Tech, along with the departure of Sacramento State.

On July 25, Dennis Erickson, who was the head coach of the Vandals from 1981-1985, will be inducted into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame. Erickson is already part of the University of Idaho Athletics Hall of Fame. Over four years with UI, Eirckson went 32-15 overall and 31-12 in the regular season. He went 4-0 in the rivalry game against Boise State.

Erickson helped revive the Vandal football team and quickly turned it into a top I-AA program.

He also coached at Washington State University in the Pac-10 from 1987-88. Erickson turned the program around from a 3-7-1 team to a 9-3 team a year later and a postseason victory in the Aloha Bowl, which was WSU’s first bowl win since the 1916 Rose Bowl.

He had a quick stint back in Idaho in 2006 but left after just 10 months.

3 Vandal games to be broadcast nationwide

Idaho’s football schedule is starting to come together.

The Big Sky Conference announced three linear ESPN network games and their kickoff times on Idaho’s 2026 schedule.

The Vandals’ season opener on Aug. 28 against Cal Poly and UI’s marquee matchup against the reigning FCS national champion Montana State Bobcats on Oct. 2 were both selected for Friday night slots on ESPN.

Visiting Cal Poly, the two teams will kick off at 7 p.m. Pacific. It will be just the second regular-season game for Idaho on ESPN proper in Idaho’s program history.

When Montana State comes to Moscow to showdown with the Vandals, the game will begin at 7:30 p.m., also on ESPN. The contest was originally scheduled for that Saturday, Oct. 3, but was moved up to Friday.

It will be the Vandals’ first Friday night game at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome since Nov. 12, 2010, when they faced Boise State, and it is the first non-Saturday regular season game at home since August 31, 2017, when they played Sacramento State.

UI’s second game of the season will be against the Utah Utes at 6 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, Sept. 3, and will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Idaho’s three regular-season games on a linear ESPN network will be the most since 2009.

The Vandals have had six Big Sky contests selected for nationwide viewing since 2023, the most of any team from the conference.

Vandals’ spring signees

In spring transfers, Idaho landed five players — two wide receivers, a defensive back, a defensive lineman and a quarterback.

The list includes:

Markel Taylor, WR, Sacramento City College

Zack Card, WR, Oregon State

Daemon Fagan, WR, North Carolina State

Da’Vaughn Robinson, DL, Moorpark College

Israel Carter, QB, Norfolk State

The two most interesting players from that group are Robinson and Taylor.

Robinson anchored a Moorpark College defense last year that led the Southern California Football Association with 34 sacks. He led the team with seven of his own, tied for third in the conference.

Robinson also had 14 tackles for loss and forced a fumble.

Idaho had a big issue with getting to the passer in 2025, and Robinson could help fill the void that Matyus McLain left when he transferred to WSU.

Taylor notched 25 receptions for 425 yards and three touchdowns last year at Sacramento City College.

He tallied five grabs for 94 yards and had the game-winning touchdown in Sacramento City College’s 14-10 win over Foothill College in September.

With a Vandals team that lacked consistency in the receiving game, he could be a welcome addition.

Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X @TrevorJunt.