Story Links

MOSCOW, Idaho – After a long offseason complete with hundreds of hours in the weight room, conditioning, and recruiting, Idaho Football is back on the gridiron. 

Second-year head coach Thomas Ford Jr. and his Vandals are set to kick off the 2026 spring practice schedule on Tuesday, March 31, the first of a series of fourteen sessions that will culminate in the 2026 Spring Game on Friday, May 1.

“Really excited to get going with spring ball,” stated Ford on getting back on the turf. “Our guys have done a great job this winter in the weight room, learning our new schemes within OTA’s, and now it’s time for us to put it all together and do it full speed.”

Practices over the next four weeks will take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Weekday sessions will start at 6:00 AM and Saturday’s will kick off between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM. The Spring Game is currently scheduled for 6:00 PM on the Friday of week five. All practices will be open to the public and fans are encouraged to get their first look at the 2026 Vandals with new faces at the offensive, defensive, and special teams coordinator.

“We have a much more experienced group than we did a year ago, especially on the offensive side of the ball,” said Ford. “A lot of our guys have now played 500+ snaps as opposed to 200 or less. 

Said offense will feature the return of starting quarterback Joshua Wood, who completed nearly 60% of his passes across ten starts while rushing for 59 yards per contest. Sawyer Teeney and Jack Wagner, who each saw significant snaps in 2025, will return to compete for snaps under center. These signal-callers will have the benefit of returning four starters from the offensive line, only having lost all-Big Sky guard Nate Azzopardi to graduation. 

Ryan Jezioro, Idaho’s leading receiver from a year ago as a freshman, is back for his second season in black and gold following a redshirt. Marquawn McCraney, Tony Harste, and Trais Higgins highlight a trio of returning pass-catchers who will be back in Moscow this spring. The offense will be led by offensive coordinator Ian Shoemaker, a hire that has Ford and co. fired up for 2026. 

Defensively, the Vandals return key pieces at all three levels and have added talent to bolster a unit that was one of the highest-graded in the Big Sky by Pro Football Focus. Mitch Jaskowiak and Titus Ringor anchor a defensive front that was one of the most stout against the run in the league. Lewiston native Cruz Hepburn will return as a leader in the linebacker room after totaling 71 tackles in 2025, and Tim Jackson, Zach Wusstig, and Hysan Dalton return among the most experienced DBs in black and gold.

“I’m also fired up to see our new guys on the defensive side of the ball get after it with pads on. We’ve had a great start to the 26 season and looking forward to seeing our guys improve their consistency, and master the fundamentals of their position,” stated Ford.

This defense will be led by first-year Defensive Coordinator Lee Stalker, another highly-touted hire who spent the last three seasons at Iowa State where he coached five defensive players to All-Big IX accolades. 

Newly-minted Special Teams Coordinator Joe Begnal inherits a returning class of specialists with at least a season’s worth of experience in Moscow, Cameron Pope, Owen Forsman, and Dylan Fischer earned key snaps in the third phase of the game and will be leaders in that aspect coming into the spring.

The full spring practice schedule is listed below.

Practice #1 – March 31 – 6:00 AM

Practice #2 – April 2 – 6:00 AM

Practice #3 – April 4 – 10:00 AM

Practice #4 – April 7 – 6:00 AM

Practice #5 – April 9 – 6:00 AM

Practice #6 – April 11 – 12:00 PM

Practice #7 – April 14 – 6:00 AM

Practice #8 – April 16 – 6:00 AM

Practice #9 – April 18 – 10:00 AM

Practice #10 – April 21 – 6:00 AM

Practice #11 – April 23 – 6:00 AM

Practice #12 – April 25 – 10:00 AM

Practice #13 – April 28 – 6:00 AM

Practice #14 – April 30 – 6:00 AM

Spring Game – May 1 – 6:00 PM

SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow the Vandals on Facebook, Instagram, and X for the latest updates.

TICKETS: Season ticket renewals are live, and can be managed by entering your ticket account online, or by calling the Idaho Ticket Office at (208)885-6466.