Big Sky

Hauck back as Montana football coach with 3-year contract

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:18 p.m. ET

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) Bobby Hauck returned Friday as head football coach at Montana, a program he led to three FCS national championship games during a prior tenure also marked by several high-profile instances of player misbehavior.

University officials said Friday that Hauck agreed to a three-year contract taking him through the 2020 season. He'll receive a base salary of $185,000.

Other incentives included in the contract were not immediately detailed. The athletic department said the release of the full contract would require a formal public records request.

The coaching position came open when athletic director Kent Haslam did not renew the contract of Bob Stitt, who had a 21-14 record over three seasons as head coach.

Hauck, a Montana native and a school alum, coached the Grizzlies from 2003 to 2009, compiling an 80-17 record. He was the head coach at UNLV from 2010-14 and spent the past three seasons as special teams coordinator and associate head coach at San Diego State.

During a news conference Friday, he said he was ''thrilled to be back'' and pointed out his wife, three daughters and numerous cousins, uncles and other relatives in the crowd.

''Our roots in this place go deep,'' he said. ''It's just such a special day.''

Haslam said he expected Hauck's previous success at Montana to continue and for the coach to work toward a culture of ''hard work, respect and accountability.''

Hauck's return to Montana was opposed by some Grizzly fans who objected to the team's off-the-field conduct under Hauck's watch, which was punctuated by a string of violent crimes perpetrated by players and a Hauck recruit, Beau Donaldson, who was convicted and sentenced to prison for the 2010 rape of a woman.

Hauck addressed the issue directly Friday, saying that some players brought on during his previous tenure ''conducted themselves in a manner that wasn't worthy of wearing the Grizzly uniform.''

''I'm ready to do a better job on that score as well,'' he said. ''I want to emphasize the importance of the education process, training, shaping the culture (so) that the sexual assault that has been evidenced on this campus in particular that it just can't happen.''

Montana athletic department spokesman Eric Taber said Hauck's contract would become final after it's signed by state Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian.

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