Former Idaho QB Kenny Hobart to Be Honored at Vandal Scramble Golf Event

Kenny Hobart never needed a recruiting offer to make his mark at the University of Idaho. The Kamiah native walked onto the Vandal roster in January 1980 and proceeded to start every game for four consecutive seasons, throwing for more than 10,000 yards and earning Division I-AA All-American honors in 1983. More than four decades later, Kootenai County is ready to formally celebrate the quarterback known throughout Idaho football circles as the "Kamiah Kid."

Hobart has been named this year's honoree for the Jim & Shelly Robson Vandal Scramble, an annual charity fundraiser benefiting the Vandal Scholarship Fund. The event is scheduled for May 16 at Hayden Lake Country Club, organized by the Kootenai County Vandal Boosters. The day begins with a no-host lunch at 11:30 a.m., followed by a four-person scramble with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. and a cocktail reception and dinner in the evening. Flag and hole sponsorships are available; those interested in participating or sponsoring can contact organizers Shelly Robson or Randy Haddock for details.

The scope of Hobart's career makes the recognition particularly fitting for an event that supports the next generation of Vandal student-athletes. He started all 46 of his college games under two head coaches, bridging the Vandals' transition from the veer option offense under Jerry Davitch to the passing attack installed by first-year head coach Dennis Erickson in 1982. That season, Hobart led Idaho to an 8-3 regular-season record and the program's first-ever Division I-AA playoff appearance, falling 30-38 on the road to eventual national champion Eastern Kentucky in the quarterfinals.

Hobart's Idaho tenure extended beyond football: he also competed in the decathlon for the Vandal track program, the same program that later produced Olympic gold medalist Dan O'Brien. After graduation, the New York Jets selected him 10th in the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft, and he went on to play six professional seasons across the United States Football League and Canadian Football League, with stints that included the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Rough Riders.

The scholarship dollars raised through the Vandal Scramble support the kind of program investment that, for Hobart, turned a walk-on opportunity into a scholarship, an All-American career, and a professional future.

In other Idaho football news, head coach Thomas Ford Jr. has added Dom Anderson to his staff as pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach. Anderson served as defensive coordinator at Fayetteville State and as defensive backs coach at Missouri Western State in 2025, and has participated in the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.