Montana Grizzlies to Unveil Bobby Kennedy Era at Spring Game Friday

Bobby Kennedy has had two months to install a system, establish a culture, and figure out what he has left on a roster that lost 26 players to graduation. Tonight at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Grizzly fans get their first look at the answers.

The Grizzly Scholarship Association Spring Game tips off at 6:00 p.m. MT, with stadium gates opening at 4:00 p.m. for the official GSA tailgate. The team warms up at approximately 5:40 p.m., and Kennedy will address the crowd before kickoff, giving Missoula its first extended public glimpse of his message and tone heading into the summer.

Kennedy sounded measured but encouraged when speaking about the spring slate. "I think spring has gone really well. I've enjoyed seeing the progress on both sides of the ball, and I don't think the guys have taken a step back from last season," he said. His stated priorities are concrete and telling: running the ball, contested catches in live situations, finishing plays, and physical, sound tackling on defense. Those are the hallmarks of a staff working to establish an identity quickly rather than overhauling what the program already does well.

The game itself runs four 15-minute quarters on a rolling clock, with the roster divided into roughly two complete units, maroon against silver. Several players will take snaps for both sides, a format designed to stretch evaluation across as many depth positions as possible. That flexibility matters given the scale of attrition: 26 graduation losses create real competition throughout the depth chart, and the spring game offers the last structured look before fall camp opens.

Walk-up tickets are $10 at the kiosk near the south entrance; tickets are also available through GrizTix.com.

The depth question hovering over Montana's fall season makes this spring finale more consequential than most. Kennedy inherits a program that has consistently competed at the top of the Big Sky Conference, and his insistence that the Grizzlies have not taken a step backward is a direct signal that continuity, not reconstruction, is the operating philosophy. How that philosophy holds up under live conditions, in front of a home crowd, is precisely what tonight is designed to reveal.