Montana Lands Kalispell Glacier Athlete Cooper Pelc for 2026 Class

Cooper Pelc caught 37 passes for 707 yards and seven touchdowns for the 2025 Class AA state champion Glacier Wolfpack, played cornerback with four interceptions and 14 pass deflections, and returned punts well enough to earn second-team all-conference honors in the role. He is also, by family, a Grizzly. His father Brian started at center for Montana's 2001 FCS national championship team; his mother Kelli ran track at the University of Montana. When Pelc announced his commitment on March 28, the choice was layered.

"One of the first things he said to me after I committed was there's nothing like making a big play in Washington-Grizzly Stadium," Pelc said, recounting his father's reaction. "I'm just kind of looking forward to making my first play."

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound wide receiver becomes the fourth verbal in head coach Bobby Kennedy's first recruiting cycle, joining Missoula Big Sky quarterback Eli Kasberg, Big Sky defensive lineman Quincy King, and Missoula Sentinel linebacker Sam Sirmon. The four commits are all Montanans, a 100-percent in-state rate through Kennedy's first month of active recruiting since being named the program's 38th head coach in February 2026. His predecessor Bobby Hauck finished the 2026 cycle with nine in-state signees out of 20 total, a 45-percent clip that itself ranked among the program's stronger in-state years.

Montana State had also offered Pelc, and Washington State expressed interest, which makes his decision a direct competitive victory in the Flathead Valley, a corridor that has produced consistent Big Sky-caliber talent. Pelc attended Montana's Junior Day before announcing his commitment, a sequence that reflects the kind of campus access Kennedy's staff is prioritizing to close on top in-state prospects before rival programs can develop traction.

The position projection favors outside receiver at the FCS level, where Pelc's 6-3 frame and a 19-yards-per-catch average from Glacier's state title run give him legitimate slot and perimeter range. His defensive high school experience also opens sub-package options as he develops, and his punt-return history is immediately transferable: special teams depth at that level often determines field position in rivalry games against Northern Arizona, Weber State, and Montana State.

Glacier ended two consecutive runner-up finishes to win the 2025 Class AA title, meaning Pelc arrives in Missoula with postseason experience under pressure, not just regular-season production. For a program rebuilding its early-signing pipeline under a new staff, that kind of resume from 200 miles up U.S. 93 is exactly what Kennedy's Grizzlies are targeting first.