Idaho football spring camp set to open Tuesday

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Mar. 27—MOSCOW, Idaho — Starting next week, fans can catch a preview of Idaho's football team as it begins preparations for its second season under coach Thomas Ford Jr.

The Vandals will open their spring practice slate Tuesday morning at the Kibbie Dome, the school announced Friday. Idaho will stage 14 total workouts on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays over the next four weeks before its spring game at 6 p.m. on May 1.

Weekday practices will begin at 6 a.m. and Saturday sessions will start at 10 a.m., with a noon exercise scheduled for April 11. All practices will be open to the public.

The Vandals are coming off a 4-8 season in Ford's first year at the helm. They missed the playoffs for the first time in four years. Idaho restructured its staff over the offseason, bringing in new offensive, defensive and special-teams coordinators.

Idaho returns standout junior quarterback Joshua Wood and four starters on the offensive line, along with several promising receivers, headlined by Ryan Jezioro, who was Idaho's top pass-catcher as a freshman last year.

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

Idaho will introduce its new offensive scheme under coordinator Ian Shoemaker, whose system produced big numbers during his time as OC at Eastern Washington (2019-21).

The Vandals' defense, a top-five group in the Big Sky Conference last season, lost several key players to graduation and transfers, but brought back a handful of experienced pieces and reloaded with eight additions from the transfer portal. Senior Lewiston native Cruz Hepburn, who had a breakout season at linebacker last year, will lead the new-look unit, which will be coordinated by Lee Stalker, who spent the past three years assisting with linebackers and the defensive line at Iowa State.

"I'm also fired up to see our new guys on the defensive side of the ball get after it with pads on," Ford said.

On special teams, Idaho brings back its top contributors from last year. The group will be coached by Joe Begnal, who joined the Vandals in the offseason after two years as a special-teams assistant at Michigan State.

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