Idaho receiver Tony Harste adjusting well to new offensive system

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Sep. 10—University of Idaho wide receiver Tony Harste tells the story: After the Vandals' 66-14 blowout loss to Utah, which followed a 38-34 season-opening heartbreaker to Cal Poly when the Mustangs scored with nine seconds remaining, Idaho coach Thomas Ford Jr. posted a pair of scores at a team meeting that approximated Idaho's season to date — 59-13 and 30-24.

Then Ford told the Vandals those were the results of Montana State's first two games last year, a beating at the hands of Oregon and a double-overtime loss to South Dakota State. The Bobcats, of course, didn't lose another game to finish 14-2 and became the 2025 Football Championship Subdivision champions.

The message: "Hey, this has been done before," said Harste. "A lot of times you feel like you have got to do what has never been done before. But it's been done before."

As the Vandals prepare to open their home season Saturday in the Kibbie Dome against Lamar (1-1), "it's fun to be on a team where the hope is not gone," Harste said.

He is a good part of the reason the Vandals can keep their heads up. Through Idaho's first two games, Harste has 11 catches for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a nine-catch, 180-yard, two-touchdown day against Cal Poly. The first of those scores allowed Idaho to pull even with the Mustangs early in the fourth quarter, 24-24, and the second was a 75-yard strike from Joshua Wood to Harste that gave Idaho a 31-24 lead.

On the long ball, Harste found himself in single coverage against Mustangs cornerback SJ Gentle and outran him. Playing on the outside, he wasn't even the primary target. He was running a clear out route for the slot receiver, but he heeded Vandals receivers coach Tyler Paopao's teaching that "on every route, you might get the ball."

Against Lamar on Saturday, Harste expects to face "a lot of really athletic players." However, "we feel good about what we are seeing on film, and what we can do to attack on certain plays."

This year's Idaho offense, under coordinator Ian Shoemaker, features a complicated mix of shifts and motions, Harste says, and Vandals defensive players have told him it is bewildering to play against.

Not the biggest, strongest or fastest receiver, Harste, 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, nonetheless hit the ground running for the Vandals as a freshman in 2024. He played in 10 games that year and made 10 catches for 203 yards. He was on a pace to more than double that production as a sophomore. Through five games he had 12 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury at Montana.

Getting hurt not only forced Harste to watch the Vandals lose six of their final eight games. It had some major carryover to this season. It prompted Harste to reevaluate his situation and it deepened his commitment to a team-first philosophy that is a core principle of this year's team, he said.

"It taught me a lot about not being selfish. I can't change the fact I'm injured. But how can I help the team in every way I can? I tried to become like a second coach and help Coach Paopao every way I could."

Harste calls it a "servant focus," and he says it informs all the Vandals' actions this year. In his case, one of the ways it shows up is in blocking. "I actually enjoy blocking," he said. Primarily a slot receiver his first two years, Harste is playing on the outside this season. As a blocker he is matched up against cornerbacks now rather than the linebackers, nickel backs and safeties he took on as a slot receiver.

As a junior, Harste is also embracing the servant focus as a mentor. In his first two years with the Vandals, "I thought I should stay in my lane. This year, I am more in a role to help lead and guide others, since I have been here three years.

"I think I have definitely stepped into that role with the receivers. How can I help the team and guide these guys to the best of my ability?"

Harste finds that Moscow still suits him.

"I love it being here," he said. "The longer I am here it helps me to see more of the community. It is awesome meeting people in the community."

Last season, that included meeting elementary school students in Troy, Idaho, at recess and reading for elementary school students at Lena Whitmore School in Moscow.

"I had a blast," he said.

The new NCAA eligibility rule giving players five years to play five seasons could extend Harste's college career by a year, since he never took a redshirt season. Harste plans to take advantage of that. But, like virtually everyone who is as good at a sport as he is at football, he may eventually be forced to make a decision about where he wants to play out the remainder of his career. The transfer portal continues to offer the possibility to move to a school that can pay players much more than Idaho can.

Now, though, his focus is "one day at a time. Right now, I am an Idaho Vandal," Harste said.

"I try not to think about all that. I just worry about what I have got to do today" as a servant to a team that still harbors high hopes.

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