Catching up with coach Ford Pt. 2: An Idaho season in review

While some football teams are still wrapping up their seasons with bowl games or playoffs, it’s offseason mode for the Idaho Vandals.

The Vandals are coming off a 4-8 season in the first year of head coach Thomas Ford Jr.’s tenure, which was full of ups and downs, with big wins, big losses and some injuries.

The season was not all that Ford and his crew were hoping for, but he pointed to some lofty goals that the group had at the start of the season and compared it to the inexperienced unit that the Vandals had.

In a recent exclusive conversation with the Tribune, Ford walked through a season in review from his point of view, players with standout seasons and the goals for 2026.

How the season went, and how the program developed

The 2025 season did not go as the Vandals hoped, Ford said.

He said he did think that in some of those close games, if the ball bounced the Vandals’ way, they could have had a much better record.

Games including the 13-10 loss to Washington State on Aug. 30, the 31-28 loss to San Jose State on Sept. 20, the 21-14 loss to Eastern Washington on Oct. 18 and the 23-20 loss to Sacramento State on Nov. 15 stand out as missed opportunities.

“Starting out, obviously 2025 was a bit of an up-and-down season for us,” Ford said. “I thought we had some expectations that were very high, and rightfully so. We’re a program that has had some success, and I think our guys were probably a little bit inexperienced to have that high expectation of being a playoff team that gets a first-round bye and those things. But what I will say about this team is: the ball bounces our way a couple of times, we flip our record.”

Ford said he was extremely proud of how the players continued to battle and play hard to win every week. He said that the foundation has been set for this year. The players on the roster who had little to no experience before gained valuable playing time, and things should be better for that group next season.

“And I think even though it wasn’t the season we had hoped, it was definitely a season that still provides a lot of building blocks for what this program will be moving forward,” Ford said. “We’ve got a lot of players that really got their teeth cut this year, getting a ton of experience, 300-or-more snaps, and we’re just really excited about the building blocks that we’ve laid and really believe that we’ve got all the makings for a successful season in 2026.”

Looking at the program and how his culture has developed throughout the 2025 season, Ford said that he thought it developed well, but just not good enough for the standard that the Vandals want to keep.

He said that the group did take strides in terms of matching their coaches’ expectation level for each game.

“And so I think we really needed to do a great job of teaching what the standard is,” Ford said. “We talked about the standard, but I don’t know that we had 117 guys on the roster that fully understood what that meant. So I think getting that message across, showing what that looks like in our games, was definitely a success, but certainly would love to have more wins on our record for sure.”

Players who took strides and team leaders

Ford mentioned a few players who took tremendous strides this season. He included names like defensive end Matyus McLain, cornerback Caleb Ricks, wide receiver Ryan Jezioro and center Layton Vining.

McLain was the Vandals’ sacks leader with 4.5 total sacks, ranking No. 13 in the Big Sky in that stat. He also led Idaho with 13.5 tackles for loss, good for No. 3 in the Big Sky.

McLain earned an All-Big Sky honorable mention nod.

Ricks was a true freshman cornerback who started near the boundary. He had seven pass breakups, one interception and tallied 26 total tackles.

Ricks was selected on the FCS Football Central 2025 Freshman All-American team.

Jezioro was one of Idaho’s top receivers this season, until he sustained an injury that hindered him for the rest of the year.

Jezioro caught 27 passes for 347 yards and four touchdowns, leading the team in every major receiving category.

Vining was part of an elite offensive line corps and the most consistent unit on either side of the ball for Idaho.

The O-line ranked No. 4 in the Big Sky in sacks allowed at 17, and the rushing attack was also No. 4 in the Big Sky with 175.4 rushing yards per game and 18 rushing touchdowns.

Ford mentioned senior guard Nate Azzopardi as one of the biggest leaders on the team, but also pointed to quarterback Joshua Wood and linebacker Dylan Layne.

“A guy that really stepped up was Joshua Wood,” Ford said. “He’s a guy that came in the summer and kind of earned his keep in terms of a leader. But really, especially down the back half when he returned from injury, (he) became a very vocal leader for us, and really a guy that I thought guys looked to on game day. Likewise, on defense, Dylan Lane was a guy that stepped up in a major way, becoming a leader on the defensive side.”

Looking to 2026

Ford said as a head coach, he learned a few things in his first year as the Idaho headman. He said he realized that the players’ focus should be on one day at a time. Not looking at how they will be Big Sky Conference contenders or even national championship contenders, but just to maximize each individual day and have results that are measured through the process.

“I think we have really good culture here, and I think that the expectations are clearly lined up, but I want to get better at just making sure everybody understands the repercussions when we don’t do it that way,” Ford said. “So just really a great way to improve our accountability.”

Ford said that he wants to see improvement everywhere on the team, but specific areas include offensive efficiency and continuing to build on the success the Vandals had defensively.

He said he wants to have more explosive plays on offense. Defensively, Ford wants the Vandals to be more physical, stop the run, create more takeaways and get more sacks.

UI will have to replace some of its leaders next season, like the graduated Azzopardi and transfer-portal-bound Layne and McLain, but getting the best recruiting class in program history is a good start.

For Part 3 of “Catching up with coach Ford,” UI’s coach will talk about the future Vandals.

Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @TrevorJunt.