The University of Idaho's football program, nicknamed the "Vandals", began in 1893.
History Early history (1893–1977)
The University of Idaho fielded its first football team in 1893. It wasn't until 1917 that the program earned its nickname, the Vandals, after the UI basketball team under alumnus Hec Edmundson played defense with such ferocity that they "vandalized" their opponents and, thus, the nickname of Vandals was adopted for all school sports. Fred Herbold served as the Vandals head football coach in 1900 and 1901, compiling a record of In 1902, John G. Griffith was hired as head football coach and athletic director at the University of Idaho. When Iowa football coach Alden Knipe retired after the 1902 season, school officials considered hiring Griffith but went with John Chalmers instead. Griffith continued as Idaho's head football coach through 1906, and is Idaho's longest tenured head football coach to date. The Vandals' first-ever forward pass was attempted against Washington State in 1907: it was completed for a touchdown from a drop-kick formation in the fourth quarter and led to a 5–4 victory. Following the First World War, Thomas Kelley led the Vandals for two years, then left for Missouri. He played college football as a tackle at the University of Chicago under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, and was previously the head coach at Alabama. In coach Robert Mathews' four seasons as head coach, the Vandals' first years in the Pacific Coast Conference, they won three consecutive rivalry games over Washington State. Idaho lost the other, Mathews' first in 1922, by a single point, and he remains the only Idaho head coach to date with multiple wins over Washington State. The Vandals made their first significant use of the forward pass under Mathews. Charles Erb was hired in May 1926 as head coach and director of athletics of the Vandals, where he compiled a record in three seasons, including a PCC co-championship in 1927. Erb was the quarterback at California in the early 1920s on the "Wonder Teams" of hall of fame head coach Andy Smith. Leo Calland led Vandal football (and the UI athletic department) from 1929 to 1934, compiling a record of 21–30. He was a lineman for USC in the early 1920s and was the Trojans head basketball coach for two seasons. After Idaho, Calland was the football coach at San Diego State for seven seasons.
On February 23, 1935, Ted Bank, a heralded football player at the University of Michigan under Fielding Yost, was named the 14th head football coach of the Idaho Vandals, leaving his post as running backs coach at Tulane in New Orleans.archives.chicagotribune.com/1935/02/24/.../idaho-names-ted-bank-head-football-coach He would stay in Moscow through the completion of the 1940 season. Following a record in his third season on the Palouse in 1937, Bank was on the short list of many to succeed Harry Kipke as head coach at Michigan, his alma mater. Bank denied interest in replacing Kipke, a teammate at Michigan, and told the press, "I am perfectly satisfied at Idaho. I have not been contacted by the Michigan athletic board and would think twice before leaving Idaho." In January 1938, Idaho's state board of education announced that Bank had signed a three-year contract renewal and would remain as the university's football coach and director of physical education. His best season came that season, when the Vandals finished with a record of with victories over Oregon State, Utah, and Utah State, and a tie with Washington. The 1937 and 1938 seasons were Idaho's only winning seasons in football between 1927 and 1963, when the Vandals went 5–4 as an independent under head coach Dee Andros (the tenth game on November 23 was canceled). The 1938 season was the highest winning percentage (.650) between 1927 and 1971. Consecutive winning seasons at Idaho were not achieved again until 1982–83 under Dennis Erickson in the Big Sky Conference in NCAA Division I-AA. (Idaho had fifteen consecutive winning seasons from 1982 to 1996.) The successes of 1937 and 1938 was not maintained as Idaho went 2–6 in 1939 and 1–7–1 in 1940 (and winless in conference games), giving Bank a six-year overall record of 18–33–3 (). Bank was fired as the Vandals' head football coach in January 1941, part of an upheaval that included the resignation of head basketball coach Forrest Twogood. Longtime college football coach Francis Schmidt was hired at Idaho in March 1941; he was previously the head coach at Ohio State University of the Big Ten Conference. The team was 4–5 in 1941 and 3–7 in 1942, but a lack of civilian manpower prior to the 1943 season due to World War II forced several PCC teams to put their programs on hiatus in September, including Idaho. Schmidt stayed on campus and assisted in the physical training of troops, but his health worsened in 1944 and he died in a Spokane hospital in September.
Alumnus James "Babe" Brown was the interim athletic director and basketball coach during the war, then led the Vandals football program in 1945 and 1946, compiling records of and He returned to the high school ranks in southern Idaho and later coached at the College of Idaho. Dixie Howell, a former star running back at Alabama under Frank Thomas, was hired as head football coach at Idaho in February 1947, and guided the usually-struggling Vandals to a promising 4–4 record in his first season in Moscow, the Vandals' best since 1938. The Vandals beat Stanford on the road, a team that had defeated them 45–0 the previous year (but went winless in 1947). It was Idaho's second-ever football victory over a PCC team from California, following a victory over first-year UCLA in 1928. The Vandals also knocked off an undefeated Utah in the season finale in Boise. The Vandals drew a Palouse and state record crowd to Neale Stadium for their annual rivalry game with Washington State ("the Battle of the Palouse") in October, albeit a close 7–0 loss to the Cougars. These promising factors earned Howell a two-year contract extension through 1950. The progress did not continue, as the Vandals opened the 1948 season with four losses and went overall and in conference, defeating only Montana for the Little Brown Stein. Idaho played Washington State close at Rogers Field in Pullman and gave a scare to Oregon, who would be co-champions that year. Howell's relationship with Idaho fans and the administration was strained following the 1949 season. The Vandals went and in conference that season, defeating only departing Montana again. Their two non-conference wins were against overmatched opponents Willamette and Portland, and the Vandals were severely outscored in their five losses, capped by a loss at Stanford to end the season. Howell felt compelled to publicly deny rumors in April that he would leave before the 1950 season; the Vandals went record in conference), and Howell's contract was not renewed in March 1951.
Assistant coach Raymond "Babe" Curfman remained on campus as interim head coach for the upcoming 1951 spring drills after Howell's departure. The administration was impressed with his handling of the team during the first week of practice and made him the permanent head coach in mid-April. He guided the Vandals for three seasons in the Pacific Coast Conference and compiled a record.CFB Data Warehouse – Raymond A. Curfman – head coaching results His salary in his final year at Idaho in 1953 was $7,920. Curfman and the Vandals made headlines during the 1953 season as Idaho struggled in conference play in the PCC. The Vandals had finished the 1953 season at 1–8 under Curfman. Curfman resigned as Idaho's head coach in December 1953. Skip Stahley, former head football coach at Toledo, returned to college football in February 1954 as the head coach of the Vandals at an annual salary of $9,000. Stahley compiled a record in eight seasons in Moscow. While on the Palouse, he coached future NFL notables Jerry Kramer, Wayne Walker, Jim Prestel, and AFL all-star Jim Norton. The Vandals were members of the Pacific Coast Conference for Stahley's first five seasons, then played as an independent when the conference disbanded. Idaho's only conference victory under Stahley came in his first season: the winless Vandals (0–5) surprised and shut out rival Washington State 10–0 in Pullman in the Battle of the Palouse in 1954. It was Idaho's first victory in football over the Cougars in 29 years, and the subsequent march by WSC students from Pullman to Moscow was featured in Life magazine: The win started a four-game winning streak, Idaho's longest in 31 years, to finish at for the 1954 season. The Vandals waited a full decade before they beat the Cougars again, in 1964. When Idaho athletic director Bob Gibb left in 1960, Stahley took over those duties in July for four years. He handled both jobs for a year and a half, then stepped down under pressure as football coach in January 1962, but remained as athletic director until mid-1964.
Illinois assistant coach Dee Andros became head coach of the Vandals at age 37 in February 1962, and his starting annual salary was just under $12,500. Andros served in the U.S. Marines during World War II and saw action at Iwo Jima; he later played on the line at Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson. The 1962 team was 2–6–1, but the following year he led Idaho to its first winning season (5–4) in a quarter century. The tenth and final game of the 1963 season, a road game at Arizona State on November 23 was canceled, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Vandals won their opener in 1964, but then lost four straight, the latter two were close ones to Oregon and Oregon State. The 10–7 loss to the Rose Bowl-bound Beavers in Corvallis came by a late third quarter OSU punt return. The Vandals rebounded and the next week won the Battle of the Palouse for the first time in a decade, defeating neighbor Washington State 28–13. The Cougars were led by first-year head coach Bert Clark, a former Sooner teammate of Andros. The Vandals split the final four games to finish at 4–6. While Idaho had joined Division I-AA and the Big Sky Conference as a charter member in 1963, the Vandals remained an independent for football through 1964 under Andros. Only one conference foe was played during the first two Big Sky seasons, a 1963 game with Idaho State that was previously scheduled. Andros spent three seasons at Idaho, with an overall record of 11–16–1.