POCATELO, Idaho - Idaho State football held its first weekly press conference of the 2026 season. Idaho State Defensive Coordinator Grant Duff spoke first, followed by Head Coach
Cody Hawkins. The Bengals are getting set to host Virginia Military Institute out of the Southern Conference in the 2026 season and home opener this Saturday, August 29 at the ICCU Dome. Kickoff is set for 4:00 PM MT.
Below are quotes from the interviews
GRANT DUFF | Defensive Coordinator
On the defense's mood entering game week
"You feel, you're feeling good. I love the guys. They're fun to be around, we got great personalities, they're competitive. They want to be good, they want to represent the university well, they want to do all the things right. Love the dudes, excited to be with them, and they're chomping at the bit to play."
On true freshman DE Trehsyn Fesili
"Trehsyn Fesili, the young man, came to us, actually graduated high school early last year, joined us in January. So true freshman, you know, with an asterisk — age-wise he's there, I think he's still 17, to be honest. He came in, joined us in spring ball and has just been a great worker, phenomenal personality, parents raised him right, and has been able to come in and compete right away."
On preparing for a new-look VMI staff and roster
"I think we're ready for the known and we're not ready for the unknown. They've got a brand-new coach, brand-new players with the transfer portal — you can't even go back and watch last year's film very much 'cause half the team's transferred. We don't know what they're gonna do, and we don't know who they're gonna do it with."
On what makes an option offense so hard to prepare for
"I liken it a lot to our offense here at Idaho State — you just don't see it every week. It's a one-off from everything else you get from everybody else, and you can't replicate it very well with our team. The speed and tempo and the deliberate execution that they're gonna play with is something we have no shot of replicating at a mastery level."
On the mindset going into an unknown opponent
"The coach speak is it's us against us — everybody says the same thing all the time, and it's true. If you don't know your opponent, well, then you better be the best version of yourself. We're going into year four of Coach Hawkins' system, year two of what we've been doing defensively. They're into year one. Our culture has to out-culture theirs."
On his evolution as a coordinator entering year two
"The focus this year for me was making sure that the players believe in what we're doing and why we're doing it, so that they could take ownership in the role that they're given within the defense. I don't want to coach a bunch of robots — we gotta live in the gray in the middle where you're a football player and your instincts are empowered."
On the value of returning experience at DB
"Experience matters — that's life. Having dudes come back and be able to be in our system with our terminology, seeing things the way we coach it, is invaluable. Being able to retain our players here and keep them into year two is the biggest thing we got going for us."
On tackling as the biggest question mark for game one
"Defensively, we need to get as much body contact as we can to be good tacklers, and the first game is always telling as a defense exactly how we're gonna be as tacklers. Especially in a game like this, where they're gonna be so disciplined and tough — we have to be elite tacklers. That's gonna be a big challenge for us."
CODY HAWKINS | Head Coach
On fall camp and the team's leadership growth
"Fall camp's been good. I think we've got a lot of new guys, got a lot of reps, and it's been exciting to see our guys continue to compete and evolve. It's been great to see a lot of guys who were contributors last year step up into bigger roles — not just on the field, but the intangible contributions they're making as well."
On true freshman DE Trehsyn Fesili
"That dude, he's not a true freshman — he is in classification, but gosh, he's a wonderful talent out of Hawaii. Played at Mililani High School, had a great connection our D-line coach. He's playing as well or better than anybody on defense right now. The kid plays with an unbelievable motor, and his attitude and energy is so infectious."
On the offensive line coming together
"I'm not satisfied with where we're at, but I'm not worried about where we're going. I believe in the way that we structure things and teach things around here. Having an experienced guy like Jordan Cook, and Davis Harsin behind him, they're gonna be able to get us in and out of things that may not be advantageous."
On under-the-radar names fans should know
"You look at our receiver room — people have never heard of a lot of these guys. Julian Mason has been a big member of our program, but he'll probably catch more passes in the first two games than he has in his entire career here. Eli Aragon's new for us, Zedekiah Anahu-Ambrosio is gonna be a really good slot player, and Tommy Poe hasn't played a college snap yet and he's gonna be a great player for us."
On the running back tandem of Robert Freeman and Dason Brooks
"We got one guy who can run you over and one guy who can make you miss in a phone booth — I think that's a pretty good combination. Having more ball carriers who can make people miss is a great recipe for scoring more points, especially down in the red zone."
On the team's focus areas heading into year two
"Scoring more touchdowns in the red zone, and being better on third down on defense. You can't live in threes — the past couple years we've relied a lot on really good kickers, which is great to get on the board, but seven is more than three, and we need more sevens."
On the investment in the kicking game
"I don't know if there's anybody in America that invests more — having a full-time coach that works with that unit, an assistant that works with the unit, and a full-time coach and a part-time coach that work with the specialists. They're integrated into practice, they're never out there in shorts, they're always kicking in game pants."
On preparing for a new-look VMI team
"It's an annual tradition to play a brand-new coach — it seems like every single year we've got no idea what's going on in game one. But we know that they're gonna be a tough, disciplined football team. This game lives in a vacuum, and you gotta play to win this football game."
