2023 Big Sky Football Schedules and Coaching Changes

April 26, 2023 by Staff

The biggest news in the Big Sky might be the fact that 5 of the 12 teams will be operating under a new head coach this season.

Spring college football football is wrapping up around the nation, but the NFL Draft will keep all football fanatics busy tonight through Saturday (April 27-29). Get the exact NFL draft schedule for each day by time zone so you don't miss a minute of it. A quick scan across across and you will find a wide assortment of wager possibilities on the menu.

Before you know it, the 2023 college football season will be upon us. Be sure to check out CollegeFootballPoll.com's complete list of the 26 FCS head coaching changes that have been made since the start of the 2022 season.

Here are the five changes in the Big Sky.

Paul Wulff replaces Beau Baldwin at Cal Poly who was hired as the offensive coordinator at Arizona State by new head coach Kenny Dillingham. Baldwin was just 4-21 from 2020-2022 as the head man in San Luis Obispo, but he has a 99-56 career record that included an 85-32 mark at Eastern Washington Wulff was Baldwin's predecessor at Eastern Washington and was 53-40 from 2000-2007. He left that job for the top post at Washington State where he was a woeful 9-40 from 2008-2011. He then went to the NFL and five other schools as an assistant before landing at Cal Poly as Baldwin's OL coach and running game coordinator.

Arizona State's Dillingham also poached Charlie Ragle from Idaho State to make him the Sun Devils' new assistant head coach and special teams coordinator. Ragle was just 1-10 in his only season in Pocatello. The Bengals brought in Cody Hawkins from UC Davis where had been an assistant since 2017. He is the son of former Boise State and Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins, and played QB for his dad with the Buffs in 2007.

Northern Colorado fired Ed McCaffrey on November 21. It was the first head coaching job for the 13-year NFL veteran of the Denver Broncos and he was 6-16 in two seasons. Ed Lamb was announced as his successor on December 8, leaving his job at BYU where he had spent the last 7 seasons as an assistant head coach and special teams coordinator. Lamb was 45-47 as the head coach at Southern Utah from 2008-2015.

Sacramento State's Troy Taylor is the new head coach at Stanford, replacing the near-legendary David Shaw. In turn, Taylor's right-hand man, And Thompson, takes over for the Hornets after serving as Taylor's defensive coordinator. Taylor was 30-8 in three full seasons from 2019-2022 and either won or tied for the conference title every season, except when the school opted out for 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

Weber State lost Jay Hill to BYU where he became the new assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. Hill led the Wildcats to the FCS Playoffs six times in nine seasons, advancing as far as the semifinals in 2019. The school hired its next head coach from within by elevating Mickey Mental from offensive coordinator. He had just been hired for that role in February of 2022 after spending 13 seasons at Notre Dame College, a D2 school in South Euclid, Ohio. He was that school's head coach from 2020-2021, going 16-2.

Montana State and Sacramento State were co-champions last season with 8-0 conference marks. They advanced to the 24-team field of the NCAA Playoff last season, along with Idaho, Montana and Weber State.

The Bobcats made it all the way to the final four before being eliminated by eventual national champion South Dakota State. The Hornets were knocked out in the quarters by Incarnate Word in a crazy 66-63 game that saw a combined 57 points scored in the 4th quarter.

The Griz and Wildcats bowed-out in the second round.

For the 2023 season, each of the 12 schools will again play 8 conference games, plus 3 games versus at-large competition. The roster of teams features these schools:

Cal Poly
Eastern Washington
Idaho
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
Portland State
Sacramento State
UC Davis
Weber State

TEAM-by-TEAM SCHEDULES
*-denotes conference game

CAL POLY
9/2 San Diego
9/9 at San Jose State
9/16 Lincoln, CA (D2)
9/23 at Portland State*
9/30 UC Davis*
10/7 Idaho*
10/14 at Montana State*
10/21 Northern Colorado*
11/4 at Eastern Washington*
11/11 at Sacramento State*
11/18 Weber State*

EASTERN WASHINGTON
9/2 North Dakota State (Minneapolis)
9/9 at Fresno State
9/16 SE Louisiana
9/23 at UC Davis*
9/30 Idaho*
10/14 at Idaho State*
10/21 Weber State*
10/28 at Portland State*
11/4 Cal Poly*
11/11 at Montana State*
11/18 Northern Arizona*

IDAHO
8/31 at Lamar
9/9 at Nevada
9/16 at California
9/23 Sacramento State*
9/30 at Eastern Washington*
10/7 at Cal Poly*
10/14 Montana*
10/28 Montana State*
11/4 at Northern Colorado*
11/11 at Weber State*
11/18 Idaho State

IDAHO STATE
9/2 at San Diego State
9/9 at Utah State
9/16 Northern Iowa
9/23 Northern Colorado*
9/30 at Montana*
10/14 Eastern Washington*
10/21 at Portland State*
10/28 at Sacramento State*
11/4 Weber State*
11/11 UC Davis*
11/18 at Idaho*

MONTANA
9/2 Butler
9/9 at Utah Tech
9/16 Ferris State (D2)
9/23 at Northern Arizona*
9/30 Idaho State*
10/7 at UC Davis*
10/14 at Idaho*
10/28 Northern Colorado*
11/4 Sacramento State*
11/11 at Portland State*
11/18 Montana State*

MONTANA STATE
9/2 Utah Tech
9/9 at South Dakota State
9/16 Stetson
9/23 at Weber State*
9/30 Portland State*
10/14 Cal Poly*
10/21 at Sacramento State*
10/28 at Idaho*
11/4 Northern Arizona*
11/11 Eastern Washington*
11/18 at Montana*

NORTHERN ARIZONA
9/2 at Arizona
9/9 at North Dakota
9/16 Utah Tech
9/23 Montana*
9/30 at Sacramento State*
10/7 at Weber State*
10/14 Portland State*
10/28 UC Davis*
11/4 at Montana State*
11/11 Northern Colorado*
11/18 at Eastern Washington*

NORTHERN COLORADO
8/31 at Abilene Christian
9/9 Incarnate Word
9/16 at Washington State
9/23 at Idaho State*
9/30 Weber State*
10/14 Sacramento State*
10/21 at Cal Poly*
10/28 at Montana*
11/4 Idaho*
11/11 at Northern Arizona*
11/18 Portland State*

PORTLAND STATE
9/2 at Oregon
9/9 at Wyoming
9/16 North American (NAIA)
9/23 Cal Poly*
9/30 at Montana State*
10/14 at Northern Arizona*
10/21 Idaho State*
10/28 Eastern Washington*
11/4 at UC Davis*
11/11 Montana*
11/18 at Northern Colorado*

SACRAMENTO STATE
9/2 at Nicholls State
9/9 Texas A&M-Commerce
9/16 at Stanford
9/23 at Idaho*
9/30 Northern Arizona*
10/14 at Northern Colorado*
10/21 Montana State*
10/28 Idaho State*
11/4 at Montana*
11/11 Cal Poly*
11/18 at UC Davis*

UC DAVIS
8/31 at Texas A&M University-Commerce
9/9 at Oregon State
9/16 Southern Utah
9/23 Eastern Washington*
9/30 at Cal Poly*
10/7 Montana*
10/14 at Weber State*
10/28 at Northern Arizona*
11/4 Portland State*
11/11 at Idaho State*
11/18 Sacramento State*

WEBER STATE
8/31 Central Washington (D2)
9/9 at Northern Iowa
9/16 at Utah
9/23 Montana State*
9/30 at Northern Colorado*
10/7 Northern Arizona*
10/14 UC Davis*
10/21 at Eastern Washington*
11/4 at Idaho State*
11/11 Idaho*
11/18 at Cal Poly*