MISSOULA — An area of strength for the Montana Grizzlies will again be at running back, thanks to the return of Eli Gillman and the talented athletes behind him who are ready to step into bigger roles.
Getting Gillman back this season cannot be overstated for the Grizzlies.
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The junior running back has done nothing but succeed the previous two years. As he continues to climb up the UM record books, 2025 could be a remarkable one as Gillman has received almost every preseason accolade in the books with expectations through the roof, including preseason All-America nods.
"Coach (Justin) Green does a great job of implementing me with a lot of drills and healthy mindset," Gillman said. "It's kind of just experience, you figure out what you need to work on every game. And I mean the more games I go, the more I try to improve on. So it's just little skills and techniques. I try to tweak every time I can."
The 2023 Jerry Rice Award winner as the top freshman in the FCS, Gillman's 2,137 career yards rank sixth in UM history while his 28 touchdowns on the ground are fifth.
While the excitement surrounding Gillman is palpable, that energy is almost equally as high for the man behind him — redshirt freshman Malae Fonoti.
In limited action last season, Fonoti flashed special potential and is expected to feature heavily in UM's offense to make a powerful 1-2 punch with Gillman. Fonoti finished with 234 rushing yards a year ago and one score, with 176 yards on the ground against Morehead State. UM also relied on him to produce in playoff games against Tennessee State and South Dakota State.
"It was great. You know, getting my first college experience, getting to know how it is up here in college at the D-I level, and then being able to be someone that the team relied on or able to do my part in any way during the playoff games and just all the games I've been in," Fonoti said. "It's great to be able to add on to what our team had and being able to contribute any way I could."
Along with Gillman and Fonoti, the Grizzlies return Stevie Rocker Jr. as well, who contributed a year ago after transferring to UM from Arizona. He looks ready to fill in as a viable offensive weapon. Rocker had 126 yards on the ground and two touchdowns while also catching seven passes for 90 yards.
"Any running back can appreciate having multiple dudes that can make plays because, I mean, those hits add up real fast, like real fast, and it's nice when you have that much trust in the same RB room," Gillman said. "Each year you play especially that everybody can go out there and make any type of play that the team needs to win."
Plus, the addition of some of the younger running backs keep the depth intact for this group to help ease the attrition of UM having 12 straight weeks of games this season.
"I'd like to say that I am comfortable, but at the same time can never be comfortable where you are," Fonoti said. "We're improving every day, day-by-day, finding out what we need to get better at, what we can focus on. It'll be good to see how it plays out this season with this whole running back room."
"We all can make plays every single time we touch the ball and that's why I think we're so special as a group," Gillman added. "It's been like that here for a long time. Every guy in the RB room seems to make some type of explosive play for the team. I feel like we just keep stacking and it's nice."
Griz running backs on the 2025 roster by number
No. 7, Malae Fonoti, R-FR, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, Laie, HI
No. 10, Eli Gillman, R-JR, 6-foot, 208 pounds, Dassel, MN
No. 21, Stevie Rocker Jr., 6-foot, 214 pounds, Tucson, AZ
No. 26, Chase Cook, FR, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, Red Lodge, MT
No. 28, Hashim Jones, FR, 6-foot, 215 pounds, Hartford, CT
No. 30, Tommy Running Rabbit, R-FR, 6-foot-1, 202 pounds, Browning, MT
No. 34, Talen Reynolds, R-FR, 5-foot-11, 161 pounds, Missoula, MT
