BILLINGS — For his introductory press conference in the fall of 1995 as the new athletic director at the University of Montana, Wayne Hogan reached into his closet and pulled out a maroon sport coat.
Coming from his previous post at Florida State, it was readily available. But wasn't the Grizzlies' color scheme at the time copper and gold?
Yes. But not for long.
"I didn't have to buy any new clothes," Hogan quipped.
MONTANA ANNOUNCES RETURN OF COPPER AND GOLD UNIFORMS FOR HOMECOMING:
In light of the Grizzlies sporting throwback-style uniforms this weekend against Cal Poly to honor UM's 1995 national championship team, a question persists: What prompted the change in the first place?
There doesn't seem to be an "official" account of how or why Montana decided to ditch its copper and gold colors and return to the school's original maroon and silver in the midst of a run to its first football national championship. It's more legend than anything else.
But the consensus appears to be what Hogan described as mere happenstance of the colors becoming too hard to come by.
"This was all prior to my arrival, but as I understand it, the band was in need of a whole new set of uniforms," Hogan, who served as AD at Montana from '95 to 2004, told MTN Sports. "Now, for whatever reason, and I don't know the actual official reason, but there was a problem with being able to outfit the band with the appropriate colors of the old copper color, as you remember, which was more of a Texas burnt orange.
"So the decision was made by someone. I know (university president George) Dennison was involved; Mr. and Mrs. Dennison were involved. And I don't want to imply it was a unilateral decision.
"I'll tell you this, though, the premise behind the band issue and the band uniforms was a real one because one of the problems with that color, it was very difficult to get merchandise. It was an odd color scheme, and manufacturers in those days worked very much with color patterns that were more traditional."
You mean this can all be traced to the band?
Strange as it sounds, a change was deemed necessary. Montana didn't make the full switch to maroon and silver until the 1996-97 academic year, but Hogan and others remember it being contentious to varying degrees.
Kim Briggeman, a retired Missoulian journalist who was the primary beat writer for Griz football in those years, recalls it being a hot-button issue.
"I remember there was substantial push-back, and I think it was universal. It really was," Briggeman said.
"The football team was reaching the height of the program in copper and gold. Dave Dickenson was the quarterback and they were winning and they'd been building for 10 years under Don Read. And now they looked like they had the chance to win a national championship, and all of a sudden they're talking about changing the colors."
Both Hogan and Briggeman agreed that a large amount of displeasure came from those that wore the uniforms on the field.
"The push-back was mostly from the players, those that had played in those colors," Hogan said. "Parents, people that had reason to be really close to the copper teams. And it didn't help that when they made the announcement that a change was going to happen they went out and won a national championship in copper."
The primary athletic colors at Montana for the vast majority of its history have been maroon and silver. The copper and gold came into being in the 1960s when Jack Swarthout served as both head football coach and athletic director.
The late Swarthout was an assistant coach at Texas roughly 10 years earlier under the legendary Darrell Royal. But the idea that Swarthout personally affected the change at Montana might be dubious.
"I'd always heard growing up that Swarthout brought the wishbone offense and Longhorn colors to Montana," said Briggeman, a Missoula Sentinel alum and 1981 UM grad. "But what he (said) in '95 is that the colors weren't necessarily his idea. When he got to campus in the '60s, he said every team had different colors and he wanted them standardized one way or the other.
"So he was not in favor of switching in the '60s to the copper and gold. He preferred what he wore when he played for the Grizzlies (from 1939-41), which was the maroon and silver."
Regardless, a change was made.
The last time the Grizzlies used the copper and gold full-time in football, of course, was in 1995 — a storied season that produced a national title.
But for whatever controversy existed around the change at that time, fans and boosters had reason to soon brush it aside because the 1996 Grizzlies were a juggernaut. That team started 14-0 and made it back to the championship game in Huntington, W. Va., for a rematch with Marshall.
That day, future hall of fame wideout Randy Moss proved unstoppable. The repeat bid was halted.
But the Griz continued to dominate in the maroon in silver in later years, winning the title again in 2001 with trips to the championship game in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009 and most recently 2023.
Montana's current colors are the norm now.
"I guess this is a personal opinion, but I'm going to give it to you anyway — I thought the uniforms that we created with the maroon were really sharp," Hogan said. "I mean, they looked great. Those first two or three years with the silver helmet and the maroon jerseys and the silver pants was just ... I thought it was just killer."
The uniforms the Grizzlies will don Saturday for homecoming against Cal Poly aren't exact replicas of the 1995 version. The most noticeable difference are the helmets, which will feature the old yet iconic "slobbering bear" logo instead of the traditional "Griz" script.
Montana's current athletic director, Kent Haslam, said the response to the throwback scheme has been nothing but positive. It has certainly gained traction across social media.
"The players love them, the coaches love them, our fans love them," Haslam said. "I don't know all the history of the color changes. I've heard different legends and urban legends and different things that happened, but to be quite honest, I'm sitting in my position and I'm excited.
"We've got throwback jerseys that look so cool. It really provides us with a great opportunity to celebrate history and do something really unique."
Haslam also pointed out the opportunity Montana has to market the look. He said the jerseys will eventually be put up for sale — the legacy No. 37 will be auctioned off — and UM has already been selling copper and gold merchandise.
Haslam also said ESPN's College GameDay asked the athletic department to send a jersey to the network for it to be shown on this Saturday's broadcast from Eugene, Ore.
This won't be the first time Montana has broken out the copper and gold look — perhaps the most memorable was for the 2008 Cat-Griz game. But any time it happens, people eat it up.
"It's a really great way to generate some revenue and generate some excitement and work with the campus to build out some licensing and merchandising offerings, but I think everyone's really excited," Haslam said.
"We're really fortunate that we have such a unique color scheme and logo scheme that's considered retro, and it's the perfect '90s color, isn't it?"
And the perfect way to honor the past. The only question: What color is the band going to wear?
