While the media never really takes a break from football during the summer, Wednesday marked the unofficial kickoff for those reporters covering the Big Sky Conference.

All nine coaches called in for the annual end-of-summer conference call (no pun intended), giving newspapers, radio shows and other media outlets around the country a good time to pick up a snippet of information for preseason tabs (watch for the Independent Record's own ";Pigskin Preview" on Aug. 27) and sound bite if needed.

Having participated in the call for the first time after years sticking to the Frontier Conference, I found myself listening more than asking questions, hoping to avoid sounding stupid. Though that didn't always work.

So, for those who don't know the Big Sky very well, here's a little bit of what I discovered during the session.

BOBBY HAUCK IS STILL THE MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN THE CONFERENCE: When Idaho State head coach John Zamberlin phoned in late for the interviews, the University of Montana's head coach took his place as the first interviewee and everyone had a question for him. Which makes sense, since the Grizzlies went 14-2 last year and made it to the Football Championship Series title game, losing to Richmond 24-7.

The big question and first to be asked was along the lines of: ";Have you gotten to see Oregon transfer Justin Roper in action?"

";No, I haven't," Hauck responded.

Hauck went on to say he has seen him on film and is very impressed with the 6-foot-6 Buford, Ga., native, but as other media reports had said earlier, there wasn't a decision on whether the former Duck, who transferred after his program changed coaches, will beat out Billings West product Andrew Selle.

Both are about to be juniors at UM.

";Anytime you can make your team better, you go ahead and do that," Hauck said about acquiring Roper. ";Adding Justin to the depth at quarterback makes us better."

The bigger challenge will be filling in the voids left by offensive linemen Brent Russum, Dan Carter, J.D. Quinn and Colin Dow -- the final two made NFL camps before being released earlier this week.

HELENA STILL PRODUCES TREMENDOUS TALENT: ";We'll miss Mike Ferriter," said Hauck, speaking about the former Helena High product who fulfilled his years at UM.

Ferriter was a gutsy, standout performer who was second on the squad in catches and receiving yards behind preseason All-American Marc Mariani. He finished with 50 catches for 820 yards (51.2 per game) and 10 touchdowns and was able to come back from a broken arm during the 2006 season without a hitch.

The Grizzlies still have Mariani, a Havre High product, as well as a whole crew of talented receivers that Hauck remained confident in.

Capital High, meanwhile, had its fair share of compliments from Montana State head coach Rob Ash.

With both Bignell brothers on the defensive roster -- older brother Clay and younger Brian -- along with Brad Daly, little brother to former All-American Bobby Daly, it seemed fair to ask Ash how nice it is to have players from the reigning three-time AA state championship team.

";I think I'm like every coach in the country," he responded. ";We like having players from winning teams because they know how to win."

";Helena Capital guys have a little edge and they're very attractive to us for what they've gone through," he continued. ";Winning three in a row is a great achievement. They deserve the little extra attention that we give them."

NO ONE IS COUNTING OUT WEBER STATE, NO ONE: Ash referred to them simply as ";scary."

The Wildcats, who tied for the Big Sky Conference title with UM (the Griz have won at least a share of the title since 1998), thanks in part to three-time rushing leader and Walter Payton candidate Trevyn Smith, are ranked second in preseason polls even though they have more preseason All-American picks (as many as seven on the 2009 Sports Network squad) than any other team.

";It's nice to have some respect for your program because traditionally when we were ranked last or whatever, there wasn't a lot of respect for Weber," said head coach Ron McBride. ";We have some respect now and the players have earned it.

";I appreciate it, but it doesn't mean anything."

While everyone was in awe with their high-powered offense that includes Smith and fellow Walter Payton candidate and quarterback Cameron Higgins, McBride did have some reservations about their defense.

";We've got inexperience on defense, but I think we have a little more team speed than we have had," he said. ";About 10 days into the practices I'll have a good idea."

THE BIG SKY IS TOUGH AND ONLY GETTING TOUGHER: Last year proved that it wasn't just a one-team conference with Montana leading the way.

Weber State's emergence proved there was more depth in the Big Sky, especially after defeating UM in the regular season and then beating Cal Poly in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

As Ash mentioned, there are a bunch of new coaches -- six in the conference with three years of experience or less, to be a little more exact -- and the freshmen those coaches brought in are going to start producing results.

";Now's the time you're going to start seeing progress in those programs," Ash said. ";But I don't know who it's going to be, I'm not a magician, I don't have that crystal ball."

It could be the Bobcats, who enter into their third year with Ash at the helm.

JERRY GLANVILLE IS STILL THE MOST BELOVED MAN IN THE BIG SKY: Nine seasons as an NFL coach, 11 years broadcasting NFL games, and the man comes to the Big Sky Conference to coach?

Who can't love him?

It's too bad that PSU, who has led the nation in passing the last two years, might be the team that's the worst off as the season quickly arrives.

Glanville expressed how saddened he was when offensive coordinator and longtime friend Mouse Davis decided to retire this summer

";It goes past football, and goes to deep emotional feelings for a guy you've known a long time," Glanville said.

He also mentioned how they lost two coaches -- assistant coach Kevin Strasser took a job as offensive consultant with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL -- and two quarterbacks in two weeks.

Freshman QB recruit Tym Pearson decided to be drafted by Major League Baseball after committing to the Vikings and Tygue Howland injured his knee after he decided to play wide receiver with some buddies.

They do have junior Drew Hubel returning. He has 4,382 passing yards and 33 TDs in his career.

Still, ";all of a sudden our quarterback depth got shallow in a hurry," Glanville said.

His wide receivers aren't off to a much better start with last season's leading receiver Mario D'Ambrosia probably out of football for the rest of his life with a knee injury.

The only thing that seemed to cheer Glanville up was talking about his trip to Montana and how he's also been in a few recent music videos for country music group Confederate Railroad.

The former Bobcat, who once played on the MSU freshman squad in 1959, returns to the Treasure State each year, mainly to hike around Glacier with his wife. On his recent trip, he even found an old photo of him playing for MSU at a joint called the Bulldog in Whitefish.

While there's certainly more to be said about each team, I'll hold off most of the rest until the Pigskin Preview.

Jeff Windmueller: 447-4065 or jeff.windmueller

@helenair.com