Mike Moroski continues his football legacy with coaching a dominant Yotes team
CALDWELL, Idaho (BVM) — In Jan. 2013, Mike Moroski was the face of a Yotes football program that returned after a 37 year hiatus.
Wanting a winning coach with incredible knowledge of football, the College of Idaho gave Moroski the keys to the newly built Simplot Stadium and a reignited football team. It was the chance for Moroski to finally head coach his own group of guys, and he was determined to bring success to the liberal arts college.
But success has always followed Moroski. A Novato, Calif. native, Moroski played quarterback for the University of California, Davis and was a starter from 1975-1978. In his junior and senior seasons with the Aggies, Moroski carried his team to the 1977 Division II national semifinals and was a two time Far West Conference Player of the Year.
Moroski’s incredible talent would get the attention of the NFL. Despite being a Division II prospect, the Atlanta Falcons gave him a chance and took Moroski in the sixth round of the 1979 NFL Draft. In eight seasons as a professional, Moroski would play in 69 career games with 2,864 passing yards and eight touchdown passes.
Moroski mostly served as a backup quarterback for the Falcons, Houston Oilers and San Francisco 49ers. In his one, and final playing season, with the 49ers, Moroski found himself in elite company. In 1986, Moroski shared the same quarterback room with hall of fame quarterback and four-time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana. What’s just as impressive is that Moroski played under hall of fame head coach Bill Walsh.
“What I learned from Bill Walsh is that the key to building a program is having great people,” Moroski said in an interview with the Marin Independent Journal. “I believe that from my own experience in college and the pros, and especially accentuated with my one year with the San Francisco 49ers, who were people-oriented.”
Following retirement, the former college star quarterback would return to Aggie Stadium and become the offensive coordinator for UC-Davis. With Moroski’s offensive knowledge, he plugged right into the coaching system and delivered promising Aggie football teams. From 1993-2010, Moroski’s coaching genius helped guide UC-Davis to eight NCAA Division II postseason berths and four national semifinal appearances.
His most notable year was 2001, when the Aggie’s offense averaged 41 points and over 500 scrimmage yards a game. The Aggie’s season was led by Bob Biggs, but the offensive success was accredited to Moroski and his unique schemes. The Aggie’s success in 2001 helped Moroski win Division II National Assistant Coach of the Year. In almost two decades, UC-Davis was 148-80 with Moroski on the sidelines.
Moroski cemented his football legacy at UC-Davis, but an opportunity to head coach his own team resonated quickly. But this time, it would mean leaving Davis and starting fresh with a football program brought back to life.
“College of Idaho has very good athletic programs, so they weren’t new to athletics; they were new to football. The whole thing was intriguing to me. I love all of the people. I was thrilled to get the job,” the new head coach said.
Understanding Moroski’s football genius, the College of Idaho brought the former assistant coach to Caldwell so he could bring another dominant athletic program to the school. It would be months of recruiting, practices and the 2013 “zero year” before Moroski would head coach his first game on Sept. 6, 2014.
In Forest Grove, Ore., Moroski’s Yotes would take on Pacific University for the official return to the gridiron. A back and forth affair at Hansen Stadium, the difference maker would be the College of Idaho blocking two field goal attempts, beating the Boxers in a nail biting 35-34 final score. It would be the Yote’s first win since 1977, the same year Moroski officially began his legacy in football.
In the first three seasons of College of Idaho football, Moroski went 12-21 as head coach. These teams had heart, but something had to change. To upgrade the Yotes offense, Moroski turned to his Novato roots and recruited northern Calif. playmakers to southern Idaho. One, in particular, was Marin Catholic High School star quarterback Darius-James Peterson.
In 2017, Peterson’s sophomore season created a more competitive and dynamic College of Idaho football team. Moroski’s offense began to click, and winning the final three games of the season would give the Yotes their first winning season in 40 years.
Sept. 22, 2018. The Yotes just came off a heartbreaking 42-41 loss to Rocky Mountain College at home. It would be the fifth straight loss of the season, with the record standing at 0-5. With six games to go, the season looked to be written off after losing to the Bears. But Moroski was able to dig deep and continue the fighting spirit.
“It was tough. But I’ll say I tend to try to appeal to the intelligence of the young men — and that’s the men on the staff as well as the men on the team. It’s never easy when everything is naturally bent toward ‘don’t stay together’,” Moroski said in an interview with the Idaho Press.
Moroski knew he had to stay the course and trust his coaching knowledge if things were to turn around quickly. And they did. Peterson, the dual-threat junior quarterback, reestablished the offense and never looked back.
The Yotes would go to win the final six games of the season, including wins over No. 14 ranked Southern Oregon University and No. 18 ranked Eastern Oregon University. The Yotes finished No. 22 in the NAIA, making history as the first ever ranked College of Idaho football team.
The six game winning streak was a mark that the College of Idaho didn’t take lightly. After missing the NAIA Football Championship series, Moroski and the Yotes approached 2019 with all gas and no brakes. Moroski’s team, led by Peterson and junior running back Nick Calzaretta, fired on all cylinders from day one.
In dominant fashion, the Yotes rallied off win after win within the Frontier Conference. Peterson, throwing for a school record 2,423 passing yards, was named to the Frontier Conference First Team and NAIA All-American First Team. Calzaretta, with 1,221 rushing yards, was the dominant running back that helped Moroski’s offense average 37 points a game.
The winning streak stayed intact, and Moroski’s Yotes finished the regular season with a 10-0 record and Frontier Conference champions for the first time in program history.
“I’m coaching how they coach at the Division I level. Bill Walsh said you have to love the game and you have to be an expert in the game and you have to set the highest expectations, and that’s what I do with our program,” Moroski said.
The high powered offense would directly transfer to the national tournament. In the college’s first ever playoff game, the Yotes would take on Ottawa University at a sold out Simplot Stadium. The electric crowd and southern Idaho media attention proved just how far Moroski had gotten in his head coaching career.
In typical Moroski-led fashion, the Yote’s offense shined from start to finish. The College of Idaho beat the Spirit 70-23, officially creating another dominant athletic program in Caldwell.
The following week, the Yotes would lose to Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa 14-6 in the national quarterfinals. The record setting season would come to a close, but the new standard was set for the liberal arts college.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 football season would transition from the fall to spring 2021 and from 10 regular games to five. In this strange, new look season for the Yotes, Moroski isn’t worried about all the changes that this year has brought. Calzaretta returns for his senior campaign along with receiving threats Hunter Juarez and Connor Richardson in the offensive mix.
Now in his seventh season as head coach, Mike Moroski turned the culture of Yotes football into a successful one. But success is nothing new to Moroski. As a quarterback and offensive coordinator, Moroski was part of some of the best seasons in UC-Davis history. Now, his football wisdom and love for the game are in Caldwell with the College of Idaho. No matter where Moroski is, he’ll find a way to win.
That’s part of his legacy.
