Derek Crittenden going into Grizzly country

When offered the choice between playing collegiate football for the Grizzlies or Bobcats, Whitefish's highly recruited defensive back, Derek Crittenden, had to go with the maroon and silver.

He liked Montana State's program, but the allure of Griz nation — 25,000 screaming fans, regular playoff contention and a top-notch facility — was too dazzling. Especially after attending every Grizzly home game this past season, including the semi-final thriller against Appalachian State in which Montana squeaked out a win over the Mountaineers live on national television in blizzard conditions to advance to the championship game.

"I just imagined running out into (Grizzly stadium)," Crittenden said about his decision. "It gives me chills every time I think about it."

The Whitefish High School senior accepted a scholarship this winter to play on the Griz's defensive line and will head down to Missoula in August for summer camp.

"Missoula is really everything I want in college," he said. "They've got the crazy fans, the really good academic side of things, it's a fun town, and I can still live the Montana life I love living."

Crittenden, who carries a 4.0 grade point average, turned heads throughout his high school career with his deadly combination of speed, strength and on-field smarts. During his junior year, regional schools began to notice these attributes.

Montana State was the first to strike in the recruiting process two years ago.

"The first school to get in touch with me was Bozeman, and I kind of jumped on that idea," Crittenden explained. "It was the first big school to get a hold of me, and that was appealing. I really liked the coaching staff and was really leaning that way."

He also visited with Cal Poly and went to a camp at Brigham Young, where his grandfather, Jim Crittenden, and father, Bruce Hansen, both played football.

Then later that year, Mick Delaney, the Grizzlies' assistant head coach who oversaw recruiting at the time, got in touch with Crittenden. The two stayed connected over the summer and developed a strong bond.

Montana State eventually fell off the recruiting radar, but the Griz had already wooed Crittenden.

"I went down (to Missoula) at the beginning of August and met with the coaching staff — this was the Bobby Hauck staff then — and toured the facility," Crittenden said. "I really liked it. Missoula's got that football atmosphere, where Bozeman is kind of a weird atmosphere to play football in, honestly. In Missoula, the community is based around their football program. Bozeman's is just kind of another asset. It's not the heart and soul of the community."

Crittenden gave a verbal agreement to play at Missoula that summer and officially signed this winter.

Throughout the recruiting process, it was former Grizzly head coach Bobby Hauck who pursued Crittenden. Hauck left the university this past winter after accepting the head-coaching job at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, but Crittenden says that he's just as excited about Hauck's replacement, Robin Pflugrad.

"Robin's a really good guy," Crittenden said. "I loved that coaching staff before and I was like, 'How can you beat that staff.' But I feel like with these guys that came in, I have a way better relationship (with them). Pflugrad, coach Delaney and coach Gragg came up to my house and had dinner before signing day. It was a good time. They're all really cool guys."

Crittenden was one of three Montana-hometown players to sign with Missoula in the class of 2010 out of 19 total recruits. He feels as if the Class A Bulldog football program gave him as good a chance as any to get noticed.

"A lot of kids here go to Glacier (high school) and they're thinking, 'I need to play college football, so I need to be seen,'" Crittenden said. "They need to understand that if you're good, they'll find you. Switching high schools in the middle of high school, I don't see any benefit in doing that. Whitefish has awesome academic programs, and their athletic programs are just fine."

Crittenden credits a lot of his on-field success to the Bulldog coaching staff, namely his position coach, Chad Ross.

Ross, who was recently named the Bulldogs varsity football head coach, worked with Crittenden this past season on his "field awareness." It was this aspect of his game that Crittenden says may have put him over the top for recruiters. Ross tends to agree.

"More than his physical abilities, Derek has a good sense of the game," Ross told the Pilot. "When you get to the collegiate level, head knowledge is huge. In high school, you can get away with just athleticism, but in college, everyone runs a 4.5 second 40-yard dash. Then, it's about who's smarter and who's going to work harder. The players that have that ability are the stand-out players."

Yet, despite his field awareness and classroom smarts, Ross still acknowledges Crittenden's physical prowess.

"How many defensive linemen in the state run hurdles," Ross chuckled. "He has great quickness and speed."

Crittenden recently has been working toward gaining weight so he can more easily bash heads with oversized linemen. He currently weighs in at 238 pounds, but says most linemen fall in the 270-300 pound range.

To do that, he's been hitting the gym hard and, more specifically, working on his leg strength — which was easy after a shoulder injury midway through last season put any upper-body workouts on hold.

"The injury set me back a bit," Crittenden said. "But you've just got to make a positive out of it. Looking back, I think it was kind of cool because I was able to focus on my legs and getting my legs much stronger, and I didn't even have to worry about my upper body."

He'll have plenty of time to pack on the pounds though, as Crittenden will be a "gray shirt" player his first year, meaning he will have limited activities with the team and be a part-time student. He may be a 'red shirt" the following season.

Aside from football, Crittenden is looking into studying medicine or astronomy.

"I've got a deep passion for astronomy," he said. "But I see more opportunity and success in the medicine field. I don't know, I'm still deciding on that."