Those big Lady Griz shoes to fill

To the oddities surrounding Shannon Schweyen’s dismissal we can add Wednesday’s press conference introducing Mike Petrino as coach of the Montana Lady Griz, brought to you by Zoom.

Petrino and University of Montana director of athletics had their first media availability, exactly three weeks after news broke that Schweyen was out after four seasons as coach.

During the 45-minute teleconference the men discussed the difficult transition that lay ahead and the controversial decision that was made.

Haslam, now in his 8th year as AD, confirmed what anyone with basic math skills had deduced: He spoke with Schweyen about an extension after Montana lost at the Big Sky Conference tournament in Boise, Idaho; two players quickly left the team; and Haslam changed his mind.

“So I did have a conversation with Shannon,” Haslam said Wednesday. “It was actually that Thursday (March 12). We started the negotiation process.

“In the time between that meeting and when I made that decision, I just came to understand more the status of our roster and what that would look like going forward – and felt that I needed to make a change.”

So Petrino, the 47-year-old interim coach, takes over for Montana’s best-ever women’s player, who took over for the program’s legendary coach, Robin Selvig. Those are some big shoes.

“This was definitely an unexpected, emotional three weeks,” Petrino, a 1991 graduate of Flathead High School, said. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for Shannon. … Everybody on last year’s team was brought here, either coach or player, because of her.”

The move is controversial given Schweyen’s status – Montana’s only first-team All-America pick was named the Big Sky Conference’s top female athlete for its first 25 years – and the support that flooded social media.

It didn’t help that one of her better recruits, Helena High’s Jamie Pickens, transferred to Carroll College after Schweyen was dismissed.

There’s also the timing: UM has a hiring freeze, and a national search could not take place in the current COVID-19 climate. That will happen next spring.

Against this backdrop Haslam made the call. It probably couldn’t come sooner, while Schweyen’s teams struggled through three injury-plagued seasons. Evidently it couldn’t come later.

Her assistants – Jordan Sullivan, Nate Covill and Jace Henderson – all remain. This is a positive, but then again, where would they go and who would replace them?

“We’re not looking at this like we’re a substitute teacher with a pre-written lesson plan,” Petrino asserted. “It was a very emotional night that first night, and from that point on it was just us picking each other up and moving forward.”

Petrino has spent 27 years coaching basketball, beginning with a junior high team with which he still has contact. Our paths crossed in Billings, where I covered the Central Rams and the Eastern A like a rash. He was a Rams’ assistant and non-traditional college student.

“I feel very fortunate to able to coach eight years when girls’ basketball was in the fall,” said Petrino, who earned his bachelor’s from MSU-Billings in 1999. “That was eight years, but 16 seasons of basketball.

“I spent my time coaching and going to school when I could and paying my own way. Definitely a unique journey, a different journey – but one I’m proud of.”

He spent 10 years at Central Catholic in Portland, Oregon (nickname: also the Rams), including five successful years as the head boys’ basketball coach. He’s spent the last nine as a women’s college assistant, at Wyoming, Colorado University and UM.

He counts Doug Hashley and Steve Keller among his mentors and knows what a great thing the Lady Griz have going – surpassing programs in the Mountain West and Pac-12.

“I got to witness some really good teams and we’d go there and play,” Petrino said. “And they’ve have incredible talent and no fans.”

The Lady Griz have those, and they’ve stuck it out through one transition most of us thought would go smoother. Expectations are lower now - maybe. Petrino said recruiting is going better than people might assume, and spoke cryptically of what he and his staff wanted to accomplish.

“The first thing is just listening,” he said. “We’re trying to build a competitive program that relationship-based. We’re trying to do it every day.”

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463, or at fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.