(Editor’s note: Story by Montana Sports Information)
MISSOULA — The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame named four Grizzlies to the 2019 NFF Hampshire Honor Society on Wednesday, recognizing players from around the country at all levels who maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers.
Now in the Society’s 13th year, an all-time high 1,643 players from a record 424 schools qualified for membership, including Montana’s Evan Epperly, Reid Miller, Tim Semenza, and 2018 Campbell Trophy semifinalist Reggie Tilleman.
Since its beginning in 2007, Montana is one of only 29 colleges and universities nationwide that have had at least one player in all 13 years of the Hampshire Society’s existence.
In his first term as head coach with the Grizzlies, Bobby Hauck had four players named to the Society, starting with Dustin Dlouhy in 2007, Torrey Thomas in 2008, and Cole Bergquist and Tom Martin in 2009.
As a long-time proponent of the program since its inception, Hauck was featured as one of 16 head coaches and athletic directors from around the country to be quoted by the NFF in its announcement of the 2019 class of inductees.
“We’ve always believed that success on the field and success in the classroom go hand in hand. During my first run at Montana we had the most academic all-conference selections in the league and graduated our student-athletes at a significantly higher rate than their peers. Last semester we also posted the program’s highest-ever term GPA,” said Hauck.
“The Hampshire Society is important in that it allows us to recognize the hard work these men put into their studies. It helps promote better all-around student-athletes and better citizens. We are proud to have had a Grizzly enter the Hampshire Honor Society in each of its 13 years, and we look forward to celebrating our academic achievements into the future.”
Epperly, a safety from Kalispell, completed his career with a 3.47 GPA, earning degrees in history and political science.
Miller maintains a 3.30 GPA while earning his Masters of Business Administration at Montana after transferring from Arkansas ahead of the 2018 season. His also one of UM’s NFL Draft hopefuls in 2019 after posting impressive numbers on Pro Day.
Semenza completed earned a business administration and a master of information systems (MIS) degree at UM while carrying a 3.37 GPA.
A team captain in 2018, Tilleman was one of the most decorated scholar-athletes in FCS football as one of 13 finalists (and the only finalist in the Big Sky) for the STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. He was also named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 7 first team.
Tilleman earned a bachelor degree in business administration and finance in the spring of 2018 with magna cum laude honors. A three-time Academic All-Big Sky selection, he is now pursuing an MBA while maintaining a 3.82 GPA.
The 29 colleges and universities that have had at least one player in all 13 years of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society (2007-19), include: Brigham Young, Brown, Bucknell, Colorado, Columbia, Dayton, Huntingdon (AL), Iowa, Johns Hopkins (MD), Kentucky, Lafayette, Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, Montana, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Penn State, Redlands (CA), Saint John’s (MN), SMU, South Dakota State, Wartburg (IA), Washington Univ. in St. Louis (MO), Wayne State (MI), West Virginia, Wingate (NC), Yale and Youngstown State.
