BILLINGS — Whether he knew it or not at the time, Brian Wright's job as offensive coordinator at Montana State came with an added demand — molding DeNarius McGhee into a standout quarterback.
Wright helped do that, and then some. And the Bobcats were better for it.
McGhee went on to superstardom, of course, and his legacy holds up as one of the best signal-callers to ever put on an MSU uniform.
Roughly a decade and a half later Wright is back in the Big Sky Conference as the first-year head coach at Northern Arizona, a title that comes with it's own mandate — to lift the Lumberjacks to national prominence.
NAU hasn't had a winning record in a full season since 2017 during the Jerome Souers era, which was also its last FCS playoff berth.
"We're working every day and keeping that focus on just our improvement trying to build it the right way," Wright said during the Big Sky Kickoff media days in July in Spokane, Wash. "It's tough to do when you come into a new place and you have so much turnover on your roster, to bring along the new guys that join in and match that with the guys that are there.
"(We're) certainly trying to build a program that sustains that and has consistency. So I feel good about what is required."
Success has followed Wright wherever he's gone. As the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at MSU in 2010 and 2011, he was a part of two Big Sky championship teams helmed by head coach Rob Ash. Certainly, Wright's work with McGhee was indelible.
McGhee, who came in highly touted from Euless, Texas, won Big Sky offensive MVP as a freshman — the first of two league MVPs he'd win — and went on to set Bobcat records in career passing yards, touchdown passes and total offense. MSU's offense turned a corner under Wright's guidance, and the Bobcats as a team went 19-6 overall, 14-2 in conference games and achieved the nation's No. 1 ranking, for a moment, in 2011.
From there Wright went on to FBS Florida Atlantic, becoming the interim head coach in 2013. He went 4-0 in that role. After a stop at Toledo as an offensive assistant he became the head coach at Division II Pittsburg State in Kansas in 2020, going 33-8 with two playoff appearances.
As a college head coach, Wright's record is 37-8, a winning percentage of .822. At NAU, Wright is replacing Chris Ball, who was 10 games under .500 in four-plus seasons.
"We had a lot of success" at Pittsburg State, Wright said. "We really built it around relationships and focusing on development and getting a little bit better each day, and the preparation part of it of trying to prepare your guys to win and have success. So I've seen a lot of improvements in our short time together in Flagstaff, using that same model.
Wright said he had two main priorities when he arrived at NAU.
"One was just connection, you know, just building a team, building a group of folks to all come together as one," he said. "And then in our development — our strength and our size and our speed, our athleticism. Those have been really big points of emphasis, and we're looking forward to watching that come together."
Things start for real for Wright and Northern Arizona this week when they open the 2024 season at the Walkup Skydome against Lincoln (Calif.). A trip to FBS Arizona is set for the following week.
The Lumberjacks will open the league portion of their schedule Sept. 28 at home against Sacramento State, marking Wright's official return to Big Sky competition.
Wright said his first go-round in the conference at MSU "was a great experience, not only working with DeNarius but just a great group of young people that came together and allowed our offense to take off.
"It'll be very competitive. There were a lot of great teams in the league battling for conference championships, and it seems to be all that and even more now."
Wright hopes his Lumberjacks can ascend the ranks quickly, battling for those championships.
