Six Griz earn eight spots on preseason All-Big Sky team
(Montana Sports Information) The Montana Grizzlies had six players named to eight positions on the 2024 Big Sky preseason all-conference team, the league announced Sunday from its annual football kickoff event at the Northern Quest Casino in Spokane.
The Grizzlies’ eight selections were the second-most in the league, with honorees nearly divided evenly among the offense, defense, and special teams.
Returning 2023 first-team all-conference performers Junior Bergen, Brandon Casey, and Trevin Gradney were each picked to once again be some of the league’ top players in their senior seasons.
Reigning FCS Freshman of the Year, running back Eli Gillman, joined them on this year’s preseason team along with breakout star linebacker Riley Wilson and do-it-all running back-turned linebacker Isiah Childs for his work on Montana’s highly effective special teams.
Now famous for his versatility, Bergen earned preseason accolades in three different positions, landing on the offensive team as a wide receiver and special teams as both a punt returner and an all-purpose player.
Casey and Wilson were voter favorites among offensive linemen and linebackers on team, each earning the most votes in their respective position groups.
Bergen and Gradney, a pair of Billings natives, are now two-time preseason all-conference picks after landing on the special teams list in 2023.
Gillman was one of the top running backs in the Big Sky in his first full season of action, winning the Jerry Rice Award for FCS Freshman of the Year and becoming Montana’s first-ever Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
The Minnesota native was just 32 shy of eclipsing the 1,000 rushing yard mark in 2023 with 968 yards, a top 16 total among all rushers in Grizzly history and the third-most for a freshman in all of D-I football.
His 12 rushing TD's last year are a top 20 mark in program history, and he set a new school record at UC Davis with an 85-yard touchdown run, the longest from scrimmage in program history.
Bergen is once again expected to be one of the most explosive receivers and punt returners in the FCS in his senior campaign. He’s done a little bit of everything for the Griz in his time at Montana to earn all-purpose honors, including throwing what was the game-winning two-point conversion against NDSU in last year’s semifinal.
He set a UM record with an FCS-best three punt return touchdowns in a single season and tied the Big Sky record with the fifth return TD of his career in 2023. As a receiver he was one of three Grizzly wideouts to total 600+ yards with 791 on the year and five touchdown catches.
Add it all up and Bergen is coming off a year where he posted 1,680 all-purpose yards, a top 10 single season total in program history.
Casey is a returning first-team all-conference pick from a year ago and a three-time academic all-conference pick who enters his senior year with a team-high 30 career starts at right tackle to his name.
The Sandpoint, Idaho, native was named the No. 8 best returning tackles in the nation by FCS Football Central/Sports Illustrated is one of the highest rated offensive linemen in the Big Sky by Pro Football Focus.
He helped pave the way for three 600+ yard rushers and three 600+ yard receivers on an offensive line that was No. 3 in the FCS in first downs in 2023.
Wilson burst on the scene at linebacker in his first season at UM as the team’s leader in both sacks (8.5) and tackles for loss (15) in 2023. His sack total of 8.5 was fifth in the Big Sky and he led the league in solo sacks with eight. The Texan was also No. 2 in the Big Sky in total TFLs and No. 1 in solo TFLs with 13. That’s all despite missing two games to injury and only starting two games as well.
He enters his junior year rated as the No. 3 overall edge rusher in the 2026 FCS draft class by Pro Football Focus with an 83.5 overall grade and was named second-team preseason All-America by FCS Football Central/Sports Illustrated.
Gradney was a Walter Camp All-American and a first-team all-league pick as a junior after leading the FCS in interceptions for much of the year. He finished the season with five picks – the most in the Big Sky after hauling in one in each of the first four games.
He finished top four in the Big Sky in total passes defended with 12 despite missing two games and had a career-high two pass breakups against Furman in the FCS playoffs, the second of which sealed the win for the Grizzlies and sent them to the semifinal.
He’s played in all but two games for UM in the last three seasons and was passed down Montana’s legacy #37 jersey in June. He is a two-time first-team All-Big Sky pick, one on special teams and one at defensive back, and is also a three-time Academic All-Big Sky honoree.
Childs has been a leader for several seasons on Montana’s special teams with his running back quickness and linebacker toughness, doing things that don’t show up on stat sheets but helping the Griz coverage units consistently rank among the tops in the FCS.
He was UM’s fifth-leading rusher last season with 108 yards before making the transition to linebacker in the spring.
Montana was picked by the league’s coaches and media to repeat as Big Sky champions in 2024, coming in first in both preseason polls that were announced earlier on Sunday from Spokane.
The preseason all-conference team was voted on by a selection of local and national media members as well as campus Sports Information Directors from around the league.
UM plays a seven-game home schedule for the first time since 2007 and for just the fifth time in program history this year.
New season ticket packages start at just $200 and are on sale now at GrizTix.com and GoGriz.com/Tickets and ensure fans a seat at all seven home games this fall as well as guaranteed access to playoff tickets, which sold out for the first time ever in 2023.