MISSOULA — Drew Deck pointed his left hand toward the crowd after he crossed the goal line, ran from right to left across the end zone as teammates congratulated him and jumped around in joy as he neared the student section.
The senior from Kalispell had a lot to celebrate on Sept. 6 as he scored his first career touchdown playing for Montana. It was a long time coming as it took him until his sixth year and his 33rd game of college football.
Somewhere in the crowd of 26,000 fans were Deck’s parents, who made the trip from Texas. His father, Arron Deck, was the one who played the dual role of father and coach, teaching Drew lessons that helped him reach this point.
“It was great to have them there because they’ve been such a big part of my life,” he said ahead of Montana’s first road game of the season against Idaho State at 6 p.m. Saturday in Pocatello, Idaho. “It made it special.”
Drew got to see his parents after the season-opening victory. He got a fist bump and smile from his father, who he could sense had missed being around football and was happy to be there.
Arron retired from coaching in 2022 after about 25 years at high schools across the state. He held true to that retirement as there was no critiquing of Drew’s route running or punt returning.
Drew had already absorbed loads of knowledge from him over the years before college coaches kept molding him. But a slight reminder never hurt.
“My dad made sure to tell me that it’s a long season, keep your head down, keep going and get back to work,” Drew said.
He’s a coach’s kid at his core. He grew up knowing his father as a coach as far back as he can remember, first in Billings when Arron coached at Senior High and later in Kalispell coaching at Flathead High and then at Glacier High.
Even as a toddler, Drew tagged along to two-a-day football practices with his father. He got to be a ball boy during high school games and sometimes got to travel to road games.
Out there, he was around numerous coaches, like former Griz quarterback Grady Bennett, the head football coach at Flathead and then Glacier. Arron was the offensive coordinator under Bennett, including while Drew played.
“Just always compete, whatever it may be,” Drew said of lessons he learned from his father. “He was great about teaching that at a young age. Whether it be sports, the classroom, just in life in general, always compete.”
Growing up in the Deck household wired Drew to be a competitor, and not just because his father was a coach. He’s the second-oldest of four siblings, behind brother Brady and ahead of sisters Hannah and Emily.
Most of them are about two years apart in age, so things got competitive. All of them participated in sports growing up although Drew was the only one to go on to play in college.
Brady, Drew and Hannah all competed in track for Glacier, where Arron was the head coach before he retired in 2022 and moved to Texas. Drew learned the competition aspect from his father even before he was coached by him.
“Whatever we were doing, it was always a competition,” he said. “Growing up in such a sports household with my dad being a coach forever, definitely kind of drilled that into us. Whether it was a board game or football in the backyard or whatever it might be, it was always highly competitive. It was a lot of fun.”
Being in constant competition helped prepared Drew for NCAA Division I college football. The Griz were his favorite childhood team and the one he dreamed of playing for while growing up about two hours north of Missoula.
He joined a receiver group in 2020 that included future professional players Samori Toure, Sammy Akem and Keelan White. By the time he could play after the canceled 2020 season, future pro Junior Bergen was added to the room that included another record-breaking returner in Malik Flowers.
The desire to work hard to earn something instead of thinking he simply deserved it has helped him put together his best season in his final year. He already has accrued single-season career highs in receptions and receiving yards in addition to that one touchdown catch, with his father in attendance.
“There’s times where we butt heads, and then as soon as I was done playing for him, best buds,” Drew said. “He’s still my best bud, still my best friend. I talk to him a lot. I have since I’ve been here.
“But those lessons in football that he taught me were able to just transfer right over here to not only football but to just life in general. Those have stuck with me the whole way.”
One thing he wasn’t as prepared for was dealing with major injuries. Those were setbacks that he hadn’t previously experienced in sports.
Just as he felt he was making forward progress, shoulder surgeries after the 2022 and 2023 seasons knocked him back. Missing offseason work while teammates got in reps hindered his growth trajectory.
He got reassurance from his father, who had coached players who had to fight back from injuries in the past. The players around him in Missoula also helped him overcome the mental hurdle of injuries.
“It’s tough when you’re not out there with the guys and they’re putting in work all year round,” he said. “But you got to do what you got to do to get back on the field as quick as you can or get back to practice.
“Having such a great friend group in the locker room, such a great group of guys, they made all that stuff easier. They were great.”
Drew had admired the impact he saw his father make on players’ lives through coaching. He thought about going into coaching as he grew up but whether he actually follows that path after playing is still up for debate.
He has already graduated from UM with a bachelor’s degree in business management and entrepreneurship and is working on a certificate. He got engaged over the summer and will soon be getting married.
He met McKinlee Mihelish, a Helena native who also comes from a well-known coaching family, when she ran track and cross country for the Griz. As Drew prepares for the next chapters of life, he’s glad he had the upbringing he did.
“Growing up with such great parents, such great siblings, very blessed to have such a great family growing up in Kalispell and being around such great people, such great coaches along the way,” he said.
“I wouldn’t change anything for the world.”
Frank Gogola is the Senior Sports Reporter at the Missoulian and 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @FrankGogola or email him at frank.gogola@406mtsports.com.
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