Kramer hires former Snake River standout
Spencer Toone, a state champion with Snake River High School in 1997 and 1998, will join Idaho State head football coach Mike Kramer to coach the outside linebackers for the Bengals.
Toone spent the past two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant at Utah State. The Aggies defeated Toledo Saturday in The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise.
On Toone, Kramer said, “He was an outstanding high school athlete at Snake River High School and he became an excellent scholar athlete at Utah after serving a two-year church mission. He came highly recommended from Utah State coach Gary Anderson and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.”
Toone was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round of the 2006 draft where he played two years for the team. At Utah he was a three-year starter who earned all-Mountain West Conference first-team honors in his senior season in 2005 after tying for the league lead in tackles with 113. Toone finished his Utah career with 293 tackles, ranked 10th all-time in school history.
Off the field, Toone was second-team ESPN The Magazine, CoSIDA Academic All-America in 2005 and a two-time academic all-District VIII first-team selection as a junior and senior. Toone also earned the President’s Award as the team’s best athlete with the highest GPA.
Prior to Utah, Toone played at Ricks College before serving his LDS mission to Australia from 2000-02.
Kramer also announced Tuesday other changes to his coaching staff. Mike Ferriter, an offensive graduate assistant at UNLV will coach inside wide receivers and manage the running backs for the near future.
Kramer has announced that has been reassigned to coach the offensive line and will move from running backs coach to inside linebackers coach. Kramer will re-assume the duties as kick teams’ coordinator and two additional staff positions remain open, including the hiring of a defensive coordinator.
On Ferriter Kramer said, “He was a college teammate of and a four-year starter at wide receiver at Montana. He was an exemplary student-athlete and he came highly touted for his work ethic and on field expertise by coach Bobby Hauck.
While at UNLV, Ferriter worked with the safety position in meetings to expand player’s knowledge of offensive schemes, receiver route tendencies and defensive ball skills. Other duties included working with the wide receivers and offensive line.
Ferriter played for Hauck at Montana and became the 11th Griz to reach the 2,000 yard receiving mark in a career, finishing with 148 receptions for 2,116 yards and 15 touchdowns. He earned his bachelor’s degree in human biology and spent the 2009 season coaching receivers at his alma mater, Helena High School.
