Kalispell Glacier Football Program Penalized for Recruiting

The Glacier Wolfpack will begin the defense of their Class AA state football championship without head coach Grady Bennett.

A two-game suspension was imposed on Bennett by the MHSA after allegations of recruiting were levied against the head coach of the Glacier program. 

Following a formal protest from Bigfork High School, the MHSA held a hearing on April 20 during which the MHSA Executive Board passed a motion unanimously to find Glacier High in violation of Article II, Section 17.1 (recruiting).

In a May 9 statement from Glacier High School, the school said it “respects the MHSA and their governing body fully, but still disagrees with the ruling and outcome of this hearing.” The school asserted Bennett was contacted by a student who lives in the Kalispell School District and was registered to start classes at Glacier High School during spring semester 2026, according to the press release.

“At Glacier High School, we do not recruit student-athletes to attend GHS, and this case was no exception as the student initiated and requested the transfer based on their desire to participate in one of Glacier High School’s unique academic program offerings that was not available at their current school,” the press release stated. “It is common and normal for parents and students to gather information about schools they are interested in attending before they enroll in any school, leading to contact made with school administrators and staff.

“Once contact has been initiated by the student and/or parent and they indicate that they would like their student to transfer to Glacier High School, Glacier High School informs them of the enrollment process if they would like to pursue that route. It is reasonable to expect a school to communicate with families prior to their first day of attendance about programs and it is this communication that is unclear in Section 17.”

The school added that it “looks forward to working with MHSA in the near future as they work to improve the language of Section 17 in order to educate all coaches and programs throughout the state.”

The MHSA handbook defines recruiting as “any school, or any employee, representative, club or any entity associated with the school trying to induce a student (either directly or through the parents or guardians of the student) to remain at his/her current school or transfer to another school for reasons relating to athletic participation.”

In accordance with MHSA Penalty Section Article II, Section 17.3, the Executive Board passed a motion 6-2 to assess a two-game suspension for Bennett and a private reprimand for the school which includes a $100 fine.

The MHSA Handbook differentiates between private and public reprimands.  All official actions and decisions of the MHSA Executive Board will be documented in the meeting minutes and made publicly available online in accordance with Montana open meeting laws. The distinction relates to the manner in which the information is distributed to the MHSA membership. Public reprimands are communicated directly to the member schools through official correspondence, while private reprimands are not broadly distributed beyond the official meeting records and required public documentation.  

The Wolfpack are scheduled to open the season August 28 at home against Billings West, in a rematch of the 2025 Class AA state championship game. Glacier won that game, also at Legends Field in Kalispell, 16-3, to cap a 12-0 season, giving the program its first state championship since 2014. 

Bennett will miss that game and a September 4 game at Bozeman as he begins his 20th season leading the Wolfpack.

Bennett declined to comment when contacted, but told 406 MT Sports he was looking forward to the 2026 season. 

This is the first known case of recruiting since Missoula Sentinel was penalized with a $100 fine back in 2019. Since then, the MHSA has strengthened penalties. There was no head coach suspension back then.

Now, according to the MHSA, even if the head coach wasn’t directly involved in the recruiting, he or she could still be suspended for a lack of program control if any school is found guilty of violating the association’s prohibition on recruiting. 

This story originally appeared at 406mtsports.com.

This story was updated to include a statement from Glacier High School, which was released after publication.