The University of Montana football program will carry a new message on its jerseys this season. Grizzly Athletics and the University of Montana Foundation announced Monday that every player will wear a "For Montana" patch in 2026, making the Foundation the program's first jersey patch partner.
The patch is tied directly to the Foundation's newly launched For Montana Scholarship Initiative, a fundraising effort aimed at expanding renewable scholarships for Montana-resident students. The initiative calls on alumni, businesses and foundations to invest in keeping Montana students in state.
First-year Montana head coach Bobby Kennedy said in the official announcement: "This is an amazing opportunity for Grizzly Athletics to stand up for all Montana students. This is bigger than athletics. These students are our family members, friends and neighbors, and they will go on to become Montana's future leaders and community builders."
The patch debuts Saturday when Montana opens its 2026 season against Southern Utah at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula. Television viewers and radio listeners across Montana and beyond will see it from the first game.
The deal is a first on multiple levels. It marks the first time UM, the UM Foundation and Grizzly Athletics have combined to launch a major scholarship initiative aimed exclusively at Montana-resident students. It is also the first branded jersey patch in program history and the first anywhere in the Big Sky Conference.
An anonymous donor funded the jersey location itself, providing a gift to Grizzly Athletics specifically to secure the patch space in support of the scholarship initiative. That structure — a donor paying for jersey real estate to promote a university cause rather than a corporate brand — sets this arrangement apart from what most programs are doing with the newly available uniform space.
Athletics director Kent Haslam said: "I truly appreciate the donor's willingness to think creatively about how they can support our football program while also giving back to and supporting the university as a whole. Partnerships like this demonstrate the meaningful impact we can have when we work together to support both our student-athletes and the broader campus community."
The NCAA cleared the way for all of this in January, when it approved the use of commercial logos and patches on uniforms, equipment and apparel for any non-NCAA championship competition at the Division I level. Programs across the country have moved quickly to sign corporate sponsors and generate new revenue from the newly available space. Montana used its first patch to promote a scholarship fund rather than a brand.
Most schools with a fresh revenue tool attach it to a corporation. Montana attached it to its own students. A Big Sky program playing a season opener on television, with every player wearing the same patch, puts the For Montana Scholarship Initiative in front of an audience it would not otherwise reach through a foundation press release.
For Kennedy, it is also a first impression. He is in his debut season as Montana's head coach, and the patch will be visible on his team from the very first snap. His program is publicly aligned with a cause before it has played a single game under his direction.
The For Montana Scholarship Initiative itself is designed around renewable scholarships — not one-time awards — with the goal of reducing financial barriers for in-state students and keeping more of them in Montana after graduation.
