UC Davis coach Dan Hawkins takes on Idaho State and son Cody in unique Big Sky matchup

Dan Hawkins said something profound about his son a while back.

He explained that he didn’t make Cody a football player or a coach. He didn’t steer him in either direction. The kid did it all on his own. Cody is the product of being a coach’s son. He hung out in locker rooms as a boy. He watched film breakdowns. He delighted in piling onto a team bus to try on the helmets of players who were his idols.

Hawkins had an influence, to be sure, as any coach would with a son who was eager to learn and compete. Now in his seventh season leading the UC Davis program, Hawkins will experience a proud and emotional moment on Saturday afternoon in Pocatello, where first-year Idaho State coach Cody Hawkins leads his upstart Bengals against the Aggies in a Big Sky Conference contest that will go well beyond any Father vs. Son theme.

UCD and Idaho State sport 3-3 Big Sky records, so there is plenty to play for. The Bengals aim to finish strong and the Aggies need to finish strong to have a shot of squeezing into the FCS playoffs for the third time since 2018. Father and son share the same love of family and football. Raising kids is a joy, the coaches will tell you, and they deeply appreciate what football can do for a man, a team, a campus and a community. The embrace between young Hawk and old Hawk in Holt Arena figures to happen before and after the game, where most of the chatter may be about the grandkids and if there’s time to grab an ice cream.

During a Monday media session, Bob Dunning — on the UCD football beat since 1970 with the Davis Enterprise — asked Hawkins if this will be a “Hawk Bowl.” Or maybe “Hawkamania” or “Hawkapalooza.” It’s got to be something more than just another routine Big Sky game, right?

Hawkins downplayed all of it. He has been in coaching for 41 years and has seen it all, but he hasn’t experienced anything quite like this. Still, the man who goes by “Hawk” explained: “It’s not about us (father and son). It’s not. I told our guys that. It’s about two teams. It’s about our team and his team. We’re not playing (in the game).”

But it is about these two coaches because they are the leaders, the ones who molded these rosters, designed the game plans. They are the ones who lead the charge to seize the day.

Father/coach influence

Hawkins may not have pushed his son toward football, but once the kid was hooked, he provided guidance. Growing up in Boise, he had an inside peek at the rise of Boise State under his father, including a 53-11 showing over five successful seasons.

Cody at UCD got to see it happen all over again as a coach himself over six years on the coaching staff, including the 2021 and 2022 seasons as offensive coordinator. He saw how his father worked with student-athletes, how he developed coaches and helped them move on to other coaching gigs if they so desired. He also saw how his dad continued to go big picture in a sport that doesn’t have to just be about blocking and tackling and wins and losses.

Cody soaked it all in, knowing he would use these principles some day as a head coach, but when and where? It happened faster than even he anticipated. Cody applied all of his lessons and ambitions into the challenge of providing a boost and stability for an Idaho State program that had grown used to misery or worse over the decades. The Bengals went 1-10 in each of the past two seasons and won two or fewer Big Sky games 28 times since 1988.

The Bengals hired a native son to right the ship at the ripe age of 35. Cody recruited players with gusto as a familiar name in Idaho and California. He brought in 60 new student-athletes and an whole new coaching staff, including several from UCD. Cody with his sheer will and positivity gave the Bengals the sort of hope they had longed for, showing that words really sink in with actions and results. The coach never lost faith when Idaho State trailed big at home against Eastern Washington on Oct. 14. The Bengals rallied from 41-14 down with 1:48 left in the third quarter to win 42-41. Fans left Holt Arena early that day, but they have not done so since.

“I wouldn’t be here without him,” Cody said of his father during his introductory news conference last December. “He’s been a mentor, a leader, an inspiration for me and my family. I think he taught us that football can be great and powerful when done right.”

The leading passing team in the FCS, this is the best Idaho State team in years, a new era at a place in which there have only been two winning seasons out of the last 20 campaigns. Cody along the way reminded that it’s OK to sprinkle in fun amid the grind of game preparation, including dressing up on Halloween in practice last week. His father has done the same, sporting a pirate outfit and talking like a pirate during his Monday media session last week.

The elder Hawkins downplayed any notion of a “Hawk Bowl,” but deep down, that’s one proud pop.

“Cody, that dude, he’s been around,” Hawkins said in suggesting his son is wise beyond his years when it comes to football. “He’s been around a lot of coaches. He’s seen it at both ends. The guy went undefeated in high school. Never lost a game through junior high and high school. He’s been around some really good coaches. He’s been on the end where it hasn’t been as successful. He has that perspective on the game. He has tremendous knowledge of the game, particularly the passing game. ... There are a lot of commonalities (between UCD and Idaho State) in terms of how you prepare and treat kids.”

Tough times at Colorado

While coaching Boise State, Hawkins saw his son excel at quarterback in junior high and at prep powerhouse Bishop Kelly in Boise. Cody overcame a lack of size with guts, skill and preparation. The kid went 59-0 from sixth grade through his senior season, including 40-0 in high school on his way to twice earning Player of the Year honors by the Idaho Statesman.

Cody learned how to win, but could he handle setbacks?

He wasn’t sure if he would play on scholarship at Boise State or at the University of Colorado, where his father took over as coach when Cody was a senior at Bishop Kelly in 2005. When Cody’s faxed letter of intent to play at Colorado arrived shortly after Hawkins was hired, the elder Hawk was elated. He has always insisted that he had no idea where the good son would go.

Cody went to play for his father because of course he would. This was a dream come true. But it was a mixed experience at Colorado, where father and son celebrated together and hurt together. Cody started as a freshman, sophomore and into his junior season, gutting out games and setting career passing marks.

But after going 6-7, 5-7, 3-9 and then 3-6 to start the 2009 season, the elder Hawkins was relieved of his coaching duties. Hawkins gave a classy send-off news conference, and then was deeply moved that Cody elected to remain with the Buffaloes, to finish out his commitment to his teammates and program. Cody, it turned out, learned to handle setbacks just fine and that losses of any measure happen in this sport.

Father and son endured the heat during their time together in Boulder. Both were skewered by fans who showed they can spew hate just as much as they can offer appreciation. Both were blamed for Colorado’s shortcomings, but father and son never broke stride. They remained in football, often together. Hawkins coached around the globe before accepting the job at UCD, his alma mater, before the 2018 season. Hawkins hired his son on the staff, not because it was the family thing to do but because it was the football thing to do.

All these years later, the son and the father look alike and even speak alike, including the endless pursuit to get players and coaches to be “the best version of ourselves.”

“It’s pretty crazy,” Cody Hawkins said during his weekly media session of the first father-son coaching football game in the 60-year history of the Big Sky. “It’s incredible when you think about it. I’m not thinking of playing against my dad. I love my dad - he’s my best friend - he’s given my family so much. But one of the things he gave me was a desire to compete.”

Now, the Big Sky and college football worlds can see how it all plays out Saturday inside Holt Arena, where Cody’s mother, Misti Ann, can’t lose.

“I think all the kids are rooting for my dad because Christmas is always a little sweeter when he’s happy,” Cody Hawkins said with a laugh. “My mom is definitely rooting for my dad. She’s a great wife. She’s told me, ‘I love you and I hope you guys play great but I hope your father wins!”