Matt and Mike Linehan started their football careers together, but they didn’t always get along. The brothers lived in Florida at the time, where teams were formed by size, rather than age. Matt, a fifth grader, was on the same team as Mike, a third grader.
On the first day of pads, Matt said the team was doing hitting drills when his younger brother was laid out by another player.
“My mom was on the phone with my dad, my dad was watching practice,” Matt said. “They did (the drill) and this kid hit Mike so hard that my dad dropped his phone and went, ‘Oh my god … Mike just got killed.’ From then I was unsure if Mike would like football, but he’s grown to be a competitor and good at what he does.”
Tess Fox| Blot Magazine
Junior quarterback Matt Linehan shouts instructions Sept. 10 against Washington in Seattle.
After three years, the brothers don’t only share the field again as University of Idaho football players, they also voluntarily spend time together.
“He pops into my apartment every now and then or I’ll go over to his house,” Mike said. “Even if we’re 10 years down the road and in different places, we’ll always stay close. Obviously, we’re brothers and stuff like that, so we have to kind of like each other.”
Matt, a UI senior, even considers his younger brother to be one of his best friends. The relationship between them is unique, he said.
“It’s been helpful for me to have my brother around,” Matt said. “We’ve really bonded over the last couple years. Better than we did probably growing up.”
Mike, Matt and the youngest Linehan, Marcus, have moved across the country together several times. Their dad, Scott, a former Vandal quarterback and career football coach, changed jobs every three to four years. Mike said he believes the constant moving brought his family closer.
“Me and Matt and my little brother, we gained an appreciation for each other because when you first go to a place you really only knew each other,” he said. “You would just hang around each other. We got close that way.”
Mike is a linebacker who plays under the number 40. Matt, however, is a quarterback like their dad. His jersey number, 10, is the same number their dad played under while attending UI.
“It really wasn’t my choice to have the number,” he said. “So I didn’t even think about it until someone brought it up to me. I talked to him about it and we really kind of dispelled the special notion of that. You know, a number’s a number. What matters is what you do on the field. But there is a part of me that does think it’s special.”
Since their arrival, the brothers have enjoyed their time in Moscow. Mike said he has heard stories about his father and other family members from alumni. Some stories he doubts his family would want them to know, but Mike said it was still fun to hear them. Mike and Matt aren’t the first generations of Linehan to attend UI. Scott and several of his brothers attended the university, as did their parents.
“It’s been a lot of fun to carry on a legacy,” Mike said. “Not a lot of people get to do that. It’s cool to represent our family and see if we can put the same mark as they did way back when.”
As proud as the brothers are, Mike said it’s important that they leave their own mark.
Mike took a redshirt season in 2015. He grabbed six tackles Sept. 1 against Montana State in the Kibbie Dome and three tackles Sept. 10 against Washington in Seattle.
He also started all three years at St. Mary’s High School in Michigan. When Scott took a position with the Dallas Cowboys, the family was uprooted to Texas.
While Mike said transitions are always hard, the younger Linehan brother transferred to Highland Park High School, where he earned a Dallas Morning News Defensive Player of the Week honorable mention.
“You never really get used to (moving),” he said. “We gained kind of an adaptability to different environments and different, newer big cities and small cities, different kinds of people. I know me and Matt wouldn’t change a thing.”
In high school, Matt was honored as a blue chip player by the Detroit News after he led St. Mary’s to a state championship football game. He threw for 1,500 yards to help the school win the Catholic League title. Matt also played basketball, which he said he planned on playing in college.
“I told my parents, ‘If I don’t get any offers by the end of my senior year, then (football) probably isn’t going to work out. I’m just going to focus on basketball,’” Matt said. “That was really my first love. Basketball was always the dream, and part of me still wants it to be the dream, but it’s still a fun hobby.”
San Diego State recruited Matt. He found out at the last minute he wouldn’t have a scholarship and said he decided to call it quits with football. That is, until UI hired Idaho coach Paul Petrino. Matt said his father sent Petrino his highlights tape, and the Linehan family got a call three days later.
In a week, Matt went from football dropout to quarterback at a Division 1 school.
“That was a great feeling for me,” he said. “I really appreciate and really feel appreciation for coach Petrino for giving me this chance.”
He started 10 games in his first season as a Vandal and had more than 300 passing yards. Matt’s 56 passing attempts against Ohio University Sept. 20, 2014 are the most by a freshman in the school’s history.
In 2015, Matt led the Sun Belt Conference in completion percentage, with .63 and was ranked second in the conference for 22.55 completions per game. His completions also earned him No. 19 in national rankings. Matt made 187 passing yards against Washington Sept. 10 in Seattle.
Mike said he is inspired by his brother’s journey as an athlete and a student.
“He was always kind of a smaller guy,” he said. “He was a late bloomer, but he always had a chip on his shoulder. That inspires me a lot. It’s taught me a lot.”
Matt said he strives to be a good role model for his brothers, including Marcus, a sophomore in high school who hopes to play collegiate football.
“He’s a great kid,” Matt said. “He aspires to be like us. I know we’ve set the standard for him, but I don’t want to give him too high expectations. I want him to be on his own. He’s got his skill set that he works on and he’s grown a lot.”