When his playing career concluded, Scott Gurnsey felt his accolades were good enough to be a member of the University of Montana’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
He was a four-year letterman in his college career as the starting punter and a standout wide receiver from 1991-94.
“I looked at who was already in then I changed my mind,” Gurnsey said with a sizable laugh. “I was lucky enough to play for a great head coach and all-time quarterback. We started the Montana Grizzlies dominance.”
Gurnsey may have changed his mind, but his alma mater knew where his final placement would be.
The Tumwater High School graduate will be formally inducted in October after a standout four-year career in a place that was home away from home.
He is one of four members of the 2024 class that features two other football stars – Colt Anderson and Dylan McFarland – as well as women’s basketball player Kelly (Pilcher) Beattie.
While attending a Grizzlies scholarship association golf tournament back in May, their Director of Athletics Kent Haslam announced Gurnsey would be inducted.
“Darn near brought me to tears. It was pretty special,” Gurnsey said. “Played with so many good guys, it was pretty easy to look pretty good.”
Gurnsey, the son of Ron and Karen Gurnsey, was a star for Tumwater during his prep days in the late-1980s. He earned three straight all-state honors as a free safety, back-to-back Black Hills League MVP awards in 1988-89 and was a key member of the T-Birds 1987 and 1989 state championship teams.
That led him to be courted by Division I programs such as Hawaii, Oregon State and Colorado, but previously scheduled trips to those three were canceled. Idaho was another program that showed high interest.
Montana eventually did, even if it was a little late in the recruiting game.
“Kept a folder of all the schools that contacted me and Montana was the last one,” Gurnsey recalled. “I didn’t even know about that level of football. Montana felt like home. The coaches were great, the players I met on my trip were great.”
The Grizzlies operated under the idea that having a guy who was one position also be the punter was ideal for roster flexibility and scholarship availability.
So Gurnsey was promptly the punter for all four years. He still holds the school record for most punts in a season with 77 in 1992.
“I was not the first guy they used like that, nor was I the last,” Gurnsey said. “They put a guy back there to not screw it up. Sometimes I shanked it, sometimes I kicked it really good.”
The one drawback that happened, as Gurnsey put it, “too often?”
“Fifty-yard fade routes then running back to punt,” he said with a chuckle.
Wide receiver was where he made the biggest impact, catching passes from one of the best quarterbacks in school history Dave Dickenson. In 1993, Gurnsey was first team All-Big Sky after hauling in 67 passes for 1,079 yards and nine touchdowns during the regular season.
He remains top-10 in career receptions and yards in program history. His first ever touchdown came against arch rival Montana State.
“When I finally became comfortable (is) when I learned the playbook. It is a lot of mental stuff and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re lost out there,” Gurnsey said. “That didn’t happen until the middle of my sophomore year. That’s when I knew that I could play.”
Four years later, Gurnsey returned to the Grizzlies program as the radio color commentator. He was a part of the radio broadcast team for 27 years until retiring last season.
It was not something even on his radar, but when asked to do it, he didn’t wait for the opportunity.
“It was a way to stay involved with the team and just stay connected to the program,” Gurnsey said. “First five or six years doing that, kids still knew who I was. Parents would travel on the road. It was fun to be a part of. Youl felt like you were (still) a part of the team.”
Admittedly, wideouts and defensive backs would be the bread and butter for Gurnsey’s analysis. Still, he tried to have a holistic approach to the game. He also was not afraid to call out Montana players.
“It is learning to not sound repetitive; not to be obnoxious,” he said. “That’s why people liked my style, I told it how it was.”
Gurnsey’s son, Cameron, is entering his redshirt freshman season with Montana. That was the primary factor in deciding to step away from doing the pre/post game tailgate show – which was his latest duty for radio the last handful of seasons.
Now, his top role is being a dad.
“I wanted my son to have his own experience,” Gurnsey said. “Grateful that he wanted to come here. It is surreal, just awesome.”
Even as Gurnsey will be applauded for his time with Montana in a place that accepted him, his memory will go back to the days in Tumwater under legendary head coach Sid Otton.
“I can’t even tell you what it means to be a part of the Tumwater family. Coach Otton turned boys into men and he did it for so long at such a high level,” Gurnsey said. “Playing college ball at Montana, you’re playing for the state. It means a lot to a lot of people and you can never take that for granted and I hope I never do.”
