Olson Named First-Team All American Defense By Hero Sports

Olson has been named a first-team All-American on every major FCS list published so far this year, and is one of only two defensive players on Hero Sports’ first or second-team from the Big Sky Conference.

The Buchanan Award finalist completed his junior year with Grizzlies tallying a national-best 151 total tackles in the regular season, 24 of which were earned in a single game against the Cal Poly Mustangs. He also tallied double digit tackles in nine of his 11 games last season. He also posted 11 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 pass breakups and 2 interceptions last season.

In the process, Olson shattered UM’s record for most tackles in a single season, previously held by Kendrick Van Ackeren (130), and was only 26 tackles shy of the Big Sky Conference record.

He is set to attend STATS FCS national awards banquet in January in hopes to become Montana’s third Buck Buchanan Award winner.

Earlier this week, Hero Sports added three other Grizzlies to its All-American lists. Receiver Samuel Akem and linebacker Jace Lewiswere named sophomore All-Americans, while Robby Hauck was named freshman All-American.

Olson’s 2018 Post-Season Honors:

• STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award Finalist
• HERO Sports First-Team All-American
• STATS FCS First-Team All-American
• Walter Camp Foundation All-American
• Associated Press First-Team All-American
• First-Team All-Big Sky
• Steve Carlson Team MVP
• Grizzly Defensive MVP

Hero Sports FCS All-American Team (2018)

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

NOTE: AP – All-Purpose; ATH- Dual-threat QB; RS- Return Specialist on Special teams; ST- Special teams standout; LS- Long Snapper

POS      PLAYER             YEAR                 SCHOOL
QB        Easton Stick          Sr.        North Dakota State
QB        Devlin Hodges      Sr.        Samford
RB        James Holland      Sr.        Colgate
RB        Marquis Terry       Sr.        SEMO
RB        Ryan Fulse           Sr.        Wagner
FB        Joe Protheroe      Sr.        Cal Poly
WR       Kelvin McKnight  Sr.        Samford
WR       Keelan Doss        Sr.        UC Davis
TE         Donald Parham Sr.        Stetson
OL        Tytus Howard   Sr.        Alabama State
OL        Oli Udoh           Sr.        Elon
OL        Matt Pyke        Sr.        ETSU
OL        Tanner Volson  Sr.        North Dakota State
OL        Dan Cooney      Sr.        San Diego
ATH      Chandler Burks Sr.        Kennesaw State

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

POS      PLAYER             YEAR                 SCHOOL
DL        Isaiah Mack           Sr.        Chattanooga
DL        Darryl Johnson      Jr.        North Carolina A&T
DL        Derick Roberson   Sr.        Sam Houston State
DL        Ahmad Gooden     Sr.        Samford
LB        Jabril Cox             Soph.   North Dakota State
LB        Dante Olson        Jr.         Montana
LB        Zach Hall              Jr.        SEMO
LB        LeGrand Toia        Sr.        Weber State
DB        Isiah Swann          Jr.        Dartmouth
DB        Nasir Adderley     Sr.        Delaware
DB        Jimmy Moreland   Sr.        James Madison
DB        Jordan Brown       Sr.        South Dakota State
AP        Shane Simpson     Jr.        Towson

FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS

POS      PLAYER                     YEAR     SCHOOL
PK        Roldan Alcobendas       Sr.        Eastern Washington
P          Alex Pechin                    Sr.       Bucknell
RS        D’Angelo Amos             Soph.   James Madison
RS        Malik Honeycutt           Jr.         Murray State
ST         Brady May                    Sr.       Weber State
LS         Steven Wethli              Sr.        Youngstown State

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

POS      PLAYER YEAR                             SCHOOL
QB        Anthony Lawrence       Sr.        San Diego
QB        Taryn Christion Sr.                    South Dakota State
RB        AJ Hines           Jr.                    Duquesne
RB        James Robinson Jr.                    Illinois State
RB        Tevin McCaster Sr.                    Youngstown State
WR       Josh Pearson    Jr.                    Jacksonville State
WR       Michael Bandy  Jr.                    San Diego
TE         Charlie Taumoepeau    Jr.         Portland State
OL        C.J. Collins        Sr.                    Kennesaw State
OL        Garrett Bowery Sr.                    Lamar
OL        Micah Shaw      Sr.                    North Carolina A&T
OL        Zack Johnson    Jr.                    North Dakota State
OL        Iosua Opeta      Sr.                    Weber State
ATH      Troy Andersen  Soph.               Montana State
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

POS      PLAYER YEAR                             SCHOOL
DL        Nick Wheeler   Jr.                    Colgate
DL        Randy Robinson            Sr.        Jacksonville State
DL        John Daka         Jr.                    James Madison
DL        Greg Menard    Sr.                    North Dakota State
LB        Troy Reeder     Sr.                    Delaware
LB        Sterling Sheffield          Sr.        Maine
LB        BJ Blunt            Sr.                    McNeese
LB        Pete Swenson  Sr.                    Western Illinois
DB        James Allen      Sr.                    Charleston Southern
DB        Manny Patterson          Jr.        Maine
DB        Robbie Grimsley           Sr.        North Dakota State
DB        Marvin Tillman Sr.                    Western Carolina
AP        Cade Johnson   Soph.               South Dakota State

SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS

POS      PLAYER YEAR                             SCHOOL
PK        Austin Errthum Sr.                    Northern Iowa
P          Chris Faddoul   Soph.               Florida A&M
RS        Rashid Shaheed Soph.               Weber State
RS        Booker Chambers         Sr.        Miss. Valley State
ST         Robert Carter, Jr.          Sr.        James Madison
LS         Josh Brady        Jr.                    Jacksonville State

THIRD TEAM OFFENSE

POS      PLAYER YEAR                             SCHOOL
QB        Tom Flacco       Jr.                    Towson
QB        Jake Maier        Jr.                     UC Davis
RB        Ra’Quanne Dickens       Sr.        Incarnate Word
RB        Andre Stoddard Sr.                    Wofford
WR       Alexander Hollins         Sr.        Eastern Illinois
WR       Mitch Gueller   Jr.                     Idaho State
WR       Jazz Ferguson   Jr.                    Northwestern State
WR       Jesper Horsted Sr.                    Princeton
TE         Charles Scarff    Sr.                    Delaware
OL        Max Hartzman  Sr.                    Colgate
OL        Alex Conley      Sr.                    Duquesne
OL        Noah Johnson   Jr.                     Idaho
OL        BJ Autry            Sr.                    Jacksonville State
OL        Drew Forbes     Sr.                    SEMO
ATH      Tyrie Adams      Jr.                    Western Carolina

THIRD TEAM DEFENSE

POS      PLAYER YEAR                             SCHOOL
DL        Solomon Brown Sr.                    Charleston Southern
DL        Sully Laiche      Jr.                    Nicholls
DL         Chris Agyemang Jr.                    Sacred Heart
DL        Adam Rodriguez           Jr.         Weber State
LB        Adrian Hope     Fr.                    Furman
LB        T.J. Holl Sr.                                Colgate
LB        Dylan Weigel    Sr.                    ETSU
LB        Jonas Griffith    Jr.                    Indiana State
LB        Christian Rozeboom     Jr.        South Dakota St.
DB        Tyler Castillo    Sr.                    Colgate
DB        Will Warner     Jr.                    Drake
DB        Jonathant Istache         Sr.        Duquesne
DB        TJ Floyd Jr.                                Princeton
AP        Josh Davis         Fr.                    Weber State

THIRD TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS

POS      PLAYER YEAR                             SCHOOL
PK        JJ Jerman         Sr.                    ETSU
P          Alex Kjellsten   Sr.                    McNeese
RS        Jimmie Robinson          Sr.        Bethune-Cookman
RS        Chris Rowland  Jr.                    Tennessee State
LS         Bradey Sorenson          Soph.   South Dakota State

MORE ON OLSON: 

2018: Finalist for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award … STATS FCS First-Team All-American … Walter Camp Foundation All-American … Associated Press First-Team All-American … HERO Sports First-Team All-American … Led Division I football in total tackles (FBS and FCS) … Selected as First-Team All-Big Sky Conference by the league’s coaches … Awarded Montana Football’s Steve Carlson MVP Award … Awarded Montana Football’s Defensive MVP Award … Named ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the week on 9/3 … Named College Sports Madness Big Sky Defensive Player of the week on 9/3 … Repeated as ROOT Sports Big Sky Player of the Week on 9/8 … Was named STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week on 9/8 as well …. Also repeated as College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week on 9/8 … Named ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week for a third time on 10/1 after posting 24 tackles against Cal Poly … Against UNI (9/1), Olson led the Grizzly defense with 13 total tackles … Also recorded an interception which he returned 26 yards, a sack for a loss of 9 yards, one PBU and one QB hurry … Was named the ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week after the UNI game …  Against Drake (9/8), Olson recorded 16 tackles, 2 sacks (career high), 3.5 TFL’s (career high), one forced fumble and one PBU … Olson recorded 11 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, half a sack, one QB hit, and an interception that he returned 25 yards in a well-rounded performance vs. Western Illinois (9/15) … Against Sacramento State (9/22) recorded 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 PBU, and a QB hit … Against Cal Poly (9/29) Olson earned Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for the 3rd time in 5 weeks putting up 24 total tackles (career high and 2nd best single-game tackling performance in UM history) … Against Portland State (10/6) put up 19 tackles, half a sack, 2 TFL’s and 2 forced fumbles … Olson put up 8 tackles and one half of a TFL in a matchup against North Dakota (10/13) … Olson added to his impressive season totals with a 13 tackle and one sack performance vs. #6 UC Davis (10/27) … Leading his team in tackling, Olson contributed to his team’s road victory over Idaho (11/10) with 10 tackles and a QB hit on the day … Olson completed his break-out season with an 18 tackle performance against rival Montana State (11/17)

2017: Second Team All-Big Sky on Special Teams… Academic All-Big Sky … Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year … Recorded 38 tackles, 16 of them solo … Had 2 TFLs and one sack against Idaho State for a loss of seven yards … Blocked a kick against Northern Colorado … Logged QB hurries against Savannah State and Eastern Washington … Played in all 11 games for UM … Once again awarded the William (Robi) Robertson Memorial Athletic Scholarship at the annual Lindsay Awards Banquet

2016: Academic All-Big Sky… Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year … Olson played in 11 games as a redshirt freshman at linebacker … Recorded 29 tackles, seven of them solo … Had two tackles for loss for six yards, also recorded a sack … Had back to back games with seven tackles against Miss. Valley State and Sacramento State … Recorded both tackles for loss and also his only sack in the Miss. Valley State game… Awarded the William (Robi) Robertson Memorial Athletic Scholarship at the annual Lindsay Awards Banquet.

2015: Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year … Was a redshirt freshman

HIGH SCHOOL: Olson was a four-year letterman in football at Cascade Christian HS, where his team won four conference championships (10-3 in 2011; 13-1 in 2012; 12-2 in 2013, and 8-3 in 2014) in a row… Three-year team captain and defensive player of the year…. Also led his team in tackles for three seasons…Voted defensive MVP of his conference and the state two times… His senior year he had 135 tackles, 5 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles; rushed for 583 yards and 8 TDs… named to the state’s All-Star Football Game… A three-time all-state selection at linebacker and tight end (as a senior) … His prep coach was Jon Gettman…. Also lettered in basketball and tennis.

PERSONAL: Olson carries a 3.87 GPA …. A Management major … His parents are Linda and Jeff Olson of Medford … His dad Jeff was the former head football coach at Southern Oregon University … Serves as a pen-pal mentor to a class of underprivileged kids in Northern California