Where are they now: Tony Arntson

Photo Courtesty of UM Sports Information

Roman Stubbs
GameDay Kaimin

Tony Arntson was always a coach’s dream.
“Ever since I was young, I wanted to be a coach,” Arntson said. “When I was in high school I coached elementary basketball, flag football, and Little League baseball. I loved it. I couldn’t wait to do it when I was older.”
He didn’t have to wait long. His natural athletic ability, particularly on the gridiron, went hand-in-hand with his skipper aspirations.
“Trust me, I could always tell he was going to be a coach, a great coach,” said Brad Salonen, a former standout Griz linebacker who played with Arntson from 1985 to 1988. “He really was a player coach on the field. The guy was like a sponge; anything you told him in the film room, he wanted to see what he could do with it.”
After a stellar career with the Griz in the late 1980s, Arntson is now entering his 13th season as Helena High’s head coach.
Growing up in Great Falls, Arntson became a record-setting quarterback at CM Russell High School, where he starred under the legendary Jack Johnson, who has been at the helm for the Rustlers for over 30 years.
“Coach Johnson played a huge role in not only my career but in my life,” Arntson said. “He was a disciplinarian type coach.”
Under Johnson, Arntson played in three state championship games, which included an undefeated season and title in Arntson’s senior year.
Opting to go to Missoula a year after Montana State had won the national championship, Arntson started four games at quarterback as a true freshman for the Griz, then was moved to running back and special teams in Don Reed’s first three years as head coach. And for the type of player who is a coaches’ dream, the move from the game’s most glamorous position was no problem.
“I was an option quarterback, so the move didn’t matter to me,” Arntson said. “I just wanted to play and help our team win. Playing under coach Reed was really special. Just like coach Johnson, he really influenced me in life.”
Arntson was a part of the first-ever squad to play in the friendly confines of Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
“Some special memories and friendships were made there,” says Arntson.
Salonen couldn’t agree more.
“We had some great moments together,” he said. “I’ll never forget one game against the Bobcats in 1988, when me and Tony both had touchdown catches in the game and that was a really special moment. We had a special group of guys and Tony was a big part of that.”
Arntson’s journey up the coaching ladder to Helena High started under his mentor Johnson at CMR in 1989, when he was the quarterbacks coach for some guy named Dickenson. “That was an incredible opportunity to start my career under coach Johnson,” he said. “Coaching Dave on a team that went 22-0 over two seasons was unbelievable.”
In the early 90’s, Arntson took the head coaching job at Charlo, where he served as the grandfather of the eight-man program.
“It was a really neat experience,” he said. “You’re just not the coach out there, you do the grunt work too, taking care of everything associated with the program.”
Eventually Helena High came calling, and Arntson found himself in charge of a AA program at 27, doing what he had always wanted to do. In his 13-year tenure, Arntson has solidified the Bengals into a perennial contender, making the state semifinals five times, including three state championship appearances. All the while in the chase for his first state title, he has reasserted the Bengals place in the cross-town rivalry with powerhouse Helena Capital and has formed an annual showdown with his mentor Johnson. But above all, the most rewarding part of living out his childhood dream has been seeing his former players succeed. “That is one of the best parts of my job,” he said. “When I see some of my players turn from kids into fine young men, it feels really good to know they’re proud to come through the program I coached.”
One of those players, Mike Ferriter, has continued his career at Montana, thanks in large part to Arntson.
“He has always been a really big influence in my life,” Ferriter said. “He helped me so much as a player and as a person.”
And with homecoming week in full stride, Arntson’s presence as one of the first to ever play at Washington-Grizzly Stadium will be felt.
“So many great memories, it really is a special place to me,” Arntson said of his old stomping grounds. And it is a special place to those who he helped coach there, like Ferriter.
“Coach Arntson is a great coach, and a great guy,” he said. “We still remain close because he really cares about his players. He was a player’s dream as a coach.”