AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — Three figures with deep ties to the Inland Northwest were honored Saturday night as the Big Sky Conference inducted its 2026 Hall of Fame class during Football Kickoff Weekend at Northern Quest Resort & Casino.
Former Idaho football coach Dennis Erickson, longtime Eastern Washington volleyball coach and administrator Pam Parks, and former Idaho track and field standout Jackie Ross Mattox highlighted the local members of the eight-person class.
Erickson’s Big Sky legacy includes leading Montana State to three conference titles as a quarterback before guiding Idaho to two Big Sky championships and two FCS playoff appearances as head coach. He later won two national championships at Miami and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
Parks was recognized for her decades of service at Eastern Washington, leading the Eagles volleyball program to three NCAA Tournament appearances before serving as associate athletic director and senior woman administrator until her retirement in 2018.
Ross Mattox earned Hall of Fame honors after winning 10 Big Sky championships at Idaho. She still holds the Vandals’ triple jump record and became the first woman to represent St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the Olympic Games when she competed in Seoul in 1988.
The 2026 class also includes Frank Hawkins (Nevada), Eric Heins (Northern Arizona), Amber Henry (Weber State), Michael Ray Richardson (Montana) and Willie Sojourner (Weber State). It is the fifth Hall of Fame class since the conference launched the honor in 2022.
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