Raised in the rugged hills of Kilgore, Idaho, John Larick Jr. was cowboy through and through from the time he could sit a horse. He entered his first rodeo at age 5 and never looked back. With early guidance from respected Clark County cowboys like Max Hogan, Benny Williams, and Ted Vadnais, John’s passion for rodeo only grew—carrying him from Idaho’s high school rodeo ranks into college competition and eventually into the PRCA arena.

John’s impact on rodeo reached far beyond his own competitive success. After rodeoing in Idaho and Montana, he and his wife, Pat, moved to California, where John joined Hartnell College. There, he not only rode for the rodeo team but soon became its coach—leading Hartnell to national prominence. John had a special talent for drawing Idaho cowboys westward, where he helped shape future NFR qualifiers like Butch Small, Scott Kesl, and Vance Avery. He always emphasized education as much as rodeo, ensuring his students left with both grit and a degree.

In 1981, John took the reins at Montana State University, coaching both men’s and women’s teams to national intercollegiate championships. Over his 19-year tenure at MSU, his teams claimed five national titles and produced 12 individual national champions. Alongside Pat—his wife, secretary, and rodeo partner—John built more than champions; he built a family. Many of his students lived under his roof, ate at his table, and carried forward the lessons learned on and off the dirt.

Though Pat passed in 1999 and John retired a year later, his influence still runs strong through the next generation of rodeo athletes, many of whom are children of his former students. He’s been honored by the Hartnell and MSU Athletic Halls of Fame and, in 2023, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame.

A true son of Idaho, John Larick helped build a rodeo legacy that stretches across the West—and it all started on a small mountain ranch, chasing calves on the Idaho range.