Football

Jody Owens – ‘He brings what we want to develop defensively’

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Kane Ioane knows exactly the remedy for Montana State’s defense. It has nothing to do with a chalkboard. It has everything to do with a mentality.

And Ioane, Montana State’s newly anointed defensive coordinator and seventh-year linebackers coach, knows Jody Owens brings what Ioane’s Bobcats desperately need.

“What he brings is a big part of what we want to develop defensively,” Ioane said. “Everyone wants to bring up Xs and Ox and scheme. It goes beyond that. The great teams, the great defenses, are they going to be sound defensively and have the right scheme? Yes. But more than that, they are going to play with a passion and a pride and go out there with that swagger every single weekend. And Jody is a guy who exemplifies that on a regular basis in everything he does.”

On Monday, MSU head coach Rob Ash, Ioane and Owens brought that mentality back. Owens, an All-America his junior and senior seasons and the 2012 Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP as a linebacker, was hired as Ioane’s assistant linebackers coach.

“There is some fearlessness and competitive spirit, instilling confidence in guys that I want to bring,” said Owens, a four-year starter who earned All-Big Sky honors four consecutive seasons. “If you don’t play with confidence, you won’t be in the right spots and you will be thinking on the field instead of just reacting. The biggest thing is confidence and letting them know that I’ve done it before and trying to show them how it’s supposed to be done.”

Ash was not available for comment for this story. He is on vacation.

Owens tested the waters of professional football upon his graduation. He earned an invite to the Montreal Allouttes rookie mini camp and looked to have the inside track on a shot in the Canadian Football League. But that soon evaporated and he found himself with a student teaching position near his home in Dallas.

Owens started at L.D. Bell before last season. He earned a salary of $60,000 and held had an “enjoyable” teaching position mentoring students in world history. He said he loved “being around the game I love and sharing my knowledge with the kids.”

MSU secondary coach Brandon North resigned from his position after four years earlier this month. The door opened up a brand new chance for Owens.

“To coach at my alma mater, you couldn’t ask for a better position,” Owens said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon. “Working with Coach Ioane, being able to learn under him, this will be my opportunity to be a sponge and soak up all the knowledge. As far as my career, I always wanted to coach in college. I don’t think there’s a better place than Montana State with the opportunity Coach Ioane has given me.”

Owens knows how it’s supposed to be done. The captain of the 2012 ‘Cats helped MSU claim a third straight Big Sky title, win 11 games and advance to the quarterfinals f the FCS playoffs two years in a row. Owens’ final two seasons, MSu led the league in defense each year as the Bobcats piled up more tackles for loss and more sacks than anyone in the conference. In 2012, he was a consensus All-America. He notched 17.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and forced five fumbles in becoming the fourth Bobcat to earn BSC MVP honors in a decade.

“He brings a little attitude and swagger,” Ioane said. “He brings it to the coaching staff but also to the players and the linebacker position specifically, but also the entire defense. Here’s a guy that’s done it himself in a lot of different ways, coming from Texas to Montana and establishing himself as a young redshirt freshman and continuing to grow and progress as a player every single day and every single year and get better and better. He’s going to do that same thing as a coach and he’s going to bring that same mentality as our players. He’s never satisfied and he has that ‘No Question’ swagger that we are looking for on that side of the ball.”

Owens bolsters an MSU defense that’s experienced a complete overhaul this offseason. Ioane was promoted to defensive coordinator. North resigned. Montana State signed eight transfers and 18 total players on the defensive side of the ball earlier this month.

With Owens’ hiring, Ioane’s promotion and the imminent promotion of former All-Big Sky safety Michael Rider from utility assistant to head secondary coach, three former standouts now make up the core of MSU’s defensive coaching staff.

“It’s a cool, unique situation to have three guys who played defense at Montana State on the same staff,” Ioane said. “That will be a fun experience. That’s fun for the players to have three guys who have been there and done that and have worn that blue and gold on our side of the ball and gone out in that stadium and performed. We performed at a high level and we bring that sense of pride in every single meeting, every single practice and the guys are going to feel that. It’s going to be contagious.”

The changes are Ash’s reaction to a disappointing defensive 2014. The Bobcats ranked at or near the bottom of the Big Sky in every defensive category. MSU gave up nearly 34 points and 500 yards per game. The Bobcats were the third-worst among 121 FCS teams in passing yards allowed per game. Owens, who spearheaded a defense that lead the league in sacks and total defense two years straight, followed his former team closely the last two years. He said MSU’s performance a season ago is unacceptable.

“It was tough because when you are not in the program, you do a lot of rewinding and see what is going on and what has changed and who is doing what,” Owens said. “It was tough to see some of the struggle but I know that will be taken care of. Right away.”

One of the essential priorities in filling North’s spot on the staff came in protecting MSU’s recruiting connection in Texas. Owens, a Mesquite native, will take over for North as MSU’s primary recruiter in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“I’m looking forward to helping us protect this pipeline and help us get some good ball players from Texas up to Montana State,” Owens said.

In 2005, after a brief stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Ioane returned to the Bobcats as a graduate assistant on Mike Kramer’s staff. The 2003 Big Sky Defensive MVP weathered the storm of Kramer’s firing in 2007 and remained as Jamie Marshall’s assistant linebacker coach when Ash was hired in 2007. By 2009, he was the full-time linebackers coach. By 2014, he’d coached All-Americas like Bobby Daly and Owens, All-Big Sky players like Clay Bignell, Aleksei Grosulak, Na’a Moeakiola and Alex Singleton. Now Owens gets the chance to climb the ladder.

MSU will work in transfers Marcus Tappan (Cincinnati) and Zach Stern (Santa Monica College) to an inexperienced group. Sophomores Blake Braun, Mac Bignell and Wyatt Christensen along with redshirt freshman Grant Collins are expected to lead the group. Owens is only 24. If only MSU could suit up No. 23 one more time, Ioane thought.

“That would be fun, but he’s going to bring that same mentality as if he was suiting up to every single practice and every single game day and that’s exciting as well,” Ioane said with a laugh. “He will bring the attitude to the practice field and the game day that he brought every single day as a player. It’s why he’ll be a great coach.”

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.