Gresch Jensen and Bob Stitt both saw their careers as Griz effectively end in Bobcat Stadium at the hands of the Bobcats. Now the former Montana quarterback and head coach will reunite as Bobcats and play at Bobcat Stadium quite a bit more often.
On December 5, Stitt was officially hired as new Texas State head coach Jake Spavital’s offensive coordinator. On Tuesday, Jensen announced he too would become a Texas State Bobcat. The FBS team in the Sun Belt Conference plays its home games at Bobcat Stadium.
Excited for the future… Go Bobcats! š pic.twitter.com/VtHvEvblYV
— Gresch Jensen (@GreschJensen) December 11, 2018
Stitt, who was fired as the head coach at Montana following a 31-23 loss at Montana State to cap a second straight season without a spot in the FCS playoffs, spent the last campaign as an offensive analyst for Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. Jensen, a Freshman All-American after making seven starts and throwing 20 touchdowns for the 2017 Grizzlies, spent last season at Fullerton College.
Jensen drummed up plenty of scuttle surrounding his decision over the last two months. Idaho State, who’s offensive coordinator Mike Ferriter was the passing game coordinator on Stitt’s staff, recruited Jensen hard, as did Montana’s fiercest rival. Jensen received an offer from Montana State in October and visited the MSU campus twice over the last six weeks, including once to wear a full Montana State uniform.
Always nice to be back in Montana šÆ pic.twitter.com/W9Tgy0qdvo
— Gresch Jensen (@GreschJensen) December 9, 2018
Spavital has a rich lineage of coaching quarterbacks despite taking his first head coaching job at just 33 years old.Ā During his stops at Houston, West Virginia (twice), Cal and Texas A&M,he has worked with spread offense gurus like Kevin Sumlin, Dana Holgerson and Sonny Dykes. He has coached quarterbacks like Case Keenum, Geno Smith, Davis Webb, Johnny Manziel and Will Grier.
Stitt earned a reputation as an offensive innovator himself during 15 years as the head coach at the Colorado School of Mines. Following West Virginia’s 70-33 win over Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl, Holgerson credited Stitt for the fly sweep play that helped the Mountaineers decimate the Tigers.
At Montana, Stitt’s offensive acumen was on full display in a 38-35 victory over North Dakota State to kick off the 2015 season in resounding fashion. But he never recaptured the magic, sputtering to a 21-14 record that included 14 wins in 25 Big Sky Conference games, back-to-back missed postseasons and two straight losses to the rival Bobcats.
āI didnāt know if I really wanted to go back to the FCS level as a head coach,ā Stitt toldĀ 406mtsports.com. āI thought about it and reached out to a few people. But I really wanted to stay in FBS. I mean, this is the level that I want to be at, I think I belong at. Being a head coach for 18 years, you donāt have a chance to be an assistant at the FBS level. I would like to be a head coach someday at the FBS level, and itās very difficult to move from the FCS ranks to an FBS head coach to the type of program I want to go to.”