Growing up in Bozeman with a father that used play for Montana State University has given Bobcat’ defense end Kenneth Eiden IV a love and perspective that not many athletes bring with them to the football field.
“It’s a privilege, not a right,” Eiden IV said of playing football. “So, it matters to play it the right way in my opinion. It’s given me a lot of opportunities. It’s always been something that I love. Two things you can always control is your attitude and effort, so if I can do that, things will go okay.”
Growing up, he never missed a game at Bobcat Stadium and he drank in every moment, watching the stars of the day, especially along the defensive line where his father of the same name also played.
“My dad played for MSU back in the 80s, so I grew up around football and I went to every single ‘Cat game since I was five years old,” Eiden said. “Brad Daly, Bobby Daly, Grant Collins, Dane Fletcher were guys I watched. Just seeing how those guys went about their business was great for me. Getting a chance to play for Bobby Daly (a Helena product who’s the assistant head coach and linebackers coach at his alma mater), to work with Dane Fletcher at The Pitt has been really good for me.”
Eiden had a sack in MSU’s convincing 63-20 win over Utah Tech and nearly came up with an interception that David Alston, playing on the opposite end of the defensive line, barely got to first. It’s a great start to his sophomore season after posting five sacks and eight tackles for loss last year. The 6-foot-1, 247-pounder is part of a defensive end rotation that also includes Alston and Ben Seymour, who are each seniors, along with junior all-conference returnee Brody Grebe.
That quartet book-ending a stout interior anchored by junior All-American defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez makes MSU’s defensive front a strength. And Eiden is a big part of that.
“His transition really had a rough first fall because he was injured, but you could see things start to happen that true freshman spring for Ken,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “I think we were smart about how we utilized him last year. That was a growing process.
“He’s a guy who has an excellent motor for a d-lineman. He plays with great leverage. He is strong, he’s fast, he’s tenacious. We have to find ways to put him in a position to match up well because he can be and has shown that he’s a play-maker up front. We need that out of Kenny.”
None of that matters to him now as the Bobcats prepare for their toughest opponent of the season in defending national champion South Dakota State University.
“Coming off that last loss against SDSU (38-19 in the playoffs), we as a whole group knew we had to get bigger, stronger, faster,” Eiden said. “It’s been a really big thing to make sure we’re getting our size up and our strength up.”
Eiden and his teammates are focused on staying within themselves and not letting the moment distract from their jobs.
“The big thing we try to remember as a group is it’s about us, not about them,” he said. “Make sure we’re playing our game. Obviously, it’s a big motivator getting a rematch with them. We talked about it almost daily coming off that loss. We’ll use that emotion and try to channel it in a way that matches our scheme and make sure we’re doing our job.
“Pretty exciting opportunity. We get to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the country. Gotta make sure we come out firing on all cylinders. After this game we’ll have a pretty good idea of what we need to work on. It’ll be a good game to watch early in the season.”
Eiden knows the value of teamwork having played on a state championship team with the Bozeman Hawks. In high school he played defensive end, tight end and running back, while at MSU he can focus on one job at defensive end.
“As a defensive line we say, ‘Know your job, do your job,’” he said. “Don’t try to be a hero, don’t try to hunt things out. Make sure we’re playing within ourselves. Two heavyweights going at each other. It’ll really give us an idea of how we measure up.”
Eiden knows he’s becoming part of a legacy that is the defensive line at MSU. The Bobcats have produced some of the best linemen in Big Sky Conference history. Among the greats, Bill Kollar was a first round draft pick in the 1970s, Mark Fellows was the Big Sky’s defensive player of the year in 1984, Neal Smith set the school’s single-season sack record in the 1990s, defensive ends Brad Daly and Caleb Schreibeis won consecutive Buchanan Awards as the top defensive players in the Football Championship Subdivision in the 2010s.
“We talk about (the players that were here before us) every day,” Eiden said. “We got this brand new facility and we talk about how it was the guys before us that built it and we’re living it. We need to uphold the standard and legacy of this team. It’s a lot bigger than the individual guy. We ride for the brand as the saying goes around here.”
Eiden is well aware that he’s living in that world right now and is taking it all in.
“It’s a pretty cool thing growing up here and going to Cat games,” he said. “Then getting to run out during Gold Rush last year for the first time was insane. Just leaves me speechless getting to talk about it. It’s something I’ve been working for my whole life. Being a local guy, it something I’m really excited about.”
Eiden IV came out of Bozeman High School as one of the most productive players in school history, logging over 40 sacks in his prep career. He was also one of the highest rated players from Montana and was on a lot of FBS schools radars as a junior, before deciding to accept MSU’s scholarship offer.
He garnered AA first team all-state honors as defensive end and running back as a senior in 2020. In 2019, he was the AA defensive player of the year and first team tight end. The Hawks won the state title in 2019 defeating Butte High, which was then quarterbacked by current MSU starter Tommy Mellott, 49-28.
“His burst off the line, his initial first step and quickness, is the best I’ve ever coached,” Bozeman High head coach Levi Wesche said. “A lot of big-time guys don’t play with a great motor, but Kenny never slows down. There is no mid-gear. I think his quickness and motor to the ball always have just set him apart.”
Eiden was a gym rat growing up and never seemed to stray too far away from working on his game in some fashion.
“Sometimes guys just have it,” Wesche said of Eiden’s work ethic. “I’ve been around football for a while, but Kenny’s a guy that just had it. I’m sure his mom and dad have ingrained that in him, they’re great people, but you get out in the world a little bit and away from your parents you have that internal drive to keep it going and Kenny does.”
Transitioning from a ball-chasing, ball-hawking do everything to playing within the parameters of Willie Mack Garza’s defense has been a huge transition, one that Eiden is starting to master.
“The growth for him going back to last season is going beyond a guy who can flash, going to a guy who can flash and make plays but also is consistent and not busting assignments at the same time. There’s a maturity that’s there that young players go through, especially young defensive lineman, especially guys who are all about going to seek the ball when they are in high school, that’s a tough transition,” Vigen explained.
“You have to play within our scheme. It takes a little time. I do think Kenny’s there. I do think beyond being more than just a specialist, now he’s an every-down type of guy and we really need him to be a force not only this week but as the season goes along.”
Eiden and the Bobcats will see if their hard work has paid off when they travel to Brookings, SD for this Saturday’s epic tilt against the top-ranked Jackrabbits.
