Montana State’s next officially scheduled football game might be a heck of a reunion.
MSU could have a few games of little consequence land on its schedule between now and September 4. But the scheduled opener for the Bobcats at the University of Wyoming is the next scheduled game for an MSU team hoping to attain the historic levels it reached last season once again.
And it also likely will be a homecoming of sorts for Brent Vigen.
On Monday afternoon, Football Scoop reported that Vigen will become the 33rd head football coach at Montana State University. Skyline Sports confirmed through two sources close to Vigen that he is expected to accept Montana State’s offer.
Vigen has been a part of Craig Bohl’s staff at UW since the former North Dakota State head coach took over in Laramie in 2014. Vigen, a former North Dakota State tight end, coached at his alma mater from 1998 until 2013, helping NDSU to three consecutive FCS national titles, part of a run that has since seen the Bison win eight of the last nine FCS crowns.
The quarterback guru — Vigen coached Brock Jensen and Carson Wentz while recruiting Easton Stick to Fargo, while also mentoring Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen at Wyoming — was one of three candidates Skyline Sports confirmed came to the MSU campus for in-person interviews.
Montana State also courted Nebraska offensive coordinator Matt Lubick and Oregon linebackers coach Ken Wilson. Both elected to stay at their respective programs rather than taking over for Jeff Choate.
MSU has been on the hunt for a new head coach since Choate abruptly left to take the co-defensive coordinator job on Steve Sarkisian’s staff at Texas on January 22.
Vigen’s name surfaced early in the process and stayed among those heavily in the mix for the last two-plus weeks. Now the 45-year-old will become a head coach for the first time in his more than two-decade long coaching career.
After playing for North Dakota State’s 1996 Division II national title team for Rocky Hager III. Vigen was a graduate on NDSU’s staff from 1998-2000 before becoming the tight ends coach in 2001 under head coach Bob Babich. He coached quarterbacks for Babich in 2002 and then moved to coaching running backs when Bohl took over in 2003.
Vigen served as Bohl’s passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2004 until 2008, then took over as the offensive coordinator in 2009. He helped mentor Brock Jensen, the quarterback who led NDSU to its first 3-peat.
He went from NDSU to Wyoming with Bohl following that 2013 national championship. When Chris Klieman left NDSU following the 2018 national title win to become the head coach at Kansas State, Vigen was considered a leading candidate to return to his alma mater as the head coach.
Instead, he stayed in Laramie and coached Allen. Vigen recruited, coached and developed Allen, who became the highest NFL Draft pick in Wyoming school history when the Bills selected him as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Allen was also the second highest selection by any Mountain West Conference player in history behind only Alex Smith of Utah, who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. Vigen also recruited and coached former North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz for Wentz’s freshman and sophomore seasons at NDSU in 2012 and ‘13 before Vigen became offensive coordinator at Wyoming in 2014. Wentz went on to become the No. 2 overall pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2016 NFL Draft.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
