BOZEMAN, Montana — Level Price Jr.’s entire career at Montana State has been an anomaly.
He came to MSU as a 5-foot-8, 167-pound walk-on cornerback from one of the most prestigious high school football programs in the country.
He’s a sixth-year senior who spent the first half of his career fighting for a roster spot and the second half trying to master a pivotal position while backing up, then taking over for, a team captain and program icon who now plays in the NFL.
He’s battled injuries during his final season, including a tender hamstring throughout 2023. And he’s had to overcome a few glaring mistakes on the playing field while he tries to end his sixth season with a crescendo.
“Level sticking this all the way out, that says something about Level as a person, who he is as a man and what he’s all about,” Montana State junior all-conference safety Rylan Ortt said. “He had every reason to leave, but he cares about his teammates, he cares about Montana State as a program and he wanted to stick around. He also believes in himself and he knew when his time came, he would be able to make the most of it and that’s exactly what he’s doing this year.”
Despite battling the ailing hamstring, Price has established himself as Montana State’s starting nickelback after backing up Ty Okada at the position the last two seasons. And when Price hasn’t been healthy, he’s shown he can lead by teaching as well.
Miles Jackson filled in admirably in his first two games at the position after playing cornerback for most of his first four years at MSU. During Jackson’s standout performance against Sacramento State, Price was right there to help Jackson out against the Hornets’ complex spread offense.
“He’s provided a bunch of good leadership for the next group of guys coming up as well as for a guys like Miles Jackson, who’s new to the nickel position, giving him direction like he did when he was out when we played Sac State,” Montana State defensive coordinator Willie Mack Garza said. Garza is also MSU’s secondary coach. “He was on the sidelines really helping Miles out with things like wide receiver splits.
“He’s really brought a lot to the table and hopefully, we will play a long time the rest of this season and we will have a chance to see him continue growing into a very good football player.”
That quest for an elongated senior season begins on Saturday against suddenly surging North Dakota State. Price and the Bobcats will have to figure out how to bounce back after getting pounded in Missoula to end the regular season. Montana State came out on the wrong side of a 37-7 whooping to fall into the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. That also means a fourth playoff matchup against the mighty Bison since 2018, although NDSU has lost three games this year already, more than any fall season since 2009 in Fargo.
This group of Bobcats have proven they can bounce back before. Montana State raced to three straight playoff wins and a berth in the 2021 national title game (where the Bobcats lost 38-10 to NDSU) after suffering a 29-10 loss in Missoula.
Price will also have to prove he can bounce back yet again.
In Vigen’s first game at the helm in 2021, Price was Montana State’s starting dime back and Okada’s backup at nickel. He got into MSU’s season opener on one play and gave up a touchdown to Wyoming’s slot receiver, a key moment in the Cowboys’ 19-17 win.
In Missoula this year, Montana landed plenty of daggers. Junior Bergen’s touchdown to put UM up 27-7 midway through the third quarter was one of the biggest. Bergen broke Price off with an option route out of the slot to cap a drive that Bergen sparked with a 49-yard kick return to midfield.
Price and his teammates have been here before. Price’s self-belief has never waivered. Now he will get another chance to prove it, this time with his college football career hanging in the balance.
“I was always an underdog in high school, so that’s always kept me motivated,” Price said leading up to MSU’s Senior Day game against Eastern Washington, a contest that saw MSU roll to a 57-14 victory. “I think that things happen for a reason and I just always repeat to myself, ‘God gives his toughest battles to his toughest soldiers’ and that’s helped me keep my head down and stick through it. I’ve been patient, learned from the older guys and waited for my time to come.”
Price came to Montana State with plenty of confidence after playing in one of the most competitive high school leagues in the country. St. John Bosco Prep is in the Trinity League, which is home to several of the most powerful private school football programs in California.
The year before Price was recruited to attend Bosco, the Braves won the 2013 MaxPreps National Championship after going undefeated and winning the open division California State Championship. During that run, St. John Bosco beat Mater Dei, a program known nationally for winning 151 games in a row.
Montana State recruited the Trinity League heavily during Jeff Choate’s four seasons at the helm, including the first three while Michael Pitre was still on staff. Pitre, who’s currently the running backs coach for the Atlanta Falcons, was a coach at Servite High School before coming to Montana State to work for Rob Ash.
The Bobcats signed former Mater Dei standout Jalen Cole, one of the highest rated recruits in the FCS in 2017, along with St. John Bosco Prep standout Tyrel Thomas, who grew up with Price.
The following recruiting cycle, MSU signed 32 players, many of whom earned headlines for their prestige and few of whom made it more than a season or two, let alone six seasons like Price, the walk-on from Los Angeles.
Isaiah Ifanse certainly lived up to the hype, becoming Montana State’s all-time leading rusher before transferring to Cal. Some heralded recruits like running back Sherod White, safety Malik Putney and offensive lineman Donny Long barely made it to campus before going in a different direction. Other hyped prospects like wide receivers Koby Duru and Mekhi Metcalf, defensive tackle James Williams, and cornerbacks Ty’Rhese and Ty’Rhae Gibson washed out after a year or two.
Only four players – tight ends Treyton Pickering (Sunburst, MT) and Derryk Snell (Anchorage, Alaska), linebacker Nolan Askelson (Billings MT) and running back Lane Sumner (Huntley Project, MT) — that actually signed in 2018 remain with the Bobcats.
Then there’s the anomaly, the walk-on from SoCal who’s found a way to become one of the most important parts of Montana State’s defensive scheme.
“He’s one of those sixth-year guys that was a walk-on,” Vigen said. “When you walk on, what do you expect your role to be? What do you expect your road to be? It’s sometimes tricky. You come from a place like St. John Bosco and who knows what they think coming out of there coming down to FCS, moving to Bozeman. I can tell you it’s an adjustment.
“From the time I met him, he’s always had a smile on his face and he’s always been a guy who doesn’t have bad days. That’s probably why he’s been able to wait his turn.”
Price said the mountains surrounding the Gallatin Valley “are what hooked me. That’s what definitely made me come out here.”
Adjusting to life in Southwest Montana was tough at first.
“You guys want me to be honest? I thought everyone was going to be riding horses and there was no big town, nothing really, no skyscrapers,” Price said with an endearing chuckle. “I didn’t know anything about it. But now, Bozeman has grown a little bit. Our main street, there’s a lot of traffic and it’s growing really fast, but it’s still beautiful. And it’s grown on me.”
The pace of life and the lifestyle have each settled with Price. He’s already earned an undergraduate degree in business marketing and he’s currently getting his master’s degree in community health.
When asked, he mentions futures that include coaching, mental health work, or a career in sports marketing or real estate.
And talking to the charismatic young man with a million-dollar smile and a pleasant way about him tells you right away that the diverse array of options is no surprise.
“He’s just a bright young man,” Vigen said. “He’s that classic guy of how his football journey will shape how he continues to deal with things out in the real world. It will serve him well, I know that.
“It’s who he is. It’s not just like football made that but I think he’ll be able to look back at his football experience and say ‘I can live by a lot of the different things I dealt with and how I dealt with them and ultimately, how I came out on top.’”
The selflessness and the positive attitude has rubbed off on his teammates, particularly his fellow super seniors.
“Level, man, I love that kid and his relentless effort in this program,” Askelson, a first-team all-league selection and team captain, said in November. “For him to stick it out as a walk-on who’s behind Ty Okada, that takes so much. Everyone saw what Level could be, but I’m so dang proud of that kid for sticking it out, and now here he is having a breakout season just like everyone thought he would.”
Okada was “an iron man for our defense,” to hear Vigen put it, a two-time All-Big Sky Conference selection who threw down unforgettable numbers on his Pro Day to earn a practice squad spot with the Seattle Seahawks. Price still managed to play in 14 games last season, notching 15 tackles, including three against Oregon State and three more in a 55-21 win over Montana in Bozeman.
This season, Price and Caden Dowler battled for the starting nickelback job for most of the first half of the season. Dowler suffered a season-ending injury in October, solidifying Price in the starting lineup.
“When you are playing behind a guy like Ty, it’s easy to understand why Ty is out there,” Vigen said. “But to continue getting yourself to a point where you can take over for Ty, that’s where the real credit goes. He just continued to work at his craft.”
Garza said he’s seen tremendous growth from Price over the last two years. Garza said Price’s ability to “ask great questions” during secondary meetings about the nuances of Garza’s scheme is a tremendous help to the coach and to the young players in the room.
Even though Garza describes Price as “real quiet”, the defensive coordinator said Price has found a way to lead by example with his actions, his one-on-one mentorship of players like Jackson and his play on the field.
“He’s really grown and matured,” Garza said. “He’s always been really talented. He just needed to build his confidence.
“He’s understanding all the run fits that’s required of a nickel, which is very much like a linebacker at times and at the same time, he has to go out and cover a shifty, fast wide receiver,” Garza said. “His mentality, his attitude towards the position has really improved and his confidence level has really improved. He knows the position inside-out, he knows the system and now that he’s a senior, he’s really coming along, making a lot of plays.”
Price has 33 tackles and three tackles for loss this season. He forced a fumble against Montana on the first offensive possession of the rivalry game, but the Griz recovered it. Price almost had a pick against Eastern Washington and he’s broken up a pair of passes. He also blocked a kick against Cal Poly.
“We ask the nickel to do a lot in coverage, a lot in the run game and he’s a guy who’s been around football, has some experience and it’s really nice to have him there,” Ortt said. “A lot of times, it’s him doing his job that allows the rest of us to make plays.”
Price and his fellow seniors — there’s 11 of them all told, including the five sixth-year players and the six transfers who have joined the program since Vigen took over — have talked frequently throughout the season about trying to soak in the waning moments of their college careers.
When MSU celebrated Senior Day, the Bobcats knew they’d have at least one more home game in the playoffs. Now that game is here.
“It was all about pushing through,” Price said of how his group has reached the end. “When things started to get tough, we didn’t go and turn around. We stuck it through. We saw what this team had in the future and all of us agreed to just push it through and get to the end.”
And regardless of when the road ends for Price, his classmates and his team, he will take instrumental experiences into the next chapter of his life.
“I learned how to be a better person,” Price said. “Transitioning from California to Montana, people were really nice and my parents always taught me to treat people like you want to be treated and I just learned how to be a better person, and to not judge a book by its cover. Because you never know what they are going through.”
