Alexander brings NFL credentials as both player, coach to the Bobcats

Gerald Alexander observed an NFL training camp through a totally different lens earlier this summer.

For the second time in as many years, Montana State’s new secondary coach was a part of the Bill Walsh Minority Fellowship, an internship program that brings young minority coaches to NFL training camps before their respective collegiate fall camps open. Alexander had a brief stop at spring mini camp with the Tennessee Titans in the spring of 2015. In July, Alexander spent two weeks working with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Between 2007 and 2011, NFL training camp elicited an entirely different feeling in Alexander. The former four-time first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection led Boise State to an improbable win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl to cap the 2006 season before becoming was the 61^st overall selection in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.

Alexander starred as a rookie, pilling up 81 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. But he suffered a season-ending knee injury during a preseason game leading up to the 2008 season. For the rest of his injury-riddled career, he fought to earn a roster spot as he made stops in Jacksonville (2009), Carolina (2010), Miami (2011) and with the New York Jets (2011). He played in just eight games over his final two NFL seasons.

“I know what those guys (in training camp) are going through,” Alexander said during the first week of fall camp at Montana State. “The guys who are free agents or just trying to make the team, I know what that feels like. Just to see it from the outside and as a coach, it gives you some perspective.”

During his time in Tampa Bay, Alexander was “burning up the phone lines” to share his ideas with Jeff Choate, Montana State’s first-year head coach said. Alexander and Choate talked every night he was in Tampa Bay. From coaching techniques to tweaks in the defensive schemes to finding ways to be productive at practice even if you aren’t wearing full pads, the NFL experience helped Alexander and, in turn, is helping the Bobcats.

“Now I’m trying to show these guys perspective with the NFL film at our disposal,” Alexander said. “Even sometimes the pros make mistakes too. If you are struggling on the field, watch this, here’s (All-Pro Pittsburgh Steelers safety) Troy Palamalu doing the same thing I’m telling you not to do. You can just make the correction like he does.”

“I learned a lot of philosophical stuff, defensive scheme, adjustments, how they play certain things. The NFL is so geared toward the chess match, trying to get yourself in the best defensive situation to stop the offense, especially with the quarterbacks who can thread the needle like guys in the league. But there is a lot of carry over we can use with our guys too.”

Montana State conducted its first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday afternoon. Rather than giving the players a day off, Choate instead conducted a light practice from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night and a helmet’s only practice Monday morning, the first of two sessions before MSU’s first day off Tuesday. The second half of Sunday’s practice included team sessions where MSU did not wear helmets, something Alexander brought back from Tampa Bay.

“He’s a guy who played the game, played it at a high level, learned from some extremely good coaches not just in college but at the NFL level so opportunities like that for him are unbelievable,” MSU first-year defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak said. “I spent the first couple of days he was back asking him scheme things but also what’s this guy like, what’s this guy like, what’s this coach like. It’s fun for me because I never got to experience that level.”

On the field, Alexander is working with Montana State’s fledgling secondary, a group that returns four players with starting experience and adds two players with Pac 12 experience. But Montana State struggled on all three levels of its defense, surrendering nearly 40 points and more than 500 yards per game against nine Big Sky Conference opponents. MSU’s secondary looked out of sorts most of the season with opponents exploiting freshman cornerback Tre’Von Strong’s youth while attacking a safety group that included Khari Garcia and Bryson McCabe, starters as only sophomores.

“Man, having GA is a huge difference,” said McCabe, a hard-hitting junior who played in six games last season due to injury. “He played for several years in the NFL. He played at Boise State. He’s worked with the Titans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s so smart. We are so lucky to have him.”

“He just got back so he is constantly giving us new tools for our tool box,” added junior Bryce Alley, a part-time starter each of his firs two years at MSU. “He’s bringing the best out of us all the time.”

The battle at cornerback is one of Montana State’s most highly contested. Strong and John Walker, a graduate transfer from Colorado, have taken the bulk of the reps with the starting defense over the last few days but sophomore Braelen Evans, sophomore Naijiel Hale (a transfer from Washington), sophomore converted running back Tavon Dodd and even true freshman Damien Washington continue to give chase.

At safety, Garcia and McCabe seem a good bet to start but building depth will be crucial. Because of injuries to senior Zach Stern and junior West Wilson, redshirt freshman Brayden Konkol has moved back to safety. He moved to Sam linebacker before fall camp. The freshmen duo of Bozeman High walk-on Will Martel and highly touted athlete Jacob Hadley from Billings Central, have seen a good number of reps with the second team behind Garcia and McCabe.

A rallying cry for Alexander, Gregorak and the Bobcat defense is to strive for a short memory and to never speak of the struggles of the last few seasons.

“I didn’t watch film on last year’s team,” Alexander said. “It didn’t really mean anything.

“We don’t talk about last year as a staff. I told my guys this: domination is what we are after. That’s what we are striving for. Fall camp is the preparation for excellence. If we come out here every single day ready to work, ready in the film room, ready to learn, take studious notes, fine tune the details of our defense and master our defensive scheme, we will be just fine.

“Camp is building confidence and for these guys, confidence is just demonstrated ability.

Since retiring from the NFL, Alexander has risen through the coaching ranks rapidly. He spent 2012 coaching high school football in his hometown of Rancho Cucamonga, California. In 2013, he served as a graduate assistant on Chris Petersen’s staff at Boise State. In 2014, he worked with the defensive backs as a graduate assistant at Arkansas State. Last season, he served as the secondary coach at Indiana State of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Alexander was one of Choate’s first hires when Choate was named MSU’s 32^nd head coach the first week of December. But the hiring was in limbo for weeks as rumors swirled. Multiple outlets reported that Alexander would return to his alma mater to join Brian Harsin’s staff at Boise State. Harsin ultimately hired Ashley Ambrose, another NFL veteran and Alexander returned to Montana State.

“I think it worked out great because he’s more bought into us than he ever would’ve been otherwise because he knows I have his best interests and his family’s best interest at heart,” Choate said following Sunday afternoon’s practice. “He’s jumped in with both feet. It’s instant credibility. Not only did he play in the NFL but this guy is very articulate, he’s extremely smart, he’s a student of the game, he works hard at it, he’s demanding without being demeaning. He gets the best out of his players. He’s going to be a big-time coach. He already is.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.