Bo Beck was stuck in limbo in the Lone Star State.
Montana State’s recruiting coordinator was in Texas when former MSU head coach Rob Ash was fired on November 23. Beck, who has spent the last nine seasons as the Bobcats’ defensive line coach, did not know his future at Montana State. But he did not waiver in his belief of the Bobcats.
[restrict paid=”true”]Beck continued to recruit and continued to hope. MSU athletic director Peter Fields announced Jeff Choate as Montana State’s 32nd head coach on December 6. A few days later, Beck learned he would be retained.
The 44-year-old has spent most of his coaching career working for Ash and coaching defensive line. The former Arizona State and Colorado State
defensive tackle coached defensive line under Ash at Drake from 2002 until 2004 before spending 2004 until 2006 as a graduate assistant for Dan McCarney at Iowa State. In 2007, Beck linked up with Ash again, coming to Bozeman in the first of Ash’s nine seasons. Beck would play an integral role in MSU winning three straight Big Sky Conference titles between 2010 and 2012.
A finalist for the 2015 America Football Coaches Association FCS Assistant Coach of the Year, Beck has had success throughout his time in Bozeman. He helped Dane Fletcher earn Big Sky Defensive MVP honors in 2009, starting a string of five straight seasons with a Bobcat All-America defensive lineman. Beck helped Fletcher and Zach Minter reach the NFL. He coached Caleb Schreibeis and Brad Daly to back-to-back Buck Buchanan Awards, the first two national defensive MVP awards in MSU history.
The Colorado State alum and Fort Collins native will remain as Montana State’s recruiting coordinator. In 2016, he will coach offense for the first time, moving across the line of scrimmage to mentor Montana State’s tight ends. MSU must replace All-America tight end Beau Sandland. Beck inherits a group that includes senior Austin Barth, sophomores Curtis Amos and Wilson Brott and redshirt freshman Woody Brandom.
On Friday, Beck and new offensive line coach Brian Armstrong made the first of a string of appearances by Choate’s new staff at MSU’s weekly meeting with the media.
Ted Dawson, KBZK Bozeman: Bo, how will things be different under Jeff Choate as the head coach?
Beck: “Everything will be different in the sense of it’s his way, whatever he is going to blend from his experiences with the places he’s been and his vision as a head coach. I expect major differences.”
Dawson: “Like what? What do you think the differences will be?
Beck: “Probably the approach a little bit. I think he’s more of a hands-on guy on the field with coaching with the kids and stuff like that. The staff he’s bringing in is a young, young staff with a lot of energy and I think that will be a big change too.”
Dawson: Will the offense be different?
Beck: “That’s a good question. I’m not sure. I know (new offensive coordinator) Courtney (Messingham) that he is bringing in. My understanding with him is that he is kind of a mechanic. He doesn’t have a system where he comes in and says this is my way of doing it and we are going to change everything. I think he will change what we have and take a look at it and make tweaks for what he has a vision of.”
Skyline Sports: What is this going to be like for you? It’s been a long time since you’ve worked for a different coach other than Rob.
Beck: “Yeah, definitely. It’s been nine years since I was with Dan McCarney. I say it respectfully, exciting because it’s a new way to see how to do it. Coach (Ash) had his system of doing it. I’ve followed that system for as long as I was doing it at Drake was well. To have a guy come in and do it a different way, I’m excited to see how he would handle certain situations we will get ourselves into.”
Rob Jesselson, ABC/Fox Montana: What about the transition for you going from the defensive line to tight ends? Are you looking forward to that?
Beck: “I’m excited for it. I think it will be good for me to just learn football. The one thing I know is how to defeat tight ends so I will teach those guys, ‘Don’t do that.’ But it’s pretty simple. And when we are in trouble, like coach said, we are just going to call, ‘Whoop ass.’
Greg Rachac, Billings Gazette: As one of the holdovers, can you just talk about the range of emotion going from how things were certainty wise on November 23 to being retained and how they are now?
Beck: “I was in Texas. (MSU athletic director) Peter Fields did a nice job of letting us get out to see the commitments we had. But there was a week in Texas that I didn’t know what I was going to do. For me, it was important for me to get out and see the commitments we had for the kids that are back here. The kids here did not deserve for everything to go away. Peter did a nice job of letting us go out.
“I was out there fighting the fight without knowing what I’m fighting for really at the time. But Montana State, you can sell the program. You can sell the school. You can sell the opportunity. To have Coach Choate come in, then you put him in to the mix too. All the recruits out there did a good job of standing by.
“Then the conversation between me and Coach Choate…I was on the road in Texas and I had covered maybe 1,000 miles when the other Texas guys (recruiters) were let go. I had to get up to Dallas and into some certain other areas. It was relieving after he told me what the position would be and that I would be able to stay.”
Montana State holds verbal commitments from Killeen, Texas offensive tackle Darrius Mosley (6-6, 275), Hutto, Texas offensive lineman Marcus Simpson (6-4, 270) and Frisco, Texas running back Anthony Pegues (5-8, 183). Terrell, Texas running back Dawonya Tucker committed earlier this fall but decommitted a few days after Ash was fired.
The Bobcats also hold verbal commitments from six Montana recruits: Belgrade defensive end Derek Marks (6-3, 235), Great Falls CMR athlete Karl Tucker II (6-1, 205), Huntley Project linebacker Michael Jobman (6-4, 215), Colstrip offensive lineman Jake Sessions (6-5, 275), Troy running back/linebacker Sean Opland (5-11, 193) and Boulder punter Jered Padmos (6-2, 175). MSU holds a verbal commitment from Covina, California cornerback Damien Washington (6-1, 175).
Mosley, Marks, Tucker, Jobman, Opland, Padmos and Washington have returned messages to Skyline Sports confirming they remain committed to Montana State. One source says Tucker is leaning toward re-committing to the Bobcats. One source close to Simpson confirmed he remains committed.
Rachac: So you were essentially selling the program not knowing if you would be with the program?
Beck: “Correct.”
Rachac: So how strange was that?
Beck: “Not really. Not really. Just because I believe in this school and I believe in this program here and I believe in Bozeman and I believe in the state of Montana. My heart is in Bozeman and I really wanted to stay. I thought it was important to the program to sell it as that’s what you are coming for: education, experience and the opportunity here and that Montana State will do a nice job of hiring the right guy you are going to like to play for.”
One of Choate’s first hires was Boise State graduate assistant Byron Hout to coach defensive line. The former Broncos’ linebacker takes over a group that loses defensive tackles Taylor Sheridan, Connor Thomas and Nate Bignell. The Bobcats return senior defensive ends Shiloh LaBoy, Jessie Clark, and Robert Wilcox, sophomore defensive tackle Tucker Yates, junior defensive ends Tyrone Fa’anono and Devin Jeffries, and sophomore Zach Wright as players who earned time in the rotation last season.
Skyline: Through this transition, you guys have been so close in your room so will that be a challenge not being with those guys? And how have they reacted to you not coaching defensive line anymore?
Beck: “I honestly haven’t seen most of them because by the time I got back from Texas, I had heard from a lot of them. We are all just going to have to embrace it. We can’t cause a rift or anything like that. It is what it is. That’s the route we are going to take.
“Those guys, they can take pride in taking that position. And like I’m saying for me, maybe it’s refreshing for them to have a new look at it with another guy, another voice and a different way of seeing it. No matter what, we are all together; we are still here, all still part of the same team. It’s just a different role. We are all trying to win football games.”
Parker Gabriel, Bozeman Chronicle: Choate has a lot of history recruiting in Houston and so do you. Will your role in Texas change or do you feel like that’s a good interplay to have a lot of recruiting fire power in that area?
Beck: “I think that as a head coach, he is going to be different because he is going to have to travel to other parts of the country. I think that was part of a strength for me is the familiarity with Houston. I know we ran into each other over the years down there multiple times. To keep the Texas pieces was important to him and to have a guy who has recruited it was important to him and I think that was where I had a strength.”
Skyline: The last couple of years, recruiting has been so heavy Texas, California, Montana. What will the scope be now?
Beck: “One of the reasons we went straight Texas and California this year was we thought that we were going to have a smaller recruiting class and we were trying to control the budget a little bit. Knowing that the past years, it’s all come out of those two, I think with Coach Choate’s familiarity in the Northwest, we will go back in there. He’s got some ideas about Idaho and those areas. I think we will hit into those areas as well and that will be what the change will be.”
Skyline: I know you can’t talk about specific kids but in terms of personnel overall, what kind of kid are you recruiting? Anything changed? Or will that fall into place once you find out what the schemes are going to be?
Beck: “A little bit of that, yeah. But you still look for guys who run fast and jump high. And big bullies up front. I think that he’s looked at the commitments we’ve had and some of the guys we are on and we are continuing to take a course of what we need. As far as the athletes changing, you always want to get better so hopefully we get better.”
Dawson: Are you still recruiting the same kids you were before?
Beck: As far as the committed kids?
Dawson: Kids that were on your list.
Beck: “Some of them, yes. As you get commitments, then those positions you are going to stop recruiting.”
After Courtney Messingham’s hiring earlier this week, Choate’s staff is complete. Gregorak is the defensive coordinator, former DC Kane Ioane will coach linebackers, Hout will coach defensive line and Gerald Alexander will coach the secondary. Messingham is the OC, Brian Armstrong is the offensive line coach, Michael Pitre has been retained as the running backs coach, Matt Miller will coach wide receivers and Beck will coach tight ends. BJ Robertson is the director of high school operations and will help with special teams.
Rachac: How do you like the look of the staff? You mentioned it is young and energetic. How do you think it will all fit together?
Beck: “I think it will be good. Certain guys have certain familiarity with the others. The Boise guys will know each other. They know D.J. Diaz (recruiting intern) who’s on the staff now. I’ve known (new defensive coordinator) Ty (Gregorark) for years and years. I’m excited to have him come up here.
“They all bring something to the table. The Boise guys will learn what they learned at Boise. That will be exciting to learn from. I think everyone is on board for the same reason: to be here and make Montana State a power, what it should be.”
Rachac: Were you surprised about Ty coming over (from Montana)?
Beck: “I guess, yeah. He’s funny, man. I asked him if he needed an extraction team to help him get out of Missoula. But I think it was whatever his opportunity was that was the best for him. That is a savage move right there. It’s awesome.”
Rachac: A thought on Dakota (Prukop) and his opportunity to move on (transferring to Oregon)?
Beck: “Shoulda gone to ‘Bama. No (laughs). I’m an Alabama guy. I’ve always been supportive of Dakota. I talked to him a bunch. I saw his dad when I was in Austin. I wish him the best, man. It’s something…I think it’s hypocritical as coaches to say something against him because if Oregon called for me, I’m gone. I’m going to Oregon. It’s hypocritical to tell him don’t do that. I think he handled it well. I think he weighed his options the best and made the best decision for him. It was fun to watch all the snap chats and all the stuff going back and forth during his visits because it was two really neat schools. And then he took it to Hawaii and he was on the Dan Patrick Show. Good for him. It’s a great opportunity for him.”
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