Jeff Choate and his coaching staff dove head first into recruiting season when Choate was hired as the 32nd head football coach at Montana State in December. The Bobcats had 10 verbal commitments from potential prospects at the time with National Signing Day two months away.
The first Wednesday of February, Montana State signed 19 players. On that day, Choate emphasized that MSU had not used all its recruiting budget. Instead, the staff wanted to use a five-week spring session to evaluate the roster and then search for more talent. At the end of spring drills, Choate again said recruiting season was not finished, adding the Bobcats would hit the transfer market hard in an effort to round out its 94-man roster heading into fall camp set to open the first week of August
[restrict paid=”true”]“Moving season for coaches is in December and January but moving season for college football players is May,” Choate said. “We have to examine what we have here and fill holes. We have to get more talent on the defensive side of the ball and more urgency on that side of the ball. We are not going to sit on our hands and wait for it to happen. We are going to make it happen.”
In the weeks since spring drills ended in mid-April, Montana State has added four transfers: graduate transfer cornerback John Walker from Colorado, graduate transfer offensive tackle Patrick Carroll from UNLV, Citrus College defensive tackle Brandon Hayashi and College of San Mateo Fou Polataivao.
The MSU coaches have also identified Division I transfers at defensive end and defensive back as primary needs this off-season.
On Monday, MSU announced the addition of 11 preferred walk-ons that will be invited to fall camp in August. The list includes previously reported prospects Santa Margarita High (California) linebacker Austin Barrette, Charter Oak High (Covina, California) quarterback Kamden Brown, Oak Ridge High (El Dorado Hills, California), Missoula Sentinel kicker Gabe Peppenger and Helena High running back Nicholas Van Horssen.
The additions also include: Kentwood High (Covington, Washington) athlete Brian Campbell, Corvallis offensive lineman Luke Channer, Conrad tight end Clark Judisch, Conrad defensive lineman Kyle Murack, Choteau defensive lineman Denver Krone and Bozeman safety Will Martel.
During spring drills, Montana State hosted its largest Junior Day this decade. B.J. Robertson, — the former head coach at Montana Western who is now MSU’s tight ends coach and director of high school relations— helped identify nearly 100 prospects from around the state and the region. With the parents that came on the visit to Bozeman (paid for by each prospect), more than 160 people were on the MSU campus the first weekend of April.
“We were excited with the turnout and had some great feedback about the program,” Robertson said. “We gave them a taste of Montana and hopefully got them excited, then have them come back and keep working through the process.”
Prospects from Washington, Minnesota, Idaho, California and Colorado joined the group from the Treasure State.
“Like anything, it’s the first trial, you take your notes on what you can do differently but I think at the end of the day, they got to see a glimpse of us as a coaching staff, as a program and the vision Coach Choate has for this program,” said MSU’s new recruiting coordinator Michael Pitre, who enters his third year as Montana State’s full-time running backs coach.
Pitre and Robertson have forged a good relationship already with Pitre devising a new out of state recruiting plan to the one employed by former recruiting coordinator Bo Beck. Robertson is the point man for in-state recruiting while Pitre is emphasizing trying to find academically oriented out of state prospects that might come to Montana State even if a full athletic scholarship is not offered.
“We have to find the right guys who want to be here who will do well academically and in turn will make us a better football team,” Pitre said. “Work wise, I like to work so the role is nothing different. Now it’s not just all watching ball. Now it’s making sure the staff is all working toward the same goal and finding the right Cat.”
Pitre, who coached high school football at Servite High School in Southern California before taking a graduate assistant position for two years at Colorado in Boulder, has put a strong emphasis on recruiting the Trinity League, a group of private schools in Servite’s area that produces high level football talent that also excels in the classroom. Barrette comes to Montana State as a walk-on to the football team but will be on nearly a full academic scholarship.
Pitre and the staff are also devising a strategy to help Montana State balance its roster. All FCS teams are allowed 63 full scholarships to fill the 94-man fall camp roster and the 105-man regular-season active roster. In an effort to spread the wealth and attract more talent to Montana State, the staff has identified high academic achievers and tried to get them financial aid in an effort to free up money for MSU’s football scholarship pool. MSU junior wide receiver Mitch Herbert is one example of a player who will receive both academic and athletic aid next season.
With a change in regime — Pitre and linebackers coach Kane Ioane were the only two members of Rob Ash’s staff retained by Choate — the recruiting areas have also changed. MSU wants to put an added emphasis on Northern California in an effort to secure players from big population bases but also rural, agricultural based lifestyles.
In Ash’s last few years, Montana State had three and sometimes four assistant coaches scouring Texas. That number will be reduced to one in 2016-17. Offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham will be MSU’s recruiter in the Lone Star State.
Offensive line Brian Armstrong, a veteran recruiter in Montana during his time as Rocky Mountain College’s head coach, will continue to concentrate on Eastern Montana as well as hitting Northern California.
Robertson will be in charge of the entire state of Montana, emphasizing Northern and Central Montana specifically while also getting MSU a presence in Wyoming. He might also delve into the San Diego area, Pitre said.
Ioane will stay in Southern California while also trying to make in-roads in Washington, a state MSU recruited sparsely in Ash’s last few seasons at the helm. Wide receivers coach Matt Miller and defensive line coach Byron Hout, both former Boise State standout players, will also recruit the Evergreen State. Hout, a native of Couer D’Alene, Idaho, and Miller, a Helena Capital product, will also try to establish a presence in the Gem State. Miller will be MSU’s go-to recruiter in Oregon. Choate also hails from Saint Maries, Idaho.
Defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak will hit Minnesota and Colorado along with duties in Western Montana.
Secondary coach Gerald Alexander, a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, will try to lock down the greater Los Angeles area, getting MSU into areas like the Valley and Fresno. Pitre will help with Southern California, focusing on the Inland Empire and Orange County.
Pitre said every assistant coach will also have in-state territories in addition to their out of state needs. Earlier this spring, MSU went on a “Bobcat Blitz”, with each coach helping the staff go to every high school in the state of Montana. The Bobcat staff are currently employing a similar effort in California.
The Bobcats have 34 players from Montana, 14 players from California, 12 from Texas, three from Iowa, five from Washington, one from Wyoming, one from Louisiana, one from Missouri, one from Colorado, one from Alaska, one from Hawaii and one from Oregon on its current roster. Pitre said every assistant coach will also have in-state territories in addition to their out of state needs.
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
