In the years before Bob Stitt was hired as Montana’s 36th head coach, the Grizzlies scoured a very traditional recruiting base.
In addition to their home state, the Griz searched through Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California. They occasionally made forays into Arizona, Colorado and Nevada finding the players that created a run of success that dates back three decades.
Though those states still remain in Montana’s recruiting territories, Stitt and the coaches he brought with him from Colorado School of Mines have begun to expand their boundaries. The latest example of Montana’s growing recruiting base: a fearless 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker from Oklahoma named Carder Key.
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“Things are on the way up in Missoula. It’s a great place to be right now; everybody is super passionate about Griz football,” Key said Wednesday evening. “The guys are close-knit group and I felt right at home, honestly.”
Key became Montana’s 10th verbal commit of UM’s 2017 class on Tuesday night after he informed the coaching staff of his decision to back off his verbal to Stephen F. Austin and pledge his allegiance to Montana. Key, rated as a 2-star prospect by rivals and 247sports.com, is the second out-of-state commit after RJ Nelson, a defensive end from Oregon, committed in early September.
“He’s the full package of smarts, leadership and toughness,” Broken Arrow coach David Alexander said of Key on Wednesday morning. “To be a middle linebacker, no matter what league you’re in, you have to be a tough kid. You have to be willing to throw your body around and stick your face in there where it’s loud — a lot of loud noises and scary places — and he loves that part of being a middle linebacker.”
Coaches are prohibited by the NCAA from commenting on players until after they sign their National Letter of Intent on the first day of February.
Not only did Key’s commit ignite another round of GIF battles between Montana’s coaches, but it became the latest signal that Montana is willing to find talent anywhere it has connections.
Without a player from Oklahoma for more than three decades, Key became the third player from the Sooner State to either commit to or sign with the Grizzlies since Stitt arrived in mid December 2015. The Broken Arrow linebacker committed exactly a year to the date that his former — and future — teammate, wide receiver Samuel Akem, called up Montana’s coaches and told them to save him a spot. And it was about eight months ago that Brandon Scott, a 6-7, 320-pound offensive tackle signed his NLI to play for Montana.
“I always heard great things from Sammy,” Key said. “Everything I heard about Montana was good positive stuff. I always liked them and when they became interested in me I really liked them.”
The pipeline to Oklahoma has been built by defensive coordinator Jason Semore, who before coming to Montana was an assistant at Oklahoma State for two seasons. Before his time in Stillwater, Semore spent two-and-a-half-years as outside linebackers coach at Tulsa where he met Brady Walz.
Though he is no longer there, Walz became the quarterbacks coach at Broken Arrow, a connection that has been fruitful for Montana with Akem and Key finding their ways to Missoula.
A three-year starter for the largest school in Oklahoma, Key has been an integral part of Alexander’s Tigers. Despite being an undersized 15-year old sophomore, Key won the starting middle linebacker spot and registered 76 tackles his first year.
“A lot of sophomores get intimidated going and competing against some guys that are two and sometimes three years older when they are just 15 years old,” Alexander said. “Carder didn’t see it that way. Carder just saw it as competition — ‘I just want to compete. Give me a chance to go compete.’ I’ll take 11 guys who want to go compete — tough guys — every time.”
Key followed up his productive sophomore season with 76 tackles and four sacks as a junior. Instead of leaving Oklahoma during the summer in search of summer camps, Key remained and worked out with his team. Still, he drew interest from several FBS schools and committed to an offer from Stephen F. Austin in July.
But after visiting Montana during the Grizzlies’ 67-7 win over Mississippi State, Key changed his mind.
“ I said it all comes down in the end to relationships with the coaches that are recruiting you,” said Alexander of his advice. “Find the coach that you feel the most comfortable — the relationship — and the place you want to put yourself. He knows at Montana they’re going to have a chance to win a national championship while he is there.”
Added Key, “It’s a different animal. As far as FCS you can’t really get a better game day atmosphere than Montana. It wasn’t just the atmosphere, but I felt that I fit into the defensive system that they’re running at Montana better than I did at Stephen F. Austin.”
Montana started recruiting Key near the end of his junior year. He first had conversations with Semore before talking with Montana special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Travis Niekamp and recruiting coordinator Justin Green.
“Coach Semore is a good guy. He’s a fool at times and a goof, but he’s just a guy you would want to play under,” Key said. “He’s a guy who knows his stuff — you can tell he knows his stuff. He’s got a sense of humor and he’s not just a fun hater, he likes to have fun. Those are types of guys you want to play under.”
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