As the Montana State Bobcats split into position groups for the first time during Monday’s practice, Jeff Choate could not help himself.
As defensive linemen Marcus Ferriter, Zach Wright and Riley Griffiths hit the sled , during the fourth session of MSU’s 2016 spring drills, Montana State’s new head coach got in a 3-point stance and did a little hands-on coaching. He implored his players to throw their hips and pop with their hands. Even for football coaches, old habits die hard.
[restrict paid=”true”]“I go in and out of my old mode,” the first-time college head coach said as he sat in his office at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse following Monday’s windy but productive session. “I’ll lose track of having to hold the clock or move on to the next period or go to the next drill. I’m used to someone else telling me that.”
Choate has spent the last decade-plus as a high level FBS position coaches. Choate coached special teams on Mick Dennehy’s staff at Utah State in 2003 and 2004, running backs, linebackers and special teams on Chris Petersen’s staff at Boise State between 2006 and 2011, linebackers at Washington State on Mike Leach’s staff in 2012, linebackers and special teams on Will Muschamp’s staff at Florida in 2012 and defensive line at Washington under Petersen for the last three years.
“In the future, I do think I would like to coach a position but right now, it’s important for me to see the big picture and get a chance to evaluate the coaches and how they are interacting with the players, how the players are responding and really get a pulse on the team,” said Choate, a Montana Western alum who was the head coach at three different Idaho high schools between 1994 and 2001. “The biggest part is just having guys you can count on so you know what to expect.”
The Bobcats opened their first set of spring drills on March 7. MSU had three practices that week, all closed to the media before taking last week off for MSU’s spring break. Monday marked the beginning of four weeks and 12 practices.
MSU will practice each of the next five Mondays in the afternoons, wrapping up with its final spring session on April 18, three days after the Sonny Holland spring game, the second of two spring scrimmages MSU will take part in. The Triangle Classic game in Great Falls will take place on April 9. Montana State will practice the next four Wednesdays in the afternoons.
“That’s one of the reasons we did three practices before spring break,” Choate said. “There was some lungs that were getting burned a little bit today. That’s going to happen when you give guys a week off and we understand that. But part of the motivation is you hope to get the energy, the spike of Day 1 of spring ball twice.”
Montana State took the field Monday without a collection of players expected to contribute in the fall. Senior All-American offensive guard J.P. Flynn (knee), senior defensive end Robert Wilcox (knee), junior defensive end Devin Jeffries (hip) and senior offensive lineman Doug Hanson (shoulder) all underwent off-season surgery and are expected to return full strength by fall camp.
Junior kicker Luke Daly suffered a torn ACL in his right leg that will cost him the spring and might cause him to miss time in 2016. Junior linebacker Wyatt Christensen (knee) reportedly hurt his knee during the first week of spring drills. He has had two knee surgeries in his time at MSU. Sophomore defensive tackle Tucker Yates did not practice Monday with an undisclosed injury. His right wrist was heavily taped.
Junior Dylan Mahoney, the leading candidate to replace four-year starter John Weidenaar at left tackle, was late due to a class conflict. Bryson McCabe, a part-time starter at safety as a sophomore last season when healthy, was also late.
Several Bobcats began their second week at new positions on Monday. Grant Collins, a Bozeman native who piled up 88 tackles and five tackles for loss as a redshirt freshman middle linebacker, has moved to defensive end. Choate loves the 6-foot-4, 235-pounder’s “natural pass rush ability and high motor”, adding “he’s not going to get any smaller.”
Connor Sullivan, a 6-foot-4, 230-pounder from Ennis who caught five passes for 72 yards as a redshirt freshman wide receiver, has moved to tight end. Tavon Dodd, a 5-foot-8, 180-pounder from Houston who had 14 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown as a redshirt freshman tailback, is now playing cornerback.
The Bobcats return two coaches from Rob Ash’s staff: linebackers coach Kane Ioane and running backs coach Michael Pitre. Montana State will learn a new offense under well-traveled offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham. MSU will learn a defense it has played against annually as former Montana defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak takes the reigns for the Bobcat defense.
Montana State must also replace All-American quarterback Dakota Prukop, a dangerous dual-threat who transferred to Oregon in the off-season. Scottsdale Community College transfer Tyler Bruggman, a former four-star recruit who spent time at Washington State and Louisville before returning to his hometown, took all the first-team offensive repetitions on Monday. He handed the ball to a combination of seniors Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke. He threw to a first-team receiver group that included All-Big Sky junior Mitchell Herbert, speedy junior slot Jayshawn Gates and towering redshirt freshman Cam Sutton.
Choate gave new defensive line coach Byron Hout plenty of help during the first hour of practice. The MSU secondary showed a newfound sense of continuity practicing together under Gerald Alexander. The last two seasons, Montana State’s cornerbacks and safeties met and practiced separately. Wide receivers coach Matt Miller, a former Montana Gatorade Player of the Year from Helena Capital who shattered records at Boise State, is in his first season as a full-time position coach.
Brian Armstrong, a veteran coach who has spent the last five seasons as the head coach at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, will coach an offensive line missing Flynn for the spring and looking to replace Weidenaar as well as three other starters. With Mahoney late to the session, sophomore Wade Webster took the first-team reps at left tackle. Redshirt freshman Jake McFetridge played starter reps at Flynn’s vacant left guard spot. Alex Neale, a transfer from UNLV, is the man to beat at center. Caleb Gillis, a part time starter as a sophomore last season, is the leader at right guard and can also play right tackle. On Monday, redshirt freshman Mitch Brott saw the lion’s share of starter reps at right tackle.
On Monday, director of high school relations B.J. Robertson worked with Montana State’s tight ends, a group looking to replace potential NFL talent Beau Sandland but that still includes experienced senior Austin Barth and adds Sullivan. Bo Beck, MSU’s defensive line coach for the last nine seasons and its recruiting coordinator the last three, initially moved to tight ends.
“He is going to do some more administrative stuff for us,” Choate said. “He will run Pro Day tomorrow and do some other stuff in that realm. It will strengthen our staff in the long run.”
Choate said Pitre would take over as Montana State’s recruiting coordinator. He said he did not know if Robertson, the former head coach at Montana Western, will permanently serve as MSU’s tight ends coach.
“We will see,” Choate said. “The one thing about B.J. is he is a jack of all trades. He brings energy no matter what. The biggest challenge of being a head coach is we have to get all the right guys on the bus. Now it’s a matter of what seat they are in. Part of BJ’s value is he can coach a lot of things.”
Including Collins, Montana State returns 10 players on defense with starting experience. On Monday, senior defensive end Zach Hutchins worked with the first-team defense at a position Choate calls “boundary defensive end.” Collins took the second-team reps and senior Jessie Clark worked in with the 3s. The trio worked with Gregorak separately from the rest of the defensive line while Hout and Choate worked with the others.
With Yates and Wilcox on the shelf, junior defensive end Tyrone Fa’anono, senior defensive tackle Joe Naotala and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Riley Griffiths took turns with the first team. Senior Shiloh LaBoy has also seen time with the first team and Choate singled him out as a “playmaker”, something Choate said is a key portion to winning a starting spot on defense.
Choate acknowledged his team has a few scholarships open and that he thinks his team needs to add a defensive lineman and a player in the secondary. He said the spring will be used to “see what our most pressing need is past that.”
The linebacker trio of senior Fletcher Collins and juniors Blake Braun and Mac Bignell each started last season with mixed results as the Bobcats gave up yards and points in punches during a 5-6 campaign. Junior Khari Garica returns as a starter at free safety while junior Bryce Alley and sophomore Tre’Von Strong return after taking their lumps but showing flashes at cornerback last season.
On Monday, Belgrade product Brayden Konkol took first-team reps at the other safety spot before McCabe arrived at practice.
“I’ve told the guys that we don’t have a depth chart,” Choate said. “We have a seating chart. Your energy, effort and production on a day-to-day basis can change that. One of the things I’ve always challenged my coaches to do is to shuffle the depth chart. If a kid has a good day, I don’t care if he’s in that third seat or that fourth seat. Put him up with the 1s and see what he can do. It gets those guys attention that might think they have the job won. And it gives those guys down the seating chart a little hope. That’s what spring is for.”
“The most important thing to me: are these guys going to prepare themselves physically and mentally every day? Are they going to bring energy and effort? That’s the price of admission around here.”
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