MONTANA STATE SPORTS INFORMATION
Mark Orphey, part of the University of South Carolina’s football staff the past four seasons, has joined the Montana State football staff as secondary coach, MSU coach Jeff Choate announced.
A product of Houston, Orphey played at Texas Southern. He served in a quality control capacity in 2013 before becoming a defensive graduate assistant for Will Muschamp in 2014 at South Carolina. Choate coached on Muschamp’s Florida staff in 2013.
“Mark is a young man who has coached in the SEC, been on the biggest stage, and was consistently impressive throughout the interview process,” Choate said. “He portrayed confidence and poise and will be a terrific fit on our staff. He will bring ideas from Coach Muschamps and (defensive coordinator) Travaris Robinson, and will help build on the foundation that was set by Gerald Alexander (who accepted a position at Cal in January). I’m very excited to have Mark on board.”
Orphey played at Texas Southern, finishing his career in the fall of 2010. He coached cornerbacks at his alma mater in 2010-12 before moving to South Carolina. Orphey started at TSU for three seasons, earning All-SWAC honors twice.
Alexander, a four-time first-team All-WAC selection at Boise State before being drafted in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft,spent one successful season at Montana State before joining Justin Wilcox’s staff at Cal. Alexander played his senior season for Wilcox, Boise State’s DC from 2006 until 2009.
Alexander played two seasons each for the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars before spending a brief stint in 2010 with the Carolina Panthers and stops in 2011 with the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets before retiring due to injuries. His first college coaching gig came as a graduate assistant at Arkansas State before spending the 2014 season at Washington.
The former standout safety earned his first full-time job as Indiana State’s secondary coach in 2015. He was hired on Choate’s first staff in December of that year before speculation that he would return to his alma mater in a similar role. Boise State ended up hiring former NFL defensive back Ashley Ambrose and Alexander spent the next 13 months in Bozeman.
The charismatic, articulate 32-year-old has been a part of the Bill Walsh Minority Intern program, spending time with the Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers the last two summers. The rising star in the coaching business helped Montana State make tremendous strides in 2016.
Alexander helped Montana State rank in the top 30 in the FCS in passing yards per completion. The Bobcats improved drastically from a unit that gave up more than 41 points on six different occasions in 2015. MSU led the league in scoring offense and total offense in Rob Ash’s final season, yet finished 5-6.
In 2016, Montana State ranked second in the Big Sky by allowing 25.1 points per game. MSU ranked third in the league in yards allowed per game (388.6), third in run defense (145.9), and second in pass defense efficiency (123.6). The Bobcats snared 10 interceptions, including three by senior cornerback John Walker during an All-Big Sky season after transferring from Colorado. Alexander also helped Bryson McCabe earn second-team All-Big Sky honors as a junior strong safety.
Montana State finished 4-7 in Choate’s first season at the helm.
