Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment in a series breaking down the Montana State Bobcats following their third spring under head coach Jeff Choate and his staff. Today’s installment addresses Tyrel Thomas and Jalen Cole, a pair of highly recruited, talented sophomore cornerbacks from Southern California. MSU’s secondary will add a group of touted prospects when fall camp begins in August.
FIRST INSTALLMENT: Bobcats still searching for Murray’s main competitor
SECOND INSTALLMENT: McGhee acclimating quickly to coaching MSU running backs
THIRD INSTALLMENT: Tucker II transitions smoothly to RB for Bobcats
FOURTH INSTALLMENT: ‘Ball-playin’ Jesse’: Bobcat LB Kanow taking advantage of extra reps
BOZEMAN — Jalen Cole and Tyrel Thomas made waves before ever playing a snap for the Montana State Bobcats. Starting in August, the talented sophomore cornerbacks will have to endure the next wave of talented defensive backs joining the MSU roster.
During an off-season filled with hype following Jeff Choate’s first season at the helm, Montana State addressed the offensive front and the defensive back end as top priorities on the recruiting trail. Cole, a three-star cornerback who started for two years at nationally-ranked California powerhouse Mater Dei High, was one of the first prospects to verbally commit in August of 2016 and the last of 27 to sign in February of 2017.
Thomas, a talented, competitive and, like Cole, undersized cover cornerback, verbally committed to MSU the day before Cole. The two-star recruit out of nationally prominent St. John Bosco Prep — Mater Dei’s Trinity League rival in Southern California — signed more promptly last February.
[restrict paid=”true”]Mater Dei and St. John Bosco don’t just compete for California state championships – the two football factories compete for national championships. The majority of the starters on both sides of the ball at both schools receive serious Division I interest. Cole was ranked by a few outlets as the No. 1 or No. 2 prospect, any position, who signed with a Big Sky Conference school in 2017.
The duo pushed the veterans in front of them from the outset of fall camp last August. Cole started receiving significant game snaps at MSU’s nickelback position midway through the 2017 season. Thomas earned the starting corner spot opposite senior Bryce Alley with three games left in his true freshman year.
Cole, a 5-foot-7, 160-pounder whose physicality and nose for the football belies his slight frame, finished his debut season with 10 tackles and a pass breakup in six games. Thomas, a more stoutly built 5-foot-9, 175-pounder with a sharp ability to break on the ball in the air, finished his rookie season with 11 tackles and five pass breakups, second-most on the team behind All-Big Sky senior safety Bryson McCabe.
“Consistency and really owning the scheme is what we have to have from those two now,” Choate said during an interview in April. “Those guys are pretty good man coverage guys. We say ‘Hey, when we play Cat defense, you got that Cat, you got that Cat and that’s pretty easy. But can you sag off in Cover 2 or disguise your alignment when you are playing quarters coverage?’ The nuances of the position…that’s what we have to have.”
During Montana State’s 15 spring football practices in March and April, Thomas appeared to lock down the field cornerback spot. Cole and junior Damien Washington battled for the boundary spot on the other side with Cole also taking plenty of reps at nickel.
In August, Montana State will open fall camp and will add a collection of talented players to the defensive secondary once again. Gregory “Munchie” Filer III, a 6-foot, 175-pound transfer from Compton College, will push for playing time right away. Ty’Rese and Ty’Rhae Gibson, a pair of 6-foot-1, 175-pound twin brothers out of Paramount High in Lawndale, California near Los Angeles, will also be in the mix with Washington, Cole and Thomas.
Montana State’s players reported back to Bozeman to begin player-run practices (PRPs) on June 4. Choate and his staff recruited a high caliber of prospects this most recent off-season, adding a collection of running backs, wide receivers and defensive backs that will all vie for playing time.
A year ago, Thomas and Cole were the disruptors who came to campus and took playing time from veterans. The duo is well-aware of the talent joining the Bobcat roster in a few months.
“The competition coming up in the fall, I’ve seen their film and they are looking good, can help us in the secondary,” Thomas said. “But I’m not going to slack off. I’m going to keep doing what I do on and off the field, continue competing.”
Choate acknowledged Thomas distanced himself from the rest of the group during spring drills but said his spot atop the depth chart is “for now”, not a matter of any sort of permanence. Cole showed good ability at both boundary and nickel and is looking forward to the upcoming competition as well.
“I don’t really care what I did in the spring to be honest – I’m ready for the season,” Cole said. “Whoever is coming to help us, that’s good for the team. I don’t have a problem with no competition.”
“I’m looking forward to the competition, of course,” Cole said. “And the boys coming in are my boys. I have already messaged Ty’Rae and Ty’Rese. Those guys are my boys from Cali too. I feel like they have a good chance of playing this year like we did last year.”
Internal competition has been the trademark of Choate’s spring and fall camps during his first two seasons at Montana State. The staff has not hesitated to recruit and play young players over established veterans. A total of 15 freshmen or sophomores played significant downs for a MSU defense that ranked second in the league in scoring defense and total defense during the team’s 5-6 finish.
Although Washington has been solid his first two seasons at Montana State and the Southern California duo that Choate calls the “Thunder Cats” have tremendous upside, that trademark looks like it will continue entering the third year of the Choate era.
“(Depth) is one of the things we’ve lacked in the secondary around here and a problem we had to get fixed,” Choate said. “We didn’t have competition. A lot of guys were playing by default quite honestly. For us to be able to create competition on the back end like we’ve done in the front seven is just going to make our defense better.
“We are going to have a lot of guys coming in here to compete. It will be interesting to see how that all plays out. We have some talented young guys who are going to come in here hungry and the veteran guys are going to have to put in their work over the summer to stay ahead.”
The “Thunder Cats” both endure the stark adjustment of acclimating to the Montana late winter and early spring weather. MSU opened spring practices the second week of March, holding practices that started early in the morning as the sun was still rising. Many sessions were accompanied by snow.
“It was so freakin’ cold in the mornings,” Cole said. “My hands were numb. But if you let the weather affect you, you can’t get better. I’ve been playing football since I was four or five years old so nothing can get to me.”
The expressive, entertaining Thomas made one of the biggest plays of Montana State’s 2017 season. With the rival Montana Grizzlies marching for a potential game-tying touchdown late in last season’s showdown, Thomas broke on a fourth down pass intended for Griz All-Big Sky wide receiver Keenan Curran. He smacked the ball to the turf and just kept sprinting the length of the field toward the Sonny Holland end-zone on the south end of Bobcat Stadium. The iconic breakup secured a 31-23 win over the Griz, MSU’s second straight over its archenemies.
Since that breakout moment, Thomas has worked hard to ensure he can take the steps needed to go from breakout freshman to solid sophomore starter.
“During the spring, a ton of good reps,” Thomas said. “It helps us to play with fatigue because there’s not a lot of depth out here. We are in and out, in and out, in and out, trying to switch off, trying to get somebody else some reps. sometimes, we have to play with fatigue and that’s good for us to work on. And it will give us an advantage in the fall.
The unwaveringly confident Cole said he has adjusted well to living in a small town after growing up in Southern California. He said he likes Bozeman and the support the football team receives from the community. During the off-season, he said his main priorities have centered on working on his man press coverage technique and trying to add “between 10 and 15 pounds”.
Cole earned his impressive prep reputation because of his physical style and never back down mentality. He said he prefers playing nickel in third-year defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak’s 3-4 scheme because he has more freedom and “I just like being around the ball.”
The next two months will prove crucial for Thomas and Cole to carry the momentum of their freshmen seasons and the progress made in spring ball into their second campaigns at MSU. The new charges joining the group should also spur on the internal competition. Cole thinks it’s exactly what the Bobcats need.
“We haven’t really had depth while I’ve been here,” Cole said. “We have options now. And with the offense playing like they are playing, we are going to be a surprise this year in the Big Sky.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
