Big Sky Conference

DaPrato faces former pupils as Sac comes to Bozeman

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As Daniel DaPrato stood on the sideline at Hornet Stadium, he watched as his pupils put on a show.

Nnamdi Agude showed the speed and athleticism DaPrato envisioned him slicing Big Sky Conference defenses with as Agude scored a 75-yard touchdown to begin the game. DaPrato watched as DeAndre Carter showed the heart and determination of the competitor DaPrato always knew he would become. He watched as Brad Cornish banged through PAT after PAT.

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato signalling in offensive plays during Cal Poly 2015

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato signalling in offensive plays during Cal Poly 2015

The problem was DaPrato’s pride had to be tempered. He was on the visitor’s sideline now. And his Montana State Bobcats were locked in an epic shootout with Sacramento State.

DaPrato, Montana State’s third-year special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, spent six seasons coaching receivers and serving as a primary California recruiter on Marshall Sperbeck’s staff. DaPrato recruited Sac wide receivers Carter, a 2014 senior All-America, and Agude, who earned second-team All-Big Sky honors as a junior last fall. DaPrato recruited Cornish, Sac’s All-Big Sky senior kicker, as DaPrato served as Sperbeck’s special teams coordinator from 2010 until 2012.

Last season, the players DaPrato helped bring to Sac State ripped the Bobcats apart. Agude caught six passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Carter, who is currently on the Oakland Raiders’ practice squad, finished with 11 catches for 184 yards and three touchdowns, including a fourth-quarter score with 62 seconds left to play that gave Sac a 56-52 lead.

Thanks to a well-designed kick return scheme by DaPrato, MSU’s Gunnar Brekke returned the ensuing kick return 70 yards into Hornet territory. Five plays later, Dakota Prukop hit Mitch Herbert to give MSU a 59-56 advantage with four seconds to play. The Bobcats would hang on, giving MSU its ninth straight win over Sac State.

MSU coaches Daniel DaPrato and Michael Pitre joke during practice

MSU coaches Daniel DaPrato and Michael Pitre joke during practice

“Last year, going to their place, shaking all their hands on Friday, talking to each and every one of them before the game was tough because I wanted to see them succeed but on the same note, at the end of the day, they were trying to take something from us,” DaPrato said following MSU practice on Tuesday. “As coaches, we are hired to mentor young men and to be able to still have those relationships whether you are coaching with them or against them is why we are in this business. I wish those guys all the success in the world but unfortunately, on Saturday they are going to be up here and I don’t wish them success (laughs).”

On Saturday, DaPrato will relive the experience, except from the Bobcat Stadium sidelines with Sac State in Bozeman. Almost all of the players DaPrato helped recruit to Sacramento State are gone but Agude and Cornish are seniors, as is wide receiver Shane Harrison.

“DaPrato, that’s my guy right there,” Agude said enthusiastically upon hearing DaPrato’s name during a Tuesday afternoon interview. “He’s why I am at Sac State. (Agude originally committed to New Mexico State.)

“He was very stern with the way he wanted things done and there was no slacking off with him. He made sure our receiving corps was the hardest working receiving corps. He’s an all-around great guy and honestly, I miss him but I know he’s doing great things for (Montana State).”

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato & Tim Cramsey yell at the offense after a 3-and-out against EWU 2015

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato & Tim Cramsey yell at the offense after a 3-and-out against EWU 2015

DaPrato grew up in Sacramento the son of former Modesto Junior College head coach Steve DaPrato. After nine successful years at Modesto, Steve DaPrato took the head coaching job at New Mexico Highlands in 2000 and Daniel, a prep senior quarterback at the time, followed. After one year, the father and son returned to California as Steve became the head coach at Chabot College and Daniel the man at the helm of the offense.

After two years, DaPrato signed with Louisiana-Monroe. As a senior in 2003, he started games under center against Ole Miss, Kansas State and Auburn. After graduating, he stuck on at ULM as a graduate assistant for two years, then as the director of football operations in 2006.

DaPrato took his first full-time job on Sperbeck’s staff in 2007. Sperbeck helped the Hornets reach the brink, winning six games three different times and winning at least four and as many as five Big Sky games every season from 2009 to 2012.

During his time in California’s capital, DaPrato coached special teams, was a liaison for academics, recruited up and down the Golden State and even served as the team’s interim strength and conditioning coach in 2012 when former coach Terrance Brooks passed away suddenly. Spending time with the Sac players on a day in and day out basis that summer helped DaPrato form deep relationships.

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato addresses his tight end's group

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato addresses his tight end’s group

That fall, Sac linebacker John Bloomfield passed away the week before Sac was scheduled to play Montana State. Bloomfield’s father led the Hornets out onto the field before a 20-17 loss to the No. 2 team in the country and eventual Big Sky champs.

“That year helped me grow as a human being,” DaPrato said. “No one would ever want to be a part of anything like that. It’s very, very difficult. I think every individual that was involved in that became better human beings because of it. We learned more about our kids. We got better at communicating with our kids. I truly think I’m better at dealing with tough situations because of those tough times.”

During DaPrato’s tenure, Sac beat every one of the other (at the time) eight Big Sky schools save one: Montana State.

“I figured if I couldn’t beat them, join them,” DaPrato said with a laugh. “Sac State was a great place. It was my first full-time coaching position…I wore a lot of different hats and I feel Sac State gave me the opportunity to grow as an individual and as a coach.”

More often than not, personal connections or former crossed paths lead to transient coaches. DaPrato had absolutely no connection to Bozeman or Montana State. But when he saw a position to coach tight end and help with special teams for the three-time defending Big Sky champions at the end of the 2012 season, he decided to send an email.

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato with former MSU running back/returner Shawn Johnson

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato with former MSU running back/returner Shawn Johnson

“I didn’t know Daniel and I wasn’t trying to poach somebody from another staff or anything,” MSU head coach Rob Ash said. “We just had an opening and he sent in his stuff. I talked to Coach Sperbeck right away first of all to make sure it was ok to talk to Daniel and if he would give us a blessing to interview him, which he was very kind to do. Daniel came in and did an excellent job in his interview, was very organized, very energetic, passionate about special teams. It’s been a really good hire for us. He’s done an awesome job.”

In 2013, Shawn Johnson scored three special teams touchdowns, returning two kickoffs and one punt to earn All-America honors. In 2014, redshirt freshman kicker Luke Daly tied a program record for a freshman with 13 field goals while Brekke led the Big Sky in kick return yardage and Chad Newell earned second-team All-Big Sky honors as a special teams player for his kick coverage.

“With the special teams, his energy is very, very important because that is a one play at a time mentality like he says all the time and you have to go play with great energy a lot of times coming off the bench or coming off a big high or a big low,” Ash said. “You score a touchdown, now you have to kickoff. You have a missed third down, now you have to go punt. There is a lot of emotion in the special teams and he gets our guys really inspired to go play hard on every rep.”

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato goes uptop with tight end Beau Sandland

MSU coach Daniel DaPrato goes uptop with tight end Beau Sandland

Following the 2013 season, Sperbeck stepped down after seven seasons at SSU amid controversy and quiet allegations of rule violations that have still never surfaced.

Last fall, DaPrato helped mentor tight end Tiai Salanoa to first-team All-Big Sky honors. This season, Miami transfer Beau Sandland rolled up 156 yards receiving in MSU’s lone Division I win, a 45-28 triumph over Cal Poly. DaPrato has spent the last two years helping Austin Barth transition from Montana Class A quarterback to a devastating blocking tight end for the Bobcats.

“It’s so much fun to play for Coach DaPrato, a young, enthusiastic, relatable coach like that,” Sandland said. “Sometimes, you get with some coaches who are older, stubborn, stuck in their ways, my way or the highway. With DaPrato, he’s almost one of us because he is only like in his early 30s. It wasn’t long ago that he was playing. He has a lot of fun. He’s definitely a players’ coach. He’s not one of those guys who is going to rip and yelling at you and putting you down and humiliating you. He’s one of those guys who you can go and talk to.”

“He makes us feel like a family,” Barth added. “We can all walk into his office anytime we want and he’s always there for us. He’s always there to help us and he’s always making us better.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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