Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in a four-part series breaking down the contracts for the coaches of the revenue sports at Montana State University. The second installment addresses the annual salaries for the assistant coaches on Rob Ash’s football staff.
Rob Ash and Peter Fields did some rearranging when it comes to paying Montana State’s football staff this off-season.
Ash, MSU’s ninth-year head football coach, has 10 full-time coaches on his staff. In the off-season, he lost two assistants, added two more and promoted another. Each assistant earns a salary determined by merit, accomplishment, tenure and experience. Ash and Fields, MSU’s athletic director, divvies up a pool of $521,078.36 to the coaches.
The difference between the highest-paid MSU assistant and the lowest-paid full-time coach is $55,000, down from $59,694.44 last fiscal year.
“(Ash and I) do those wages together and we use the data that is provided to us by the Big Sky Conference and nationally in the FCS,” said MSU athletic director Peter Fields in an interview in March of 2014. “We work with that together and use good information to set the salaries.”
Each MSU assistant’s base salary comes from the athletic department’s football budget and is paid with state funds. Each year, Ash is allotted a pool of money he must divide up between the 10 assistants. Each salary up for evaluation each year and begins and ends on June 1. Assistants must be given 60 days notice if they are not going to be renewed.
When Ash was first hired in 2007, he had a clause written into his contract to be able to give bonuses and incentives to his staff. All bonuses and incentives must come from privately raised money, mostly MSU Quarterback Club funds, not state funds. Ash also is the sole owner of MSU’s summer football camps. He can allot the camp funds however he pleases. He elects to divvy up the funds raised through the camps to augment each of his assistants’ salaries.
The highest paid assistant on staff is now offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey. The third-year play caller will make $90,000 next year, up from $78,423 in 2014. Last season, MSU piled up 496 points, the most in school history. The Bobcats scored a Division I all-time high 77 points against UC Davis and set a program record with 737 yards in the same game. Cramsey’s offense produced almost 500 yards a game as Dakota Prukop became a national star. A slew of playmakers made the Bobcats one of the toughest scouts in the Big Sky. The former New Hampshire and Miami International OC will put his full offensive arsenal on display again this fall with a unit that looks locked and loaded. Prukop returns behind a veteran offensive line, a stable of four running backs and a wide receiving corps that could be 10-deep.
Jamie Marshall, who will enter his ninth season as the defensive coordinator, had his pay cut from $91,385 to $72,952.28. Marshall was the lone DC for eight seasons before having his role reduced heading into 2015. Marshall will be Montana State’s primary safeties coach and it’s co-defensive coordinator. Marshall’s defenses produced a slew of All-Big Sky players and a pair of Buck Buchanan Award winners in Brad Daly and Caleb Schreibeis. The Bobcats led the league in total defense and scoring defense three times each under Marshall’s direction. But the last season and a half has produced a few of the most disappointing defensive performances in recent memory. In a 54-29 loss at Eastern Washington in 2013, the Bobcats did not record a stop, instead letting EWU score on all eight of its possessions. That loss sparked a three-game losing streak as MSU missed the playoffs. Last season, MSU gave up 33.5 points and nearly 500 yards per game. The ‘Cats surrendered almost 300 passing yards a game, one of the three worst totals in the country.
The substandard performance last season caused for Ash to rearrange his defensive staff. Cornerbacks coach Brandon North left for a similar job at Houston Baptist. Ash promoted Michael Rider and brought in Jody Owens to coach linebackers. He promoted Kane Ioane to defensive coordinator. The Bobcat Hall of Famer will be the man calling the plays as the Bobcats transition to a 3-4 scheme that Ioane is patterning after Southern Cal’s defense. Ioane, who’s served as MSU’s linebackers coach since 2009 and has been a part of the program in some capacity since 2000, got a raise to $62,376.40 from the $43,077 he made in 2014.
Montana State also lost longtime offensive line coach Jason McEndoo in the off-season to Oklahoma State. McEndoo was arguably one of the best assistant coaches in the league and he had his 2012 AFCA National Assistant of the Year award to prove it. He helped Montana State gain traction in a recruiting war with Montana that was otherwise lopsided before his arrival. And he coached seven All-America linemen, a pair of whom went to the of NFL (Mike Person, Jeff Hansen). In his final season at MSU, McEndoo made $53,087 in base salary.
Jason Eck, the man chosen to replace Eck, will make $55,000 in 2015. Eck, who most recently spent time as the offensive coordinator at Divion II powerhouse Minnesota State – Mankato. His team lost in the national championship game. He’s also made stops at Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho, Winona State, Ball State, Hampton and Western Illinois before moving to Minnesota State. He inherits an offensive line featuring four seniors, including honors candidates senior left tackle John Weidenaar, junior guard J.P. Flynn and senior center Joel Horn.
Daniel DaPrato is entering his second season at MSU as the director of MSU’s special teams along with his duties coaching tight ends. Prior to arriving in Bozeman last spring, DaPrato spent six seasons coaching wide receivers at Sacramento State. The Louisiana Monroe alum and former college quarterback helped MSU senior tight end Tiai Salanoa catch 32 passes for 327 yards as he earned first-team All-Big Sky honors last fall. Lee Perkins chipped in six catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Gunnar Brekke and Shawn Johnson each earned All-Big Sky honors as returners. Johnson, a 2014 All-America, averaged 8.2 yards per punt return and 19.5 yards per kick return despite battling injuries. Brekke led the Big Sky by averaging 27.1 yards per return, including a 74-yarder to set up the game-winning touchdown in a 59-56 win over Sacramento State.
In the kicking game, DaPrato helped Trevor Bolton resurrect his career and he helped Luke Daly thrive in his rookie year. Bolton, who was on the brink of losing his roster spot, ended up rallying to lead the Big Sky in punting at 44.4 yards per boot. As a redshirt freshman, Daly notched 38 touchbacks on kickoffs and drilled 13-of-19 field goals to help him score 90 points. The 33-year-old DaPrato will earn $49,408.68 this fall, up from $48,076 in 2014.
Bo Beck is entering his ninth season coaching Montana State’s defensive line. He’s also entering his third season as Montana State’s recruiting coordinator. He produced a string of All-Americas for five straight seasons: Dane Fletcher in 2009, Dan Ogden in 2010, Zach Minter in 2011, Caleb Schreibeis in 2012 and Brad Daly in 2013. The latter two also won the first Buck Buchanan Awards in MSU history. Last season, the production sputtered. Odin Coe and Taylor Sheridan were the standouts but the accolades did not come as MSU struggled defensively on all three levels. Sheridan did earn second-team All-Big Sky honors but MSU had just 19 team sacks, down from 39 in 2012 and just a handful more than Daly’s FCS-leading 14 in 2013.
On the recruiting path, Beck has helped coordinate two straight highly acclaimed classes. The class MSU signed two years ago includes a slew of players expected to contribute next season, including defensive end Tyrone Fa’anono, middle linebacker Grant Collins, wide receivers Justin Paige and Mitchell Herbert, cornerback Bryce Alley, running back Tavon Dodd, safety DeMonte King and defensive tackle Tucker Yates. Beck will earn $46,038 in 2015, the exact same salary he earned in 2014.
Cody Kempt helped mentor a collection of young receivers including Paige and Herbert during Kempt’s first season as a full-time position coach. The former Montana State quarterback saw his group lose five players to season-ending injuries before conference play even began. The wideouts hardly missed a step. With Mitch Griebel leading the way out of the slot, MSU hit opponents with a barrage of young, raw weapons on the outside that included Herbert, Paige, redshirt freshman Jayshawn Gates and flashes from oft-injured junior Tanner Roderick. Griebel led the team with 45 catches while Herbert led the young group with 28 grabs and team-high four touchdowns. Paige averaged 31.5 yards per catch and scored three touchdowns of more than 48 yards. Gates averaged 29.4 yards per catch and scored two touchdowns of more than 45 yards. Kempt received a raise to $38,082 for 2015, up from 
$37,000 last season.
Rider, a former Bobcat safety, enters his third season as a full-time position coach this fall. In 2013, he helped Beck with the defensive line. In 2014, he helped Ioane with the linebackers. Now he’s got his own group with the MSU cornerbacks. Rider saw a significant jump to $36,184, up from $31,634 last season. North earned $34,008 last fall.
Like Kempt, Michael Pitre is entering his second season as a full-time coach. The
former UCLA fullback is the man mentoring MSU’s running backs, a balanced group integral in helping MSU rush for more than 3,000 yards last season. Pitre helped Shawn Johnson earn second-team All-Big Sky honors as the scat-back rushed for 607 yards on less than 100 carries scoring four touchdowns and catching 18 passes for 285 yards and four more scores despite missing four games with injury. Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke each earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors as sophomores. Newell rushed for 487 yards and eight touchdowns, including tying s school record with five in MSU’s 47-40 loss to South Dakota State in the playoffs. Brekke rushed for 424 yards and four touchdowns and also caught 21 passes for 204 yards and two scores. Anthony Knight, a former Nevada transfer that has since been dismissed from the team, rushed for 496 yards and a team-high 12 touchdowns. This season, Newell and Brekke will see more elevated roles, Dodd will try to slide into the big-play role left by Johnson and Nick LaSane and Noah James have a chance to earn carries in short-yardage situations. Pitre, who spent two seasons at Colorado as a grad assistant before coming to MSU, received a raise to $36,037 for 2015, up from $35,000 last year.
Owens is best remembered as a fearsome Bobcat linebacker. The 2012 Big Sky Defensive MVP spent two seasons coaching high school football at L.D. Bell High outside of his native Dallas. When Ioane was promoted to defensive coordinator, Ash brought in Owens to coach the linebackers. Owens will make $35,000 his first year as a college coach.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
