The defensive tradition of Montana State engulfs Kane Ioane every time he steps on campus.
As he walks into the top floor of Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, he sees the murals. Legends like Gary Gustafson, Bill Kollar and Mark Fellows grace the walls outside the Bill Ogle Hall of Fame Room.
As he turns the corner to the right, he sees a case filled with three national title trophies and 20 conference championship plaques, most built on the backs of defensive stars.
Pennants hang from the ceiling in remembrance of players like unyielding captains Bobby Daly and Dane Fletcher and even Ioane himself back when his hair was longer and his frame stouter.
Right before he enter the first door of the MSU football offices, Ioane sees a picture of Brad Daly and Caleb Schreibeis, Montana State’s latest sack masters in a long line relentless defensive ends, each Montana products who became the first two Buck Buchanan Award winners in the history of the program.
Once inside the coaches’ offices, plaques remembering Montana State’s dominant defensive statistical performances of the 15 seasons trim the borders of the top of the walls. One of the plaques remembers the 2003 season, a campaign that saw Ioane scream his way to Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP honors and that saw the Bobcats allow 16.5 points and less than 300 yards per game en route to a share of a second straight Big Sky title.
Enter Ioane’s office four doors down on the left and on most days, you will find a cleaner cut, slightly trimmer version of the man many consider to be the greatest safety in the history of Montana State. Since his playing days ended a dozen seasons ago, Ioane has shifted seamlessly into the coaching world, using his natural leadership skills honed roaming MSU’s “D Block” defense into a place as Montana State’s longest-tenured assistant coach.
Since Ioane’s Hall of Fame playing days, college football has taken a drastic change toward offensive insanity. His senior season, Montana averaged 33 points per game to lead the league and three teams averaged more than 30 points. Northern Arizona (423 yards per game) and Idaho State (412 yards per game) were the only teams to average more than 400 yards.
Last season, Montana State averaged 488 yards and 38.2 points per game, the third and fourth-best figures in the league, respectively. Six of the league’s 13 teams averaged more than 30 points per game and three — Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Sacramento State — averaged more than 40. ISU (562 yards per game) and EWU (514) were among the nation’s leaders in total offense.
Ioane has never been one to make excuses. He refuses to believe the Bobcats can’t return to the level that produced six Big Sky titles between 2002 and 2012. But MSU’s fall from grace, a slide that began the first week of November in 2013, has been sharp and it eats at Ioane from the inside.
“We have tremendous pride in tradition here at Montana State as far as playing defense is concerned,” Ioane said. “We have multiple individuals who have won all sorts of awards. We have high draft picks. We’ve had a long-standing history of playing dominant defense here. It wasn’t until recently, the anomaly of last season and now all of a sudden our defense is looked upon as the weak link. That motivates me more than anything.”
The first Saturday of November in 2013 was supposed to be a showdown between top-5 teams, a heavyweight Big Sky Conference tilt between two title contenders. Instead, the only thing that stopped the Eastern Washington Eagles was the goal line. No. 3 EWU set a Big Sky record for yards per play and scored on all eight of their possessions in a 54-29 dismantling of Montana State in Cheney. The defense rallied the next week against Southern Utah but the offense sputtered in a 22-14 loss. By the end of the year, a team that began as the No. 2 team in the FCS had suffered three straight defeats to miss the playoffs for the first time this decade.
Last season, familiar ghosts haunted the Bobcats. MSU scored more than 40 points seven times and more than 50 on three different occasions. MSU lost when scoring 51 (to EWU at home, 52-51) and 41 (to South Dakota State at home in the first round of the FCS playoffs, 47-41). The Bobcats needed 59 to win by a field goal at Sac State and 44 to win by less than a touchdown at home against Idaho State on a frigid Bozeman afternoon. The final numbers: MSU ranked dead last in the Big Sky and 119 out of 122 FCS teams in pass defense and the Bobcats gave up 33.5 points per game, the fifth-worst total in the league.
Ioane hesitates and contemplates when asked if he thinks its possible to return to the dominance MSU experienced both when he was a player and in the first seven years under Ash with Jamie Marshall calling the schemes. Then he speaks from the heart.
“I don’t like to lower my expectations at all,” Ioane said. “Maybe that’s short-sighted or perfectionism. But I don’t want to lower them at all no matter what offenses are supposed to be doing. I still expect the same play defensively and the bottom line is it’s still about scoring defense and I refuse to give up 35 points per game”
In an effort to restore that tradition, Rob Ash made a collection of changes to his defensive staff. Mike Rider was promoted to coach cornerbacks and 2012 Big Sky Defensive MVP Jody Owens returned to help Ioane coach linebackers. Ioane is now the defensive coordinator.
“It’s not as much about calling the game as much as the overall energy and enthusiasm and confidence Kane can bring to the defense,” Ash said on Monday. “We have decided as a staff to be a little more multiple and aggressive this year and that will help Kane’s attitude come out. The change, the elevation of Kane was more designed to have an impact on the day to day, the meetings, in practice, out on the field to let him be the personality, the face of the defense and bring more energy and confidence to that group.”
The 33-year-old will call his first game Thursday night under the lights at Bobcat Stadium against Division II Fort Lewis College. Ioane says his first game calling the plays from the sidelines will be “a welcome change”. He says the only pressure he feels is the pressure he puts on himself. For the players performing under him, the change is one they are relishing.
“Everyone knows he is really smart defensively, but it’s the energy he brings with it,” MSU senior captain defensive tackle Taylor Sheridan said. “He makes everyone want to play for him and he brings everyone to the next level. I don’t think you can be a good defense and go out on to a field and be flat. With Ioane around, that will not happen.
“It wasn’t Xs and Os we needed to fix. It was guys wanting to get it done and guys out there playing for each other.”
Since his promotion in February, Ioane has gone to work installing a brand new scheme and a brand new psychology among a unit that loses 11 seniors and nine starters. The schematics include a multi-faceted, aggressive design that lines up primarily in three-man fronts, brings pressure from all three linebacker spots and isn’t afraid to play press coverage on the outside. The intangibles Ioane is trying to instill in his players center upon four principles: playing fast, playing physical, playing smart and finishing.
Thursday is the first opportunity Montana State will have to bring Ioane’s teachings to the playing field and begin the resurrection of a unit steeped in tradition.
“The confidence, the no-question swagger is what we are trying to instill in every single guy on the field,” Ioane said. “When we do that, it’s an intimidating deal and that’s what we want to be: an intimidating defense like we’ve always been at Montana State.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
