BOZEMAN, Montana — In 2015, Kane Ioane was impossible to miss on the Montana State sideline, his bright red hat signaling the eyes of a Bobcat defense that could never find his footing.
Now Ioane sees his Bobcats from a bird’s eye view on game day. No hat is necessary four years later as Ioane serves as Montana State’s sole defensive coordinator for the first time in his career.
Ioane, the only four-time All-American player in MSU history, served as an assistant defensive coach on Mike Kramer’s staff in 2005 and 2006 before spending 2007 through 2015 on Rob Ash’s staff. That final year, Ioane shared defensive coordinator duties with longtime defensive play-caller Jamie Marshall.
Ioane coached from the sideline, Marshall from the box. A comedy of errors including several big misses on transfers expected to contribute, the need to play young and underdeveloped players and a struggle to find pre-snap alignment consistency, the Bobcats gave up points in bunches. A team that led the country in scoring offense at nearly 42 points per game finished 5-6.
Ash was fired. But Jeff Choate retained Ioane as his linebackers’ coach and assistant head coach for the 2016 season. In 2017, Ioane took a job as a defensive analyst on Chris Petersen’s staff at the University of Washington, a place Choate spent three seasons previous to taking the MSU head job in December of 2015.
With Choate’s dismissal of lightning rod defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak, Ioane had an opportunity to return to his alma mater. He jumped at the chance to be a defensive coordinator in a solo role under a defensive head coach for a unit stocked with talent.
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“I walked into a very good situation,” Ioane said. “I’m very fortunate in that regard.
“And it feels good to be home.”
Gregorak has been the center of the news as any person involved in the Cat-Griz rivalry over the last three seasons. He helped the Bobcats turn their defense around almost instantly. After moving to Choate’s staff following coaching linebackers and coordinator Montana’s defense for 12 seasons (2003-2009, 2011-2015), Gregorak played a hand in helping MSU forge its first three-game winning streak over the rival Griz in more than 30 years.
Choate said he communicated fairly often with Washington co-defensive coordinators Pete Kwiatkowski and Jimmy Lake along with Petersen to check up on Ioane’s “finishing school” learning a defense very similar to the one Choate favors at MSU. Gregorak had been contemplating his future so when Choate decided Ioane was ready, Choate and Gregorak came to a mutual decision that Gregorak would “resign to pursue other professional opportunities.” The memorable, revered coach is no longer coaching, instead working in sales for a medical device company.
Upon hiring Ioane, Choate said he wanted improvements in third down defensive stops, mitigating big plays and overall scoring defense. MSU gave up 28.5 points per game last season, sixth in the Big Sky Conference. Montana State allowed opponents to gain 409.2 yards per game, fourth in the league. And the Bobcats allowed opponents to convert nearly 42 percent of third downs, 10th in the conference.
Through seven games against FCS opponents this season, Montana State is allowing 23 points per game. A defensive unit that features a pair of All-Big Sky candidates on the defensive line and five seniors in the defensive secondary is allowing 343.2 yards per game in those FCS outings.
Montana State is giving up 126.8 rushing yards and 216.5 passing yards over its last seven games. FCS teams have converted 40 out of 110 third down attempts, or 36.3 percent.
“I think what he is learning is the rhythm of the play-calling,” Choate said on Monday as he team began preparation for Southern Utah. “He was on the sideline when he called plays in 2015. I think it’s been much better for him being upstairs. It’s not as chaotic and you can just get into the flow of the offensive play caller’s rhythm.”
During his time coaching on each side of the fiercest rivalry in the West, Gregorak coached dozens of all-conference players. Ioane has also coached a collection of standout linebackers over the last decade and a half. Now he’s coaching safeties while also bringing his own flavor through the eyes of someone who played safety.
“One thing I really like about Coach Ioane is that he’s so detailed with literally everything, alignments, everything,” MSU senior safety Brayden Konkol said. “If you align wrong, you automatically put yourself in a position to lose that rep, lose that play. That is the biggest thing I think helps.
“He tells us to trust in one another, always compete and have a never satisfied mentality. Just getting better every rep. Coach Ioane is a really good coach, a four-time All-American too so it definitely helps. Whenever he says something, you write it down.”
MSU has not taken the ball away as prevalently. But negative plays behind the line of scrimmage are likely to surpass last year’s total. MSU had 70 tackles for loss and 23 sacks last season. MSU already has 60 tackles for loss and 19 sacks this season. Senior defensive end Bryce Sterk has 13.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, the latter mark a sack more than he had a year ago and the leading mark in the league.
“We are more precise in most aspects of the defense,” MSU junior outside linebacker Troy Andersen said days before the season opener. “We stress alignments, knowing our gaps, knowing what each other are doing on each play and getting home to the quarterback as a unit.”
Sacramento State took advantage of a 38-yard field and a 45-yard field, scoring touchdowns on each possession in a 34-21 victory at Montana State on October 12. MSU gave up 378 yards of total offense but the Hornets began possessions on their side of the field several times. And Sac State converted 9-of-13 yards as Sac handed Montana State its first Big Sky Conference loss.
The following week, MSU enjoyed a bye. Choate said he was going to spent the week with the defense “to ensure they were playing with the right edge.”
That edge showed up in the run game last week at North Dakota. The Bobcats gave up 60 rushing yards on 23 carries, giving up 2.3 yards per carry. MSU is giving up 3.3 yards per carry to FCS opponents this season.
UND gained 316 yards in a 16-12 win as Montana State’s anemic offense could never find any flow. MSU’s offensive futility has overshadowed its continued solid defense. As the Bobcats try to surge down the stretch for the second straight season, Ioane will have to maintain his steady hand and hope his defense can carry the day as one of the league’s most inconsistent offenses tries to gain its footing.
“You have to adjust and adapt and everyone is going to have tendencies. Kane has done a nice job as the game has gone on and progressed of identifying how offensive play-callers are trying to attack us and finding the rhythm and the flow to find our counter punch,” Choate said.
“He’s done a nice job adjusting and getting into the flow of the game as it’s gone on.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Right Reserved.
