Big Sky Conference

Jeff Choate hired as new Montana State head football coach

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After a fast and furious coaching search, Jeff Choate is the new head coach of the Montana State Bobcats.

Choate emerged from a group of five men who received in-person interviews for the vacancy left by Rob Ash’s firing on November 23.

Choate_JeffChoate has worked closely with former Montanan State defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski since 2006, spending six seasons as Boise State and the last two seasons at Washington. Choate is a Montana Western alum, exhausting his eligibility as a linebacker in Dillon in 1993.

Choate emerged from a pool that included Hill, current Montana State offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, Arizona State co-defensive coordinator Chris Ball and Florida Atlantic offensive coordinator Brian Wright. All four interviewed for the position in person.

Choate has spent time on Chris Peteron’s staff at Boise State and Washington. He also spent one season each with Mike Leach at Washington State and Will Muschamp at Florida. Choate has worked under Kwiatkowski for a total of five seasons. Last fall, Choate helped mentor Hau’oli Kikaha and Danny Shelton, each first-team All-Americas for the Huskies.

After spending the second half of the 1990s coaching high school football in Idaho, Choate started to climb the ladder, beginning at Utah State and Eastern Illinois before joining Peterson’s staff at Boise State in 2006. Choate coached running backs from 2006-2008 and linebackers from 2009 until 2011, all the while serving as Boise State’s special teams coordinator. In 2012, he left to coach linebackers at Washington State. He spent 2013 coaching linebackers at Florida. He rejoined Peterson and Kwiatkowski at Washington before last season. Kwiatkowski served as Montana State’s defensive coordinator between 2000-20005.

Choate helped mentor Hau’oli Kikaha and Danny Shelton, each first-team All-Americas for the Huskies.

As of this printing, Montana State defensive coordinator Kane Ioane, special teams coordinator Daniel DaPrato, running backs coach Michael Pitre and wide receiver coach Cody Kempt will apply for assistant positions on Choate’s staff. Offensive line coach Jason Eck, defensive line coach Bo Beck and linebackers assistant Jody Owens have not returned messages about future plans. Co-defensive coordinator Jamie Marshall was not contacted as it is known he has no interest in staying.

Cornerbacks coach Michael Rider said he will pursue other opportunities outside the coaching industry. Cramsey said he will apply for the offensive coordinator position.

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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