Whispers of Lewis Kidd’s move across the line of scrimmage started before the towering Twin Cities native stepped on the Montana State campus.
The 6-foot-7 man child stood out physically from his first practice of fall camp a season ago. But the vertically gifted teenager looked out of place playing on the interior of Montana State’s defensive line.
Kidd was a standout offensive tackle and defensive end at Totino-Grace High in Minneapolis. He garnered an FBS offer from New Mexico — coincidentally the alma mater of new Montana State offensive line coach Josh Taufalele — as an offensive lineman. He also fielded offers from Montana and South Dakota, both who envisioned the long-armed athlete as a prototypical offensive tackle.
When defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak, one of the Big Sky’s best recruiters in the Minneapolis area, flipped his employer from Montana to Montana State, he brought Kidd with him. Gregorak told Kidd the likelihood of him ending up on offense was high but that he could play on the defensive line his first year in Bozeman.
During the off-season after Kidd’s freshman year — a five-month period that has seen Kidd gain nearly 30 pounds to tip the scale at 285 — the move became official.
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“I was all in, just wanted to help out the team however I could,” Kidd said. “They told me I could help the most on the offensive line. I know we are bringing in good guys on both sides of the ball. I wanted to help the team any way I could. I knew it was coming. I had a feeling, it was rumored for a while. I knew it was coming at some point and I was ready.”
As Montana State finishes up its fourth week of a five-week spring football session, Kidd has steadily risen up the Bobcat depth chart as an offensive guard.
“I think that’s going to be a good move for us whether Lewis ends up playing the guard position or providing depth for us at tackle,” MSU second-year head coach Jeff Choate said. “We like our tackles with Mitch (Brott) and Dylan (Mahoney). I think those two guys are good players in this league and both of them have a lot of game experience. To be able to get (Kidd) reps and have an opportunity to go with the 1s, spring is always about mixing and matching as you try to find that best five. I think Lewis is doing some good things there. Hopefully, he can continue to progress.”
In college football, sometimes one man’s injury can be another man’s opportunity. Right now, Kidd is taking full advantage. Senior right guard Monte Folsom was forced into retirement due to chronic back problems last month. Senior Caleb Gillis has been in and out of the lineup both because of class conflicts on week days and because of a sprained ankle suffered last weekend.
“I think he’s progressing as well as you can ask somebody to progress,” Taufalele said. “I think he’s been in the position for maybe four or five months. He’s picking up some good things. The good part about Lewis is he has a lot of athletic ability. We just have to continue teaching him the base fundamentals, getting him used to it and making sure as much as we physically preparing him, mentally preparing him for offensive line play.”
On Saturday in Great Falls, Kidd received the lion’s share of the first-team repetitions at right guard during the Triangle Classic scrimmage.
“I think I can compete for time,” Kidd said following the action. “I feel like if I work hard, I’ve taken some No. 1 reps due to injuries. It’s great taking those reps and getting that experience. It helps me learn a lot faster with Alex Neale and Mitch Brott on my side, helping me out, taking me off to the sideline, telling me what I did wrong, what I did right. It’s great to learn from them. Everyone is trying to compete and I’m just trying to compete too.”
Kidd isn’t the only young offensive lineman trying to earn a starting spot. Jake McFetridge, a 6-foot-5, 295-pounder, was one of three reserve offensive linemen – Gillis and Wilson Brott were the others - who traveled to road games. He backed up All-American J.P. Flynn at left guard after being recruited by Kane Ioane as a tackle out of Huntington Beach, California.
Now he is the obvious choice to replace Flynn in between senior left tackle Dylan Mahoney (6-6, 285) and junior center Alex Neale (6-3, 290), both returning starters off last year’s front five.
“It was pretty exciting at the beginning,” McFetridge said on his first starter reps. “I have had some reps with the 1s when J.P. was down last spring. Learning from him, it’s been a pretty easy transition, I’d say.”
“With Alex to my right, Mahoney to my left, plus with Mitch on the line making calls, it’s not really hard at all.”
McFetridge is young in football years. He was a left-handed pitcher for most of his youth. He put on more than 50 pounds between his junior and senior prep seasons. Entering his fifth fall, he’s vying for a starting Division I position.
“I think Jake McFetridge has stepped in and done a phenomenal job picking up the offense,” Taufalele said. “There’s nothing super extravagant on his end as far as what he needs to learn. Our goal for the spring is honing in on fundamentals and how he wants to move and being efficient with our footwork.”
Last spring, a primary Bobcat storyline centered upon replacing four multiple-year starters on the offensive line including All-American left tackle John Weidenaar. Mahoney played well before and after an injury that cost him four weeks. Now the fifth-year senior from Great Falls is the old man of the group and he’s trying to provide as much help as possible for Kidd and McFetridge.
“I think they are learning really quickly,” Mahoney said of the young guards. “Lewis Kidd got put on o-line five months ago and he’s picking up on it really well. He might need that physical edge a little more but as soon as he figures that out, watch out, he’s a great athlete. McFetridge is solid already.”
This offensive line will only lose Mahoney following the season. Neale, a former UNLV transfer, will be back for his third year. Right Tackle Mitch Brott (6-6, 295) started all 11 games as a redshirt freshman last season. Taufalele, in his first year as a full-time position coach, is tasked with filling in the guard spots with green yet talented players.
“I think it’s double-edge sword,” Taufalele said. “That’s always beautiful, you get a chance to sculpt these kids in your philosophy, your fundamentals, what you believe in as an offensive line coach. But the duller side of the blade is they don’t have a lot of banked reps. But I think it’s good. The benefit for us is we have three guys who surround those guys with a lot of reps, a lot of PT and they are helping those guys come along, which is what you want to see. You would like everyone to be veteran players but the reality of the situation, it doesn’t happen like that.”
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