For his entire five-year tenure as Montana State’s head coach, Jeff Choate has frequently referenced how often his staff finds or falls in love with potential prospects when the athletes are on camp for MSU’s individual camps in the summer.
If a kid has a personal connection to Montana State, they become more intriguing. And if they fit the catchy descriptions Choate and his assistants use to describe the skill sets they desire at various positions, that’s even better.
On the opening day of the new early signing period on December 22, DeNarius McGhee used one of Matt Miller’s lines when it comes to describing what he covets in wide receivers and tight ends.
“He is always talking about wanting Frisbee catching dogs,” McGhee, MSU’s former running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, said about a month before taking a position with the Houston Texans. “Throw the ball in the air and no matter where it is, they go get the ball.”
Peyton Thornton checks all three of those boxes, The 6-foot-3, 222-pound tight end’s mother, Kristen Thornton, went to Montana State and is now a teacher at Faith Lutheran, the sixth grade through 12th grade school of about 2,500 students in Las Vegas that Peyton currently attends.
The tight end attended camp in Bozeman last summer, which helped spark his initial recruitment. And when he signed with Montana State in December, McGhee said he is exactly what Miller, MSU’s former offensive coordinator who moved on to Boise State in January, wants in his pass catchers.
“This kid goes and gets the ball,” McGhee said. “He did it in camp and he did it during the season.”
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It remains to be seen what Montana State’s offense looks like after the hiring of upstart offensive coordinator Justin Udy earlier this week. But Choate and his staff evaluated the senior at Faith Lutheran favorably after Thornton earned all-conference honors all three of his prep seasons as a starter.
“He actually reminds me a lot of Ryan Lonergan,” Choate said in an MSU press release on December 22. “He has a similar body type and skill set. He’s very good in a flex position and show’s toughness and willingness to block.”
Lonergan was considered one of the top prospects in the state of Montana when he came out of Bozeman High and stayed home by signing with the ‘Cats two years ago. Lonergan is 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds. He caught 64 passes for 1,121 yards and 12 touchdowns his senior year for the Hawks.
Thornton put up comparable numbers, catching 45 passes for 808 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games as a senior. He averaged 18 yards per catch and 89.8 yards per game.
“Montana State has me projected as a tight end in college but I think it’s more receiving tight end,” Thornton said. “They play tight ends a lot and they play multiple tight ends together quite a bit. They said they wanted to upgrade their pass catching and athleticism there so hopefully I can contribute.”
Thornton finished his prep career with 137 catches, 788 yards and 25 touchdowns while playing in the Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association 4A division. That production helped earn Thornton an offer from Idaho, one of MSU’s Big Sky Conference rivals.
“My sophomore year, we ran a hurry-up, no-huddle offense spread from the shotgun, a ton of passing,” Thornton said. “My senior year, we got a new offensive coordinator and they started putting in some new offensive stuff, motions, going under center and a bunch of different formations. We had a tight end set, an H, all that.
“It was fun this year to understand football more and more because of the offense we implemented. I think that got me ready for Montana State.”
Although Choate did not mention it when Thornton signed, the tight end said his father, William Thornton, played football at Montana State. And Thornton said he will be the fourth generation of his family to go to Montana State.
Because of his previous knowledge of Montana State, Thornton said he filled out MSU’s football recruiting questionnaire online. But Montana State wide receivers coach Erik Frazier, who has helped the Bobcats stat recruiting in the Las Vegas and Arizona territories, found Thornton before seeing his questionnaire.
“Coach Frazier said he found me out of the blue and so it was a mutual interest when I told them my whole family went there,” Thornton said.
Despite the familiarity, Thornton signed with the Bobcats before making an official visit to campus. He made his official visit on January 23, a month and a day after officially becoming a Bobcat. Thornton trusted his family to help him feel comfortable at MSU even though his previous two trips were busy with playing or watching football.
“They all said it was a great town and they always had a lot of fun there,” Thornton said. “I’m just really excited to be there.”
His first trip to Bozeman, period, was for camp in June of 2019. His second visit was an unofficial to watch the Bobcats play Northern Arizona. That afternoon, Montana State rallied from a 21-0 deficit to post a 49-31 victory.
“I thought it was really fun to watch,” Thornton said. “The first quarter, it wasn’t going their way but after that, it was three minutes of the most exciting football I’ve ever watched because they got the fumble recovery and they kept scoring and scoring.”
Once Thornton got to know Frazier, Choate and tight ends coach Nate Potter, he was sold on the prospect of continuing his family’s legacy at MSU.
“They were honestly the nicest and coolest coaches and even my high school coach (Vernon Fox) said they were the best coaches he’s ever dealt with,” Thornton said. “They are really nice to the recruits, they show that they want you, they show that they care about you.
“Coach Potter is the one I normally talk to and it felt like he actually wanted to know me more. It was really the coaching staff that was really great at recruiting. When I went up to camp, Coach Potter was always encouraging, always had drills, always had something positive to say but he was also correcting me. The next couple of years, it will be exciting because he knows what he is talking about.”
Thornton is not sure if he will pursue a degree in business or something that will set the table for a career in real estate. But he shares his family’s excitement that their name will continue to have a presence in the Gallatin Valley.
“I’m looking forward to play football and get a good education,” Thornton said. “I’m excited about getting out of the Vegas heat.
“When I signed, it was a weight off my shoulders. Really, this was something I didn’t know I was able to do, didn’t believe it was actually a reality until a couple of years ago so I started working really hard. To achieve it, I was relieved. I took a deep breath and realized I have four years planned to chase this dream.”
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