Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of a series of profiles about Montana State’s recently signed football recruits. The Bobcats signed 15 players during the second signing period that culminated in February.
If the mental toughness of playing a senior year on a torn knee is any indication, Jacob Kettels will be just fine in his transition to Division I football.
The 6-foot-4, 280-pound offensive lineman from Lynden, Washington suffered a torn ACL in June before his senior year. The three-year starting left tackle did not miss a game in 2018, instead earning Washington Class 2A all-state honors and earning a spot on the all-conference team for the third straight season.
Kettels had surgery to repair the torn knee after the season. In the last few weeks, he has started running, a crucial step in his rehabilitation.
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“It didn’t really bother me too much,” Kettels said in an interview in March. “Over the season, it would buckle sometimes but I just tried to ignore it. I relied on my teammates to make plays and the coaching staff to support me. I didn’t let any focus on me. I did as much as I could but didn’t want it all on me.”
Despite the injury, the athletic and aggressive offensive lineman still earned plenty of interest on the recruiting trail, including picking up scholarhip offers from Eastern Washington and Montana State. He also earned a preferred walk-on offer at Washington State.
Kettels first became enamored with MSU when B.J. Robertson, MSU’s fourth-year special teams coordinator and director of high school operations “came to my school with his wild energy and lit up the entire room.”
That sparked Kettels interest right away. When he made an official visit to Bozeman the weekend of January 27, he was sold on becoming a Bobcat.
“I just loved Bozeman,” Kettels said. “I had never been to Montana or Bozeman or anything like that. I was expecting a town stuck in the old Western times, cowboys and cattle. And I get there and it’s a bustling city. Main Street was beautiful.
“We went there wanting to count all the cowboy hats but we only saw three (laughs).”
Kettles signed with Montana State on National Signing Day the first Wednesday of February. Because of his injury and late surgery, Kettels will grey shirt, meaning he will join the Bobcats officially in January of 2020.
A grey shirt is an incoming college freshman that postpones his enrollment in classes until the second term of his freshman year. The NCAA allows that athlete five years to complete four years of playing eligibility after initial enrollment.
By delaying enrollment until the winter after his senior year of high school, a football player can play the fall season one year after his graduation date.
“They explained grey shirting, they told me about the time line and it seemed to just fit perfectly,” said Kettels, who hopes to be running fully by July. He will take classes at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham in the fall.
“Jacob comes from the same high school as (MSU senior defensive end) Bryce Sterk, and he was one of the better offensive linemen in northwest Washington,” Montana State head coach Jeff Choate said on signing day. “We’ve been recruiting him for a while, and when he had a great recruiting trip he jumped in the boat. He’s a big-bodied guy who we think can develop into good offensive lineman at Montana State.”
Lynden is a town of almost 12,000 located in the Northwest portion of the Evergreen State. It is five miles south of the Canadian border, 15 miles north of Bellingham and about 95 miles rom Seattle. The town has produced its fair share of standout athletes, including former Oregon Duck and Seattle Super Sonics point guard Luke Ridnour.
The community has also gifted Montana State with a pair of stellar athletes. Jasmine Hommes, a standout for the Montana State women’s basketball team from 2013 until 2016, capped her career by earning Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player honors after leading the Bobcats to the league’s regular-season title.
The town also produced Sterk, one of the most physically gifted athletes to put on a Bobcat uniform during the Choate era. During his time at Lynden High School, Sterk was a truly unstoppable force, leading the Lions to three straight state championships and four straight state title games. His senior season, he rolled up 147 tackles and 10 sacks, catching Choate’s eye when Choate was the defensive line coach at the University of Washington.
By last season, Sterk was a Bobcat. He wreaked havoc on the Big Sky last season, leading the league in sacks (11) and tackles for loss (17) on the way to second-team all-conference honors.
“I’ve heard Sterk is a legend,” said Kettels, who’s family moved to Lynden when he was in seventh grade from South Carolina. “I’ve heard about him since I moved here.”
Kettels has taken to the quaint Washington community whose residents are often referred to as “Lyndenites”. Kettels wants to pursue a degree business management in hopes of returning to Lynden and starting his own business. He said Montana State’s strong business program was another factor in him choosing MSU.
Despite his injury, Kettels’ highlight film still shows an offensive lineman with smooth athleticism and good upside. He is a long limbed athlete with good bend in his hips, the burst to get out of his stance and on to the perimeter and the physicality to finish blocks in open space. He has good footwork, a strong punch and solid fundamentals both run and pass blocking.
Kettels played left tackle almost exclusively during his standout high school career that also included helping Lynden to the Washington Class 2A state basketball championship as a junior in 2017. He said he is comfortable playing the right side of the line as well and “will play any position on the line that they need me to play.”
The offensive lineman said former offensive line coach Josh Taufalele, now MSU’s recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach, played a big role in his recruitment as his coach host on his recruiting visit. Kettels is well aware of the staff shuffle that has Brian Armstrong coaching the offensive line again and said “Armstrong is a great coach too who I’m excited to work with.”
Choate sold Kettels on the family atmosphere he and his staff have created over the last four years and on the momentum that exists around the MSU campus. On his official visit, Kettels spent time with redshirt freshman quarterback Casey Bauman, who is from the Nooksack Valley near Lynden, and redshirt freshman running back Isaiah Ifanse, a Bellevue, Washington native.
The players emphasized to Kettels the connection they have with the MSU coaching staff and affirmed the culture Choate has built. From playing through a knee injury to having a serious surgery to accomplishing one of his long-term goals by signing with the Bobcats, Kettels is excited for the future.
“It was a huge sigh of relief,” Kettels said. “I had gone through the recruiting process for four years and I’m super excited to get started and get rolling with the whole process and actually be able to participate in Division I athletics.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
