Will Martel helped build Bobcat Stadium — literally. Now he will get a chance to run out onto the field that his family helped build into one of the top venues in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Martel’s grandfather, Bill, started Martel Construction, one of Bozeman’s most recognizable businesses. Martel did the primary construction on Montana State’s football stadium during a $10 million renovation completed in 2011 that included a 7,200-seat addition to the south end zone.
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During the renovation of the stadium, Will Martel did general labor from time to time to help complete the daunting project. Five years later, the former standout safety at Bozeman High will play in the stadium as a member of the Bobcat football team.
“That’s actually crazy to think about that since I helped build (that stadium),” Martel said. “It will be cool to run out on the field in front of all those people. I grew up a Bobcat fan since I was little so this is really cool for me.”
Despite earning Class AA first-team all-state honors at safety as a senior on Bozeman High’s state football team, Martel did not have allusions of playing college football. Following his senior that included 12 wins in 13 outings for the Hawks and two interceptions by Martel, he received strong interest from schools around the Frontier Conference. But he was already set on attending Montana State and studying construction engineering.
“Some of the coaches from the Frontier schools came into the high school after our season and talked to us but it never really sparked any interest,” Martel said. “When the Bobcats contacted me, I was a little more interested. I was already going to come to Montana State so I thought it would be a good opportunity to prove myself.”
During the spring, new MSU head coach Jeff Choate and his staff, mainly former Frontier head coaches B.J. Robertson (Montana Western) and Brian Armstrong (Rocky Mountain) used their small-school Montana connections to add 11 preferred walk-ons to the Bobcats’ roster for fall camp in August. The group included Martel and seven others from in state.
“I really had no intentions of playing after this year but in April, Coach Robertson called me and asked me what my plans were for next year and asked if I was interested in playing football,” Martel said. “He wanted me to come in and see what they were about so I set up a meeting with Jeff Choate and came in and talked to him about the opportunity they had for me. I got the tour of the locker room and weight room and got the rundown of everything. He told me to take some time to think about it.”
Martel had plenty of resources at his disposal to gage what playing for the Bobcats is like. Former Bozeman High standouts wide receiver John D’Agostino and linebacker/defensive end Grant Collins are childhood friends of Martel. He is currently working with classmate Balue Chapman, an MSU signee who earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors as a senior for Bozeman last fall, as well as MSU redshirt freshmen Josh Hill and Mitch Brott. The group is helping construct the new Bozeman parking garage in downtown Bozeman.
“Those guys love the new coaches and they had good things to say so I decided to give it a shot,” Martel said.
As a senior, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Martel earned first-team all-state honors by anchoring a back end of a Bozeman defense that surrendered just 10.7 points per game. Official statistics for only seven of Bozeman’s 13 games are available on the Class AA website but Martel still ranked second in Class AA with his two interceptions. Bozeman’s state title was its third since 2010 under Troy Purcell, who has since moved on to join Paul Petrino’s staff at the University of Idaho.
“This last year was a lot different than the year before,” Martel said. “A lot of the same kids, returning starters but we put in a lot more work in the summer and during practice. It definitely paid off. It was such a fun year.”
The upcoming year is sure to be filled with changes for Martel and his fellow freshmen. He said he is prepared to redshirt and excited for the challenges his first year playing college football.
Over the last few seasons, Martel has been coached by Justin Mobley, a former Montana State safety who exhausted his eligibility in 2002, the year Montana State won its first Big Sky Conference title in a generation. Now Martel will get a chance to play for his hometown team in a stadium with his name already written on it.
“It caught me by surprise when I got that phone call but throughout the year, my DB coach with the Hawks (Justin Mobley) who played safety for the Bobcats (1998-2002) has been telling me the whole time that I could play here,” Martel said. “I never put much thought into it but to have them contact me and show me that they are interested is really cool. I’m excited to see if I can prove myself.”
[/restrict]Photos courtesy of Shellenberg Photography. All Rights Reserved.
