By the time Kyle Rygg left Bozeman, he realized he saved the best for last.
The highly recruited defensive end from Sheldon High in Eugene, Oregon fielded offers from around the Big Sky Conference and the Ivy League. He took an official visit to Northern Arizona and was leaning toward making Flagstaff his future home.
But Rygg came to Bozeman 11 days before National Signing Day on his official visit to Montana State and decided he never wanted to leave. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound 2-star rated defensive end gave his verbal commitment to MSU head coach Jeff Choate and his staff on Monday. He announced his decision publicly on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
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Rygg’s commitment bookended a recruiting process that essentially began and ended with Montana State. Rygg came to the Montana State campus during his spring break last April. He contacted the football program and received a scholarship offer within a week, his first.
After a standout senior season in which he bounced back from a foot injury that ended his junior campaign, Rygg fielded offers from Air Force, Idaho, Northern Arizona, Portland State and San Diego while receiving strong interest from defending Big Sky Conference champion Eastern Washington. He held preferred walk-on offers from Oregon, Oregon State, Boise State and Arizona.
He also received offers from Ivy League schools Cornell, Brown and Columbia, visiting Columbia officially.
After spending Saturday and Sunday in Bozeman — Rygg arrived a day late for his official visit because of Sheldon’s basketball game on Friday night — he knew he wanted to be a Bobcat.
“When Montana State first offered me, that’s when I realized I had a chance to play college football,” Rygg said. “A few more offers came in. As the season went on, I took officials to Columbia and Northern Arizona. I was leaning toward Northern Arizona for a little bit. When I took my visit to Montana State, it felt like home. I loved it.
“The coaching staff, I loved the coaching staff at Montana State. The players, I fit in really well with the players. Outdoors, both towns (Bozeman and Flagstaff), both are really good but my gut told me it was the right place. I liked it a little more and I liked the snow so it’s tough to beat.”
Matt Miller, Montana State’s primary Oregon recruiter, initiated the recruiting charge and defensive line coach Byron Hout finished the deal, Rygg said. The Bobcats will start Rygg at defensive end with designs on eventually moving Rygg to the interior defensive line, a spot he played for six games during his junior year before breaking the fifth metatarsal in his foot. The injury required surgery and ended his season.
Rygg holds a 3.85 grade-point average and what he calls “a pretty good” SAT score, helping him attract interest from some of the premier private schools in the country. Rygg hopes to study chemical engineering, which made Montana State a home run for his academic future.
“NAU has engineering but it’s sort of small and they don’t have chemical,” Rygg said. “I’m told there are lots of companies in Bozeman that hire MSU engineering grads, so that’s pretty sweet.
“They have that new engineering building going up right now, which will be sweet because the old building is already really nice. It was a win-win for me.”
Rygg, who said he plans on spending the time between basketball season and fall camp getting his weight up to 255 pounds, will be one of three Oregon natives on the Bobcats’ roster. Senior defensive tackle Fou Polatavio is from Medford. Senior wide receiver Mitch Herbert is also a product of Sheldon High. Herbert hosted Rygg on his official visit this past weekend.
“He was a senior when I was a freshman and I’m really good friends with Justin, his younger brother, who is now starting (at quarterback) at Oregon,” Rygg said. “I’m really good friends with his younger brother now (Patrick Herbert) who is on the basketball team. We are really close with their family.
“Mitch absolutely loves it there.”
Mitch Herbert enters his senior season with 18 career touchdowns, four short of breaking Kelly Davis’ MSU record. Justin Herbert took over for former Montana State quarterback Dakota Prukop at Oregon and threw for 1,936 and 19 touchdowns in seven starts for the 4-8 Ducks. Patrick Herbert is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound sophomore who could be the best of the bunch, Rygg said.
“He has the physical tools to be the best one,” Rygg said. “He’s a sophomore and he’s 6-6, 230 pounds and athletic enough to start on the basketball team.”
Rygg’s official visit coincided with the visits of eight other prospects, including six who were previously committed to Montana State. Rygg said he sat with Kalispell Glacier athlete Tadan Gilman at dinner on Saturday night. He has been messaging with Glacier product Jaxen Hashley, who also made the visit, and quarterback Tucker Rovig, who visited the week prior.
MSU commits Mater Dei (California) cornerback Jalen Cole, St. John Boscoe Prep (California) defensive back Tyrel Thomas, Eastside Catholic (Seattle) offensive lineman Brody McKnight and Billings Central wide receiver Peyton Hanser made their official visits this weekend. Rygg, quarterback James Campbell and running back Tyrel Burgess were the other three prospects on official visits.
Because of Sheldon’s Friday night basketball game, Rygg missed the guided campus tour but showed himself around MSU and enjoyed it nonetheless. His first meeting with Jeff Choate also made a lasting impression.
“He’s my favorite head coach I’ve met so far by a lot,” Rygg said. “I really like that he’s a great defensive line coach who is very d-line oriented. I think our defense is going to be pretty good.”
Rygg could’ve moved to New York City or Ithaca, New York. He could’ve played in the FBS or endured the challenges of the Air Force Academy. He could’ve even stayed close to play for his hometown Ducks. Instead, he found everything he wanted less than two weeks before National Signing Day.
“It’s a huge relief, these last few months have been very stressful trying to figure everything out,” Rygg said. “It’s nice to finally be set on one place I’m happy with. I’m just going to finish up basketball and start working out, get ready for fall camp.”
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