With the list of schools recruiting Portland running back Nick Ostmo, his commitment to Montana on October 7 might have come as a little bit of a surprise.
Ostmo picked the Grizzlies over offers from Air Force and Army, and interest from Navy, Big Sky rivals Eastern Washington and Cal Poly, and Ivy League schools Dartmouth and Penn.
“It was definitely hard to turn down a couple of those schools, because they would have set my future up really well,” Ostmo said. “I just felt like Montana was the place for me. I came home and discussed it with my parents and stuff. They loved it too and they thought it was a great fit for me, and that just kind of made me certain about it.”
Ostmo solidified his plans to go to Montana while on an early-season official visit to Missoula for the Portland State game.
Despite a last-second loss for the Griz on a homecoming Saturday, he committed the next day.
“The whole entire stadium was really loud, and all the kids, they seemed like my kind of guys,” Ostmo said. “I met a couple other recruits that just kind of seemed like they were like me and just who I wanted to be around.”
By staying out West, the 6-foot, 215-pound back opted not to follow in the footsteps of his father, Erik, who went to Navy, or his older brothers.
Nate Ostmo is a senior shortstop for Dartmouth, and Nolan Ostmo just finished up his sophomore season as a defensive back for the Tufts Jumbos in Medford, Massachusetts.
“Location [is big], it’s close to home, my family can come see a lot of the games,” Ostmo said. “[My parents] are pretty excited. Like, next year we play at Oregon and at Portland State, so we’re all hoping I can travel down for those games. They’re pretty excited for me to get to play in Oregon and play around the area for the next couple years.”
All three Ostmo brothers played football at Lincoln High School in Portland, where Nick started out as a linebacker.
After his sophomore season, he started playing more on offense, running for 1,245 yards in 10 games as a junior.
“I think that I’m a physical runner, but I can also be kind of agile and fast when I want to,” Ostmo said. “I think I have that breakout speed. I think I have pretty good vision, I see holes that are there. Even when they’re not there I feel like I know where they’re going to be, based on what play it is, and I feel like I can hit those holes hard and shed tackles.”
Defensive line coach Barry Sacks and running backs coach Justin Green handled his recruitment for the Griz, which heated up after Ostmo attended Montana’s prospect camp over the summer.
“I had my official with coach Green, and he really got me hyped up about the whole team and the offense and all of that,” Ostmo said. “Coach Sacks, he was a good personality, he’s a great guy. He comes in every week to see how I’m doing and stuff, makes me feel like Montana’s going to be a good fit for me and stuff like that.”
Besides his dad’s traditional dislike of Air Force and Army — “especially Army” — Ostmo said that he was drawn to Montana for its strong business school, which is the area he plans to major in.
He also preferred to be in a more wide-open offense than the triple-option, ground-and-pound styles that the academies run.
Ostmo becomes the first primary running back in Montana’s 2019 class. Local product Elias DeWaters from Sentinel was recruited as an athlete on a partial scholarship.
He’s the second commitment from Oregon after Salem linebacker Alex Hurlburt.
Since his commitment, Ostmo has been preparing for his upcoming baseball season and working hard to try to beef up the Griz recruiting class even further.
“I’ve just been thinking about getting other guys here,” Ostmo said. “Coach Sacks has been keeping me in touch with the other recruits that maybe have offers or have other interest in the school, and I’ve been talking to them, trying to get them interested in Montana.”
