Tyler Bruggman and Alex Neale wanted a place where they felt like they fit in.
Bruggman, a quarterback who most recently played at Scottsdale Community College, and Neale, a center who most recently played at UNLV, are the two newest additions to Montana State’s football roster.
Neale, a former three-star recruit who won a Washington 3A state title as a senior at Eastside Catholic outside of Seattle, initially verbally committed to the University of Montana. UNLV came in late and offered Neale, selling him on the challenges of the FBS along with the school’s engineering program. The 6-foot-3, 290-pounder played in five games as a true freshman last fall but never felt at home in Sin City.
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“At the beginning of the semester at UNLV, it just didn’t feel right to me,” The Duvall, Washington native said. “I don’t really know how to explain it. I didn’t really fit in. I wanted to find a better place where I can be myself, wear camo and fly my American flag without getting weird looks. I wanted to fit in a little better and go to a place where I think I would be happy and Montana State is that place for me.”
Bruggman was a four-star quarterback out of Brophy Prep in Phoenix. New Montana State head coach Jeff Choate recruited Bruggman to Pullman while Choate was an assistant at Washington State. After a year on the Palouse, Bruggman transferred to Louisville. He had to sit out due to NCAA transfer rules. Due to injuries, a pair of freshmen rose to the top of the Cardinals’ depth chart.
“The fit at Washington State, the culture and the environment over there and the program, I didn’t think it was a great fit,” Bruggman said. “Louisville, the timing wasn’t right with having to transfer and sitting out. We had seven quarterbacks. It’s kind of a long story but the starter got hurt and a true freshman started most of the year, he got nicked up and the rest of the year, another freshman played. By the time the season was over, we had three young quarterbacks with playing time and four other guys trying to get reps. Sitting out wasn’t easy. The timing wasn’t right. I enjoyed my time there and I learned a lot playing for Coach Petrino. I have a lot of respect for that staff and the amount of time they put in.
“It’s been quite a journey, certainly something I didn’t expect to go through,” Bruggman said. “I learned a lot at each stop and I was excited to end up here at Montana State and playing for Coach Choate.”
Bruggman and Neale are mid-year transfers who have already been accepted and started classes at Montana State. Each began winter conditioning with the football team last week.
As a senior at Brophy, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Bruggman ascended to 4-star status with a standout junior year. He earned Phoenix Metro Player of the Year honors from the Arizona Republic by throwing 2,497 yards, 37 touchdowns and just two interceptions. As a senior, Bruggman was an all-classification all-state selection by the Arizona Football Coaches Association by throwing for 2,803 yards and 33 touchdowns. Scout.com ranked Bruggman as the No. 49 overall prospect in the West Top 150 and the No. 18 quarterback recruit in the country by Rivals.com. ESPN ranked Bruggman as the top quarterback and the No. 2 overall prospect in the state of Arizona.
“My coaching odyssey came in handy in recruiting Tyler,” Choate said in an MSU press release, “because I was at Washington State when he was recruited there. We hit it off when Tyler and his dad visited campus, and I really liked Tyler’s demeanor and maturity and how he looked at things. When he was leaving Louisville I was at Washington and we had a conversation, but he needed to go to a junior college. I like his maturity. He’s a very level-headed, smart young man who is doing this for the right reasons. He’s already researched our business college and knows that’s what he wants to pursue. He’s a low-ego, high-output guy who is going to come in and work hard to earn playing time.”
Bruggman came on a visit to Bozeman in late December. He said the Gallatin Valley reminded him of Pullman with the college town vibe. Bruggman’s interactions with Choate reminded him of why he went to Pullman in the first place.
“He’s a great coach and you look at the places he’s been and the coaches he’s coached with, that all speaks for itself,” Bruggman said. “What I feel separates him from other coaches in the business is the person he is. You can tell he really cares about you and cares about the community and the team.”
Last fall, Bruggman earned his first collegiate action at Scottsdale Community College close to his childhood home. He completed 48.8 percent of his passes for 1,692 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
“It was nice to be home again and go back there and play again and get the rust off,” Bruggman said. “Now I feel like I’m ready to go and get to work and improve this off-season and get to where we need to be come August and September.
“I know Bozeman is cooler than Phoenix (laughs) but it’s beautiful with the snow on the ground. Living in Pullman for a year, I have something to compare it to. Montana is a beautiful state. I haven’t seen too much of it yet, I’m excited to be up here.”
Neale received interest from Rob Ash’s staff at Montana State before verbally committing to Montana. A week before signing day, UNLV entered the mix. Neale played in five games at center as a true freshman last fall but felt out of place whenever he wasn’t on the football field. A chance to play for the Bobcats and compete for playing time on an offensive line that loses four senior starters from last season drew Neale to MSU.
“Montana State was one of the schools when I was doing the whole recruiting process that I really wanted to go to to begin with,” Neale said. “They have the atmosphere I wanted during football games and that college feeling. And most importantly, the engineering program they have. The big thing about UNLV when they offered me is that they have that engineering I wanted. Getting the option to go to Montana State, a kind of dream school, was an option I couldn’t really throw away.”
Jeremy Thielbahr served as an assistant coach for Montana State’s 2005 Big Sky championship team. He has been the head coach at Eastside Catholic for the past four seasons. The Crusaders have gone to consecutive 3A state title games, winning the title in Neale’s senior season.
“Coach Choate reminds me of Coach Thielbahr honestly,” Neale said. “He just has that positive attitude about everything. You get a really good vibe from him.”
Neale met Choate and MSU offensive line coach Brian Armstrong before making his commitment to Montana State. Neale will battle senior Doug Hansen and redshirt freshman Bryan Wilkes for snaps at center. Junior Caleb Gillis also took reps at the position last season during practice.
“The good thing about (Armstrong) is he didn’t promise me anything,” Neale said. “He said you have to work for a spot. He really liked my film. He had this work hard attitude and he didn’t promise anything and expected a lot out of me, which is what I like to hear. I like to be pushed really hard and through that, I feel like I can grow more as a person and as a player.”
The Duvall, Wash., product was rated as a three-star recruit by 24/7Sports and Scout.com coming out of Eastside Catholic High School. The team captain earned first-team All-State and all-area honors as the Crusaders finished his senior season 13-1 with a win over perennial power Bellevue in the 3A state title game. Neal also earned four letters as a heavyweight wrestler.
“Alex is an interior offensive lineman, he can play center or guard,” Choate said. “He saw significant playing time in the Mountain West Conference at a position where it generally takes time to develop. That is something that stands out about Alex, his experience at a high level. He comes from a really good high school program at Eastside Catholic where they expect to compete. With his wrestling background he understands leverage and he’s competitive and tough.”
One of the most pressing holes Choate and his staff hoped to fill during the recruiting season is found under center. All-America quarterback Dakota Prukop elected to forego his senior season at Montana State, deciding to finish his eligibility at Oregon. Courtney Messingham takes over for Tim Cramsey as offensive coordinator for a unit that led the Big Sky Conference in scoring offense despite MSU’s 5-6 finish. Bruggman will join a roster that features redshirt freshmen Jordan Hoy, Brady McChesney and Ben Folsom. He said he welcomes the competition and hopes his football odyssey will give him an edge.
“That’s kind of a benefit having played at three different places the last three years is you get a lot of variety of offenses and learn from different coaches and learn different schemes,” Bruggman said. “I feel I’m pretty flexible and have some experience doing different things. I’m excited to see what our bread and butter might be.
“The first step for me is to bring leadership and passion. That starts with showing up to work every day and earning the respect from your teammates and building as a whole from there.”
Montana State is coming off its first losing season since 2001. Bruggman and Neale are two of at least 16 players who will be announced as part of Choate’s first signing class.
“I really just want to bring the community even closer together,” Neale said. “I know this place is already so close. Just walking around Bozeman, people come up and talk to you. But I want us to compete higher, get back into the playoffs. I know we didn’t get there last year. I want for us to be able to compete again, win Big Sky championships, maybe even a national championship and compete with that incredible North Dakota State program. I want us to compete at the highest level.”
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