Sean Opland has held dreams of playing college football for most of his life. But he never expected those dreams would play out in Bozeman.
The standout from Troy will be the first to admit he’s been a fan of the Montana Grizzlies since he was a kid. But once he got a chance to visit Bozeman, meet the Montana State coaches and hash out his academic future, he knew his future was as a Bobcat.
[restrict paid=”true”]Opland received an offer from Montana State in June. He waited to commit until he attended a camp at Eastern Washington. The first week of August, he pulled the trigger and verbally committed to sign with Montana State in February of 2016.
“I had one more camp after MSU at Eastern Washington and my hopes were that if they offered me something, I’d wait but if not, I was just going to commit,” Opland said in an interview on Monday afternoon. “That’s actually the only offer I’ve gotten this year. I wanted to commit. After awhile…well, I’ll say it. I’ve been a Griz fan my whole life. I never thought I’d be a Bobcat but looking over and over at it, I came to my senses and realized MSU is actually the college I really want to go to.”
Opland, a 5-foot-11, 193-pound all-around athlete, fell in love with the Bobcat coaching staff during his time in Bozeman. When informed of Montana State’s top-notch engineering program, he was swayed even further.
“My family owns a lumber company down in Troy,” Opland said. “I’ve always been around building and I took in interest in engineering because of that.
“I love the coaches and I love the program. I don’t want to be that typical athlete who goes into sports medicine or whatever. I’m thinking of going into engineering. Not sure what kind yet but I know they have a great engineering program.”
As a junior, Opland was a man among boys in the Class B ranks. Last season, he rushed for 1,252 yards on just 130 carries, averaging almost 10 yards per tote. He scored 14 rushing touchdowns and threw a touchdown as well.
Defensively, Opland played linebacker and shined as well. He piled up 89 solo tackles among his 113 total stops, averaging 14 tackles per game. He notched a sack, forced two fumbles, snared an interception and broke up four passes en route to earning first-team all-state honors on both sides of the ball.
“That’s the one thing I don’t know anything about is where the ‘Cats want me to play,” Opland said. “Up here in Troy, we don’t come off the field. We don’t have the substitutes for that. Right now, we are looking at a total of 17 eligible players for the first two games. I’m used to going all ways.
“I love offense, mostly, but hell, in college, I’ll play whatever they tell me to.”
Opland is also a standout track athlete where he’s competed well against athletes from larger schools. He won the 100 and 400 meters at the Archie Row Invite, Flathead High’s longstanding large invitational meet. He won the Class B title in the 200 meters(22.60), finished second in the 100 meters (11.2), 400 meters (49.49) and the high jump (6-2) last spring.
Opland’s athleticism and fortitude came to the forefront through during his sophomore spring. He hurt his foot heading into districts but decided to try the 400 for the first time. A few weeks later, he had district and state titles in hand in the event.
“A lot of my track coaches have helped me a lot throughout my career, working on my speed and staying low and all that, which progressed into football too,” Opland said.
Montana State cornerbacks coach Michael Rider, the Bobcats’ primary recruiter in Western Montana, was Opland’s primary contact. Rider told Troy head coach Brandon Miller he liked Opland’s physical presence and his baseline size. After initial contact from Rider, MSU head coach Rob Ash started contacting him as well.
“I love how excited they always are and how much energy they always have,” Opland said. “I know they have a group of young coaches. They are all energetic.”
Opland showed good polish, fundamentals and physical movement during MSU’s individual camp. He was among the most fluid linebackers, particularly through the hips and with his change of direction, in a group that also included Montana commit Jed Nagler of Whitefish. Opland was also the standout amongst the running backs. His fundamentals carrying the ball are good — he keeps the pigskin high and tight. He has quick feet and explosive cuts, two necessities for his upright running style.
Now he’ll get a chance to see if he athleticism translates to the Division I level. For Opland, it’s the realization of a lifetime of hard work.
“I was more or less just looking forward to playing college football for my whole life and a lot of people around Troy have always told me that they thought I could go play ball somewhere,” Opland said. “This is a dream come true.”
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