Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series breaking down Montana State’s offense and defense. The Bobcats participate in their first week of spring football with practices the mornings of March 6 and March 8. Brooks Nuanez reported this story.
BOZEMAN — During their two and a half years together, Jeff Choate and Ty Gregorak have revamped Montana State’s once-dismal defense by reinvigorating an attitude of toughness that served as the Bobcats’ trademark under Jim Sweeney, Mike Kramer and every head coach in between.
While cultivating a mindset and returning to a smash mouth style have been crucial, the flexibility with putting their athletes in a position to succeed has also served the defensive minded coaches well.
With MSU’s second week of spring drills set to commence on Monday, an exercise in experimentation will play out once again.
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Montana State stalwart senior Buck end/middle linebacker Grant Collins and steady junior inside linebackers Brayden Konkol and Josh Hill all are recovering from shoulder surgeries of varying degrees. Collins and Konkol will not participate in spring drills.
That means MSU has 12 more (out of a total of 15) practices to see if young players like Troy Andersen, Michael Jobman and Jacob Hadley have what it takes to compete with the first-team defense at new positions.
“I’ve said it since I got here: position versatility is the key to modern-day football,” Choate said in a press conference less than a week before opening his third spring at MSU.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Choate added transfers to the interior defensive line and the secondary in his first two classes, hitting with Colorado graduate transfer cornerback John Walker and junior college defensive tackle Brandon Hayashi but missing on the former Washington duo of Naijiel Hale and Darren Gardenhire.
This recruiting cycle, MSU signed five more transfers, including four mid-year transfers with FBS experience. One is the pass rusher MSU has coveted since the peak of the Rob Ash era when Caleb Schreibeis, Brad Daly and Zach Minter terrorized Big Sky quarterbacks.
“The next step is to start effecting the quarterback,” Gregorak said following MSU’s first spring practice. “I think we have some really good players up front. I think we have some very solid depth. We’ve done a decent job of stopping the run but it’s been good enough for the most part to keep us in it.
“But we haven’t hit the quarterback enough, we haven’t sacked the quarterback enough, we haven’t pressured the quarterback enough to say we are there as a defensive line.
Seniors and probable team captains defensive tackle Zach Wright and nose tackle Tucker Yates return for a second straight year as starters to anchor a front that helped the Bobcats rank second in the Big Sky Conference (25 points per game) and third in total defense (406.9 yards per game). Senior Tyrone Fa’anono and juniors Derek Marks and Marcus Ferriter give MSU a trio of experienced players at end.
But the key to the pass rush might come in the form of Hadley or Washington transfer Bryce Sterk, a physical specimen that has turned heads the first week of spring drills.
“The evolution of this deal and one of our objectives this spring is to identify who can rush the passer and develop them into some dudes who can help us on Saturdays,” Gregorak said.
Hadley, a 6-foot-6, 225-pounder out of Billings Central originally recruited as an athlete, broke into the rotation at safety as a true freshman. But he suffered a shoulder and wrist injury during the non-conference, helping him earn a redshirt season. Last spring, a briefly healthy Hadley was the standout defensive player of the session. That is, until he suffered a torn ACL that ended his second season before it began.
Before his injury, Hadley played so well at Sam linebacker, MSU had planned to move All-American outside linebacker Mac Bignell to the inside position next to Hill in Gregorak’s 3-4 defense. Now that he’s gaining his health back — Choate said Hadley will be limited during this slate of practices — he is slated as the No. 1 Buck end for now.
Nipping at Hadley’s heels is Sterk, a 6-foot-5, 250-pounder from Washington small-school powerhouse Lynden Christian. The high-motor, rangy player was recruited to Washington by Choate but in three years, could never crack a defensive line rotation that included a collection of NFL talent. Choate said he thinks Sterk is a perfect fit in the locker room. Gregorak hopes he’s a perfect fit to the defense as well.
“I love that kid so far,” Gregorak said. “That kid has just come down, kept his mouth shut, worked. He’s a good-looking kid.
“I don’t know if he was going to see the field or not at Washington. This is what is cool about college football. He’s a good kid that just needed another chance. He’s going to help this program.”
Before Collins returns, Kyle Finch will get a chance to prove himself at Buck as well. A prep defensive end at Class A Dillon, Finch is up to 230 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame and is showing signs of being ready to compete.
Chase Benson, a 6-foot-4 third-year sophomore out of Helena High that appears much more massive than his listed weight of 265 pounds, will serve as Wright’s primary backup at tackle. Elu Leota, a stout 6-foot, 300-pounder who played extensively as a true freshman, will back up Yates at nose.
Kyle Rygg, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Eugene, Oregon recruited to MSU as an end, is now playing tackle. Travis Yates, a 6-foot-3, 275-pounder from Orange County, is also slated for tackle once he returns from his off-season surgery.
Byron Rollins, a 6-foot-3, 230-pounder who prepped at Missoula Sentinel, is expected to return to the program as a defensive tackle. After redshirting Ash’s final season, Rollins spent Choate’s first two seasons on an LDS Mission. J
LINEBACKER
Collins started the non-conference portion of the schedule at Buck. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder moved to Mike linebacker when Hill went down with the same shoulder injury he had surgically repaired this off-season. With Collins playing his natural position — he was a first-team Class AA all-state selection at Bozeman High before MSU — MSU toyed with Fa’anono, an explosive 6-foot-2, 265-pounder, at Buck.
When Hill returned in resounding fashion with a 17-tackle performance against Eastern Washington, Collins returned to Buck. But the local product suffered a tear in his left shoulder, an injury he has already had surgery for twice dating back to high school.
That caused for Jobman to get moved to Buck as a redshirt freshman to provide relief behind Fa’anono. Now Jobman, a highly regarded 6-foot-4, now 245-pounder out of Huntley Project High, will move to Mike linebacker with Hill on the shelf.
“We feel like we need a bigger body there,” Choate said. “You could see when Grant was healthy last year and played inside, he was a force for us. With Grant not going through spring ball coming off shoulder surgery, we will see what we can get out of Michael.”
Jobman was one of the top prospects in the state in the fall and winter of 2015, a player who committed to former MSU linebackers coach Kane Ioane before Choate took over as the head coach. He comes from a strong pedigree; his father, Randall Jobman, was a captain for the 1989 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
“Michael was a running back, a receiver, a linebacker in high school,” said Gregorak, who spent 12 seasons at Montana before coming to MSU and compared Jobman to former Griz linebacker Shane McIntyre.
“I was a big linebacker,” continued Gregorak, an All-Big 12 talent early in his career at Colorado in the late 1990s before injuries cut in. “Big, long, rangy dudes, they just have to learn how to play with good pad level. If you ever come by our drills, you will always hear me harping on him and his pad level. He’s 6-4 and he has to learn how to play at six feet.”
A Bignell graduation means the Sam linebacker position will be an experiment with arguably MSU’s best athlete. Troy Andersen, the reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year despite spitting repetitions between running back and linebacker one year removed from Dillon, will spent all 15 practices at Sam linebacker.
“We have made a commitment to have him train as a linebacker because he can naturally pick up and go have a series on offense,” Choate said. “He’s a very smart young man, very gifted. If we had felt like we had to move him over (to offense), I don’t think that’s a stretch to do even on short notice.
“But because the linebacker position is not as instinctual, there is more fitting into the scheme and understanding how you fit into the other 10 guys you are out there with, he needs that time to sink in on that.”
After never playing a down of running back in his life, the prep quarterback and safety stepped in and gained more than 600 yards from scrimmage, scoring six touchdowns. As the season wore on, he did not practice with the offense despite receiving 10-12 touches a game.
“I’ll be the first one to say it – that guy should play some offense,” Gregorak said. “I’m serious. The kid is special. He was recruited here to be a linebacker and he’s going to play linebacker. The next 15 practices are going to be huge for him because that’s what he missed when we didn’t’ make the move to him playing defense until mid-October. He missed all that time in camp where you get to practice, learn, take reps. He didn’t do any of that stuff. We just threw him in.”
Gregorak joked to not be surprised if Andersen could be found trying out for MSU’s punt returning duties this spring as well.
“He’s big, strong, fast, smart, unbelievable lower body strength – the sky is the limit with that kid,” Gregorak said. “He’s everything I would recruit linebacker, defensive end, tight end, anything.”
“He’s so dang smart – he’s one of those kids you tell once and there’s an extreme chance he will not make the same mistake twice. He did get an A- this year. He had a 3.92 and he was bummed. He’s sharp and fun to coach.”
With Konkol on the shelf, the Will position will mean another first shot for a tall-rangy linebacker. Chad Kanow, a 6-foot-3, 215-pounder who starred on special teams as a true freshman, will take the first-team reps in a competition that also includes talented youngster Tadan Gillman.
The 6-foot-5 Gregorak inherited a linebacker unit with the 5-foot-10 Hill and the 6-foot Bignell manning the two spots around 6-foot-1 Mike Fletcher Collins. This spring, the Bobcats will have a starting linebacker unit that goes 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4, 6-foot-3.
“The room is really starting to look the way I want it to look,” Gregorak said. “We have size and length and dudes who can run and hit and cover. We are close.”
SECONDARY
Choate and Gregorak inherited a defensive unit that ranked among the worst pass defenses in the country. The struggles have been accentuated in an unbelievable fashion with the emergence of former corner Tre’Von Strong on Utah’s active roster, former safety Demonte King’s starting spot in Arizona State’s secondary and Bryson Keeton’s pending third season as an active member of the New York Jets’ secondary.
The secondary has been a recruiting priority; the Bobcats signed junior Damien Washington, an Ash commit, along with Hale in Choate’s first recruiting class. In his second recruiting class, Choate signed Gardenhire, junior college transfer safeties JoJo Henderson and Dre Jackson along with prep reinforcements Tyrel Thomas, Jalen Cole and Keaton Anderson. In February, MSU inked prep twin brother standout cornerbacks Ty’Rese and Ty’Rhae Gibson along with junior college corner Gregory Filer.
The current rotation includes Cole, a 5-foot-8, 170-pounder with fluid movement and a fierce attitude, starting at boundary corner opposite field corner Thomas, a hero in MSU’s second straight Cat-Griz win. Washington, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior who Choate praised for his off-season workout habits, is Thomas’ backup and MSU’s No. 1 nickel back.
“I want to be able to blitz that position,” Gregorak said. “He has to be able to cover, do some zone stuff for us as well. Damien is a guy who can do that. He had a great off-season. He looks good. He’s physical, such a great kid.”
Braelen Evans, a talented but chronically injured player from outside Dallas, will earn his degree in May and pursue a graduate transfer, making one of the Gibson twins Cole’s primary backup. Will Martell, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore from Bozeman, is the third field corner until the Gibsons and Filer join the program.
At safety, MSU loses All-Big Sky strong safety Bryson McCabe as well as former captain Khari Garcia. Konkol’s emergence at linebacker also costs MSU a solid safety; the Belgrade product started opposite McCabe in 2016.
Henderson, a talented 6-foot-2, 195-pounder who came to MSU from Snow College with the possibility of playing corner, is the leader to start at free safety despite missing half of last season with a knee injury. Jackson, a 5-foot-10, 173-pounder from Ventura College, joined the Bobcats right before fall camp last season. He did not acclimate to the team quickly, buried on the depth chart. Now he’s the slated starter at strong safety ahead of walk-ons Brian Campbell (6-2, 185) and Shawn Borges (5-10, 180).
Luke May, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound former quarterback from Whitefish who threw javelin at Minnesota in 2016, will be the primary competition for Henderson and Jackson. May received the loftiest recognition — along with Benson and Washington — for his off-season work. He returned to the defensive fold after spending last fall camp as a safety looking physically ready to compete on defense.
For the first time in a long time, the Montana State secondary will have the same set of coaches. Mark Orphey returns for his second season coaching corners while Kyle Risinger is back for his second season coaching the safeties. McCabe had three different secondary coaches, including Gerald Alexander coaching corners and safeties in 2016.
“The guys coaching them have been an interesting deal because it’s been a revolving door,” Gregorak said. “This is what I told (Choate): you know what I am happy about right now? I know that Kyle and Mark are back for Year 2 to coach this group. Same voices, same terminology. Ask a guy like McCabe, he didn’t even start his career here and in his three years here, how many different guys coached the secondary? That’s not fair to the kids.
“It’s been a revolving door on the back and we have to get it right. Continuity on the coaching staff will help so much.”
Montana State resumes its spring football practices on Tuesday, March 20 at 7 a.m.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
