Photo by: Sepp Jannotta
Transcript from Jeff Choate's Weekly Press Conference for August 29
8/30/2016 10:38:00 AM | Football
Bobcat football coach Jeff Choate looks ahead to the Idaho Vandals
Montana State coach Jeff Choate leads his first Montana State football team to his home area Thursday to face the University of Idaho. Below is a transcript of Choate's first Monday press conference as MSU's head coach:
On returning to his home territory: "I went to a lot of the University of Idaho's football games, every chance I had an opportunity, and I'd say I was a fan, especially of certain players. Growing up (I) watched guys like Kenny Hobart, John Friesz, Jeff Robinson, Kasey Dunn, there were a lot of really good players that went through there at the time. Because I knew I wanted to be a coach there I paid attention to (the) great coaches that went through the University of Idaho at that time, as well. It started off obviously with Dennis Erickson, a Montana State alum, and then John L. Smith and Keith Gilbertson, who I got the opportunity to kind of become friends with, he does some radio stuff for the Huskies as a former coach over there. There are a lot of ties and connections. My youngest brother is a Vandal, he got a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Idaho. Many, many friends that I went to high school with (went to college at Idaho) and I still have a lot of very close ties to that area because we have a place in Couer d'Alene, so it's a place I have a lot of connections to."
On Idaho not recruiting him to play football: "I don't think I was good enough or smart enough, so I didn't take it personally. My middle brother played football there for a little bit then finished up playing baseball. I think it all worked out the way it was supposed to. I had a great college opportunity in Dillon and met a lot of really good people, including my wife."
Thoughts on Idaho: "What stands out the most to me about the University of Idaho is their efficiency on offense. They averaged over 30 points a game and were in the top 25 in total yards per game last year in the FBS. They have a veteran quarterback, a veteran O-line. Their playmakers are their tight ends, and they have the Hightower kid, #6, who they can stretch the field vertically with, so they've got a lot of options, a lot of options in the passing game in particular."
On UI quarterback Matt Linehan: "The one thing you can tell from tape is the Linehan kid is a coach's kid. He's very poised, he takes what the defense gives him, he doesn't force the ball a lot, he's mobile – probably a little more mobile than most people think because he's a big, tall quarterback. So he does some really good things both in terms of decision-making and accuracy, and in terms of getting out of trouble."
On playing the Vandals: "I think it's going to be a very big challenge for us. I think this is a team that feels very strongly that it should have won six games a year ago, they're battle-tested, they've played in venues like the Swamp and the Coliseum, and they back our game up by going to Washington and Washington State. So this is a team that's been on the big stage. I don't care who they were playing against, at Auburn they put 34 points on Auburn at Auburn and that (was) a Will Muschamps-coached defense. I'm very familiar with him, I know how much pride in playing good defense, so that tells you a lot. They blew two leads in the second half against South Alabama and New Mexico State in back-to-back road games on tough travel trips. I'm sure Coach Petrino wouldn't want to make any excuses but those were definitely two games that they had the opportunity to win that would have put them in position to be in bowl contention."
On Idaho defensive coordinator Mike Breske: "Mike is a long-time defensive coordinator at the University of Montana, was there with Joe Glenn, went to Wyoming with Joe Glenn, and then came back to Montana. Ty (Gregorak) knows him probably better than I do, but I worked very closely with him in 2012. Mike's kind of got the mindset of an aggressive play-caller on defense. He's going to call a lot of pressure on third down, there's going to be a lot of movement. Multiple front, pressure defense is how I'd describe what he does, a lot of fire zones, and I think it fits there personality right now. I think they've got some guys that are playmakers for sure. (Russell Siavii), the big safety, I really like him. Like I told our team, he's a bigger Bryson McCabe. He's a very good, sure tackler, he does a nice job matching in coverage. They've got two big guys, (Tueni Lupeamanu)'s coming back and (Glen Antoine), who played a bunch for them, wasn't necessarily their starter but played a bunch for them, that kind of anchor the interior of their defensive line. (Kaden Elliss) is coming back, I think he's their leading returning tackler, and so I think they've got a good core there. You look at them and I think they have six returning starters on defense but nine in the two-deep that played significant downs. And then they're kind of filling in some pieces I think with junior college transfers, a couple of guys that we actually recruited that ended up going to Idaho, and so we know what kind of players those guys are in the back end. I think they're an interesting team, and I'll tell you one thing – their best player, probably isn't going to get talked about a lot, but their kicker-punter, the Rehkow kid, is a tremendous, tremendous player. He might be the best pure punter I've seen on tape in a long time. (He) averaged over 50 yards a punt last year and handles all three of their duties in the kicking game. Obviously that's an area where you look at the tale of the tape and you're going, they've got a senior who's a Ray Guy Award finalist a year ago who's very efficient in the kicking game as a place kicker and a kickoff kicker as well, and that's an unknown for us. So I think those are all storylines that we've got to pay attention to. We've got to be able to get into the game. We're a young team and they're a veteran team. They're battle-tested and we have a lot of uncertainty. That's certainly something that we're paying attention to as we go into this game."
Is the kicking game the biggest concern? "I have a lot of concerns. But I don't really look at it like that, I just want to see how these guys are going to go compete and play. That's the deal. We have a lot of things that are just unknowns. There's unknowns for those players about me and my staff, and we certainly have some unknowns about them. We've had the opportunity to practice against each other for a long time. Now we've got to go play a game and we've got to find out who are the competitors, who are the guys that are going to rise to the challenge in competitive situations in a hostile environment and quite honestly it can't get here soon enough for me. I want to see where we're at, be able to gauge where we're at as a team, as an organization so to speak from the top down, and I'm excited to see these guys go compete."
On attending Idaho games growing up: "I didn't get to go to all the games, because I lived in between Santa and Fernwood, Idaho, if you want to get on your Google maps and find out where that is. We didn't have anyone around us that had season tickets, so if I was lucky enough to piggy-back with somebody it was a fun drive. Moscow is one of the places that we would go to buy shoes or a new pair of (Levi) 501s when I was growing up. We had places where you could buy Carharts in Saint Maries but not a lot of places to buy cleats and new blue jeans, so that was a big day for me. They had a movie theatre (in Moscow), that was kind of cool. We could go to a movie, (go to) Pizza Hut, that kind of stuff, so like I said, I have a lot of really fond memories of being there, I had the opportunity to coach there a number of times during my time at Utah State and Boise State. It's a really, really good school, a good place. North Idaho's a special place to me. We'll have a lot of supporters there, a lot of family and friends, but that part of it happens. I had a lot of family and friends at bowl games that I coached in, but I have a job to do. This is a vacation for them, but we'll focus on what we've got to get done."
On familiarity with the defensive scheme helping UI: "I think just being more familiar with his scheme and him having the opportunity to build some of the personnel toward his scheme will make a significant difference there. I think they always play really good red zone defense. That's one thing about Mike, (his defenses) do a really good job in the red zone. Third downs is an area where you've got to pay attention because like I said they'll bring some exotic blitzes, they'll get after you, they'll test us in protection. He's been doing this a long time. (He's a) really smart football coach, he really has a good plan, and as you mentioned that added time to be able to implement his system, his style, I think you'll see a benefit there I think."
On solving MSU's defensive problems: "I don't know that you ever really solve anything in this world. Like I said the other day, there's no such thing as a finished product. It's been started, really, with just fundamental football. That's what we spend a lot of time doing, talking about stance, where our eyes need to be, where our hands need to be and what our feet need to be doing, not just with our defensive players but with all the position players. It's really easy to get enamored of the Xs and Os and the different plays and the blitzes you can call, but at the end of the day what's going to win is sound fundamentals. We've made tremendous strides in that area, but we need to go out and play a game and find out where we're at. We're going to be starting a different group (on defense), there will be a lot of new faces on that side of the ball so I would anticipate they will be a little high on the performance anxiety curve when we get started on Thursday evening, but hopefully by that second series they'll calm down and we can go play fast and find out where we're at."
On Tyler Bruggman's steady nature: "He's a pro in terms of how he approaches things, very meticulous in his preparation, really an intelligent young man, and I think he's not going to leave any stone unturned. He's going to do everything he can to put his best foot forward. But it will be interesting. Even though he's 22 years old this is his first Division I start. He was highly-touted out of high school, a four star quarterback who's been around a little bit and has some maturity, which is awesome, but when the bullets start flying for real we've got to see where he's at. I'm confident that he's going to acquit himself very well."
Expanding on his concerns: "Mostly the stuff that keeps me up at night is whether our food is on time when we stop in Drummond, little things like that. You obsess about the details when you're in a leadership position. But really I think it just comes down to how are we going to respond in a competitive environment, the unknowns of not having been in a game situation with this group of young men before. Those are the things that you're probably the most curious to see, and those unknowns are a little uncomfortable. The enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know sometimes, so you want to know that we're taking care of our business and handling a competitive environment. I know the Bobcats are going to travel well, but there's a lot of hype around the Idaho program right now, and justifiably so. This is probably the year they've been pointing toward, Coach Petrino's fourth year in the program, coming off a year where they felt they improved and built on something, having a third-year starting quarterback back and their offensive line intact with most of the playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, an improved defense just with the opportunity to work with that, and solid special teams. I think there's going to be a lot of excitement and it will be interesting to see how some of our young guys handle that."
On confidence in Damien Washington and young players in the secondary: "I think there's always a couple of positions where young guys can play early. I think running back, wide receiver and defensive back are usually the standards, because on the offensive and defensive lines and even at linebacker and tight end kids need that time to develop a little bit. Damien (Washington) came in here from Charter Oak High School a competitive league, lots of skilled athletes in southern California, knows exactly how to go about his business, he's got an older brother that plays Division I football, he's kind of grown up in that environment, so it was an easy transition for him. He's kind of a gym rat. He's always in Coach Alexander's office wanting to know what we're doing, why we're doing it, and trying to improve. I think he's got a good skill set, got a good foundation. Throughout the course of camp he showed the aptitude to pick the defense up quickly, which is important, and also has that competitive edge. When Mitch (Herbert) comes to the front of the line he's going to step to the front and try to get that rep against him to get better."
On returning to his home territory: "I went to a lot of the University of Idaho's football games, every chance I had an opportunity, and I'd say I was a fan, especially of certain players. Growing up (I) watched guys like Kenny Hobart, John Friesz, Jeff Robinson, Kasey Dunn, there were a lot of really good players that went through there at the time. Because I knew I wanted to be a coach there I paid attention to (the) great coaches that went through the University of Idaho at that time, as well. It started off obviously with Dennis Erickson, a Montana State alum, and then John L. Smith and Keith Gilbertson, who I got the opportunity to kind of become friends with, he does some radio stuff for the Huskies as a former coach over there. There are a lot of ties and connections. My youngest brother is a Vandal, he got a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Idaho. Many, many friends that I went to high school with (went to college at Idaho) and I still have a lot of very close ties to that area because we have a place in Couer d'Alene, so it's a place I have a lot of connections to."
On Idaho not recruiting him to play football: "I don't think I was good enough or smart enough, so I didn't take it personally. My middle brother played football there for a little bit then finished up playing baseball. I think it all worked out the way it was supposed to. I had a great college opportunity in Dillon and met a lot of really good people, including my wife."
Thoughts on Idaho: "What stands out the most to me about the University of Idaho is their efficiency on offense. They averaged over 30 points a game and were in the top 25 in total yards per game last year in the FBS. They have a veteran quarterback, a veteran O-line. Their playmakers are their tight ends, and they have the Hightower kid, #6, who they can stretch the field vertically with, so they've got a lot of options, a lot of options in the passing game in particular."
On UI quarterback Matt Linehan: "The one thing you can tell from tape is the Linehan kid is a coach's kid. He's very poised, he takes what the defense gives him, he doesn't force the ball a lot, he's mobile – probably a little more mobile than most people think because he's a big, tall quarterback. So he does some really good things both in terms of decision-making and accuracy, and in terms of getting out of trouble."
On playing the Vandals: "I think it's going to be a very big challenge for us. I think this is a team that feels very strongly that it should have won six games a year ago, they're battle-tested, they've played in venues like the Swamp and the Coliseum, and they back our game up by going to Washington and Washington State. So this is a team that's been on the big stage. I don't care who they were playing against, at Auburn they put 34 points on Auburn at Auburn and that (was) a Will Muschamps-coached defense. I'm very familiar with him, I know how much pride in playing good defense, so that tells you a lot. They blew two leads in the second half against South Alabama and New Mexico State in back-to-back road games on tough travel trips. I'm sure Coach Petrino wouldn't want to make any excuses but those were definitely two games that they had the opportunity to win that would have put them in position to be in bowl contention."
On Idaho defensive coordinator Mike Breske: "Mike is a long-time defensive coordinator at the University of Montana, was there with Joe Glenn, went to Wyoming with Joe Glenn, and then came back to Montana. Ty (Gregorak) knows him probably better than I do, but I worked very closely with him in 2012. Mike's kind of got the mindset of an aggressive play-caller on defense. He's going to call a lot of pressure on third down, there's going to be a lot of movement. Multiple front, pressure defense is how I'd describe what he does, a lot of fire zones, and I think it fits there personality right now. I think they've got some guys that are playmakers for sure. (Russell Siavii), the big safety, I really like him. Like I told our team, he's a bigger Bryson McCabe. He's a very good, sure tackler, he does a nice job matching in coverage. They've got two big guys, (Tueni Lupeamanu)'s coming back and (Glen Antoine), who played a bunch for them, wasn't necessarily their starter but played a bunch for them, that kind of anchor the interior of their defensive line. (Kaden Elliss) is coming back, I think he's their leading returning tackler, and so I think they've got a good core there. You look at them and I think they have six returning starters on defense but nine in the two-deep that played significant downs. And then they're kind of filling in some pieces I think with junior college transfers, a couple of guys that we actually recruited that ended up going to Idaho, and so we know what kind of players those guys are in the back end. I think they're an interesting team, and I'll tell you one thing – their best player, probably isn't going to get talked about a lot, but their kicker-punter, the Rehkow kid, is a tremendous, tremendous player. He might be the best pure punter I've seen on tape in a long time. (He) averaged over 50 yards a punt last year and handles all three of their duties in the kicking game. Obviously that's an area where you look at the tale of the tape and you're going, they've got a senior who's a Ray Guy Award finalist a year ago who's very efficient in the kicking game as a place kicker and a kickoff kicker as well, and that's an unknown for us. So I think those are all storylines that we've got to pay attention to. We've got to be able to get into the game. We're a young team and they're a veteran team. They're battle-tested and we have a lot of uncertainty. That's certainly something that we're paying attention to as we go into this game."
Is the kicking game the biggest concern? "I have a lot of concerns. But I don't really look at it like that, I just want to see how these guys are going to go compete and play. That's the deal. We have a lot of things that are just unknowns. There's unknowns for those players about me and my staff, and we certainly have some unknowns about them. We've had the opportunity to practice against each other for a long time. Now we've got to go play a game and we've got to find out who are the competitors, who are the guys that are going to rise to the challenge in competitive situations in a hostile environment and quite honestly it can't get here soon enough for me. I want to see where we're at, be able to gauge where we're at as a team, as an organization so to speak from the top down, and I'm excited to see these guys go compete."
On attending Idaho games growing up: "I didn't get to go to all the games, because I lived in between Santa and Fernwood, Idaho, if you want to get on your Google maps and find out where that is. We didn't have anyone around us that had season tickets, so if I was lucky enough to piggy-back with somebody it was a fun drive. Moscow is one of the places that we would go to buy shoes or a new pair of (Levi) 501s when I was growing up. We had places where you could buy Carharts in Saint Maries but not a lot of places to buy cleats and new blue jeans, so that was a big day for me. They had a movie theatre (in Moscow), that was kind of cool. We could go to a movie, (go to) Pizza Hut, that kind of stuff, so like I said, I have a lot of really fond memories of being there, I had the opportunity to coach there a number of times during my time at Utah State and Boise State. It's a really, really good school, a good place. North Idaho's a special place to me. We'll have a lot of supporters there, a lot of family and friends, but that part of it happens. I had a lot of family and friends at bowl games that I coached in, but I have a job to do. This is a vacation for them, but we'll focus on what we've got to get done."
On familiarity with the defensive scheme helping UI: "I think just being more familiar with his scheme and him having the opportunity to build some of the personnel toward his scheme will make a significant difference there. I think they always play really good red zone defense. That's one thing about Mike, (his defenses) do a really good job in the red zone. Third downs is an area where you've got to pay attention because like I said they'll bring some exotic blitzes, they'll get after you, they'll test us in protection. He's been doing this a long time. (He's a) really smart football coach, he really has a good plan, and as you mentioned that added time to be able to implement his system, his style, I think you'll see a benefit there I think."
On solving MSU's defensive problems: "I don't know that you ever really solve anything in this world. Like I said the other day, there's no such thing as a finished product. It's been started, really, with just fundamental football. That's what we spend a lot of time doing, talking about stance, where our eyes need to be, where our hands need to be and what our feet need to be doing, not just with our defensive players but with all the position players. It's really easy to get enamored of the Xs and Os and the different plays and the blitzes you can call, but at the end of the day what's going to win is sound fundamentals. We've made tremendous strides in that area, but we need to go out and play a game and find out where we're at. We're going to be starting a different group (on defense), there will be a lot of new faces on that side of the ball so I would anticipate they will be a little high on the performance anxiety curve when we get started on Thursday evening, but hopefully by that second series they'll calm down and we can go play fast and find out where we're at."
On Tyler Bruggman's steady nature: "He's a pro in terms of how he approaches things, very meticulous in his preparation, really an intelligent young man, and I think he's not going to leave any stone unturned. He's going to do everything he can to put his best foot forward. But it will be interesting. Even though he's 22 years old this is his first Division I start. He was highly-touted out of high school, a four star quarterback who's been around a little bit and has some maturity, which is awesome, but when the bullets start flying for real we've got to see where he's at. I'm confident that he's going to acquit himself very well."
Expanding on his concerns: "Mostly the stuff that keeps me up at night is whether our food is on time when we stop in Drummond, little things like that. You obsess about the details when you're in a leadership position. But really I think it just comes down to how are we going to respond in a competitive environment, the unknowns of not having been in a game situation with this group of young men before. Those are the things that you're probably the most curious to see, and those unknowns are a little uncomfortable. The enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know sometimes, so you want to know that we're taking care of our business and handling a competitive environment. I know the Bobcats are going to travel well, but there's a lot of hype around the Idaho program right now, and justifiably so. This is probably the year they've been pointing toward, Coach Petrino's fourth year in the program, coming off a year where they felt they improved and built on something, having a third-year starting quarterback back and their offensive line intact with most of the playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, an improved defense just with the opportunity to work with that, and solid special teams. I think there's going to be a lot of excitement and it will be interesting to see how some of our young guys handle that."
On confidence in Damien Washington and young players in the secondary: "I think there's always a couple of positions where young guys can play early. I think running back, wide receiver and defensive back are usually the standards, because on the offensive and defensive lines and even at linebacker and tight end kids need that time to develop a little bit. Damien (Washington) came in here from Charter Oak High School a competitive league, lots of skilled athletes in southern California, knows exactly how to go about his business, he's got an older brother that plays Division I football, he's kind of grown up in that environment, so it was an easy transition for him. He's kind of a gym rat. He's always in Coach Alexander's office wanting to know what we're doing, why we're doing it, and trying to improve. I think he's got a good skill set, got a good foundation. Throughout the course of camp he showed the aptitude to pick the defense up quickly, which is important, and also has that competitive edge. When Mitch (Herbert) comes to the front of the line he's going to step to the front and try to get that rep against him to get better."
Players Mentioned
Thursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
