BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: For a Number Out of Circulation Since 1973, MSU's #77 has Produced Some Talent
6/14/2018 12:05:00 PM | Football
Bill Kollar, Joe Tiller, Ron Warzeka? That's three pretty good dudes who wore #77 at MSU
June 14: Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats that correspond to the number of days remaining before Montana State opens the 2018 football season against Western Illinois in Bobcat Stadium's annual Gold Rush game on August 30.
#77
Retired for Bill Kollar: Stats aren't easily available to quantify Bill Kollar's dominance at Montana State. No records exist for context. But when you listen to people that watched Kollar destroy opposing offensive lines you know you're hearing something special. "Never touched him," is how former Bobcat coach Mike Kramer describes the experience of trying to block Kollar as an offensive lineman at Idaho. The sum total of Kollar's Bobcat career is amazing – he was a two-time All-America, a three-time All-Big Sky, was MVP of the Senior Bowl, and the Cincinnati Bengals selected him in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft. After eight seasons as an NFL player he launched into a coaching career that continues today (he is the Denver Broncos' defensive line coach). Regardless of what silly polls and surveys say, Kollar's NFL-affiliated career has been greater than any other player the Big Sky Conference has produced.
Spotlight #1: Even in the days of single platoon football, it's hard to find linemen voted the Most Valuable player of truly great teams. But that gives you an idea how good Ron Warzeka was. He came to Montana State as a freshman in 1953 and immediately became a starter on Tony Storti's upstart squad. The Cats finished 8-1 in 1954, and by his senior year Warzeka anchored the best offense in small college football. Montana State averaged 35 points a game in 1956, and while the Aluminum Bowl was an anomaly – it ended in a 0-0 tie against St. Joseph's, and MSC claimed the mythical national championship based on its unblemished regular season – the legend of that team lives. Warzeka earned First Team All-America honors, played in the East-West Shrine, and was drafted by the Raiders.
Spotlight #2: Joe Tiller will always be best known for an amazing coaching career, but he was a great player for the Bobcats who logged time in the CFL before beginning his coaching career back in Bozeman. In the time after his unfortunate and untimely passing, the stories about his deftness as a coach and as a human being, but one thing tells that story more than any anecdote – every football program that Joe Tiller was a part of brought him back for a second stint. Think about that for a second. He was an amazing human being who touched so many lives, was a brilliant coach and a great player. And to his very end, he was a Bobcat. We here at BBTN miss Joe a lot.
Chronology: Ron Warzeka (1956), Carmen Turley (1957), Clyde Cleveland (1958), Hans Fedge (1960), Joe Tiller (1961-63), Ken Brunsvold (1964), Mickey Matthews (1965-67), Rick Bean (1968-69), Gary Enger (1970), Bill Kollar (1971-73), Retired for Bill Kollar
#77
Retired for Bill Kollar: Stats aren't easily available to quantify Bill Kollar's dominance at Montana State. No records exist for context. But when you listen to people that watched Kollar destroy opposing offensive lines you know you're hearing something special. "Never touched him," is how former Bobcat coach Mike Kramer describes the experience of trying to block Kollar as an offensive lineman at Idaho. The sum total of Kollar's Bobcat career is amazing – he was a two-time All-America, a three-time All-Big Sky, was MVP of the Senior Bowl, and the Cincinnati Bengals selected him in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft. After eight seasons as an NFL player he launched into a coaching career that continues today (he is the Denver Broncos' defensive line coach). Regardless of what silly polls and surveys say, Kollar's NFL-affiliated career has been greater than any other player the Big Sky Conference has produced.
Spotlight #1: Even in the days of single platoon football, it's hard to find linemen voted the Most Valuable player of truly great teams. But that gives you an idea how good Ron Warzeka was. He came to Montana State as a freshman in 1953 and immediately became a starter on Tony Storti's upstart squad. The Cats finished 8-1 in 1954, and by his senior year Warzeka anchored the best offense in small college football. Montana State averaged 35 points a game in 1956, and while the Aluminum Bowl was an anomaly – it ended in a 0-0 tie against St. Joseph's, and MSC claimed the mythical national championship based on its unblemished regular season – the legend of that team lives. Warzeka earned First Team All-America honors, played in the East-West Shrine, and was drafted by the Raiders.
Spotlight #2: Joe Tiller will always be best known for an amazing coaching career, but he was a great player for the Bobcats who logged time in the CFL before beginning his coaching career back in Bozeman. In the time after his unfortunate and untimely passing, the stories about his deftness as a coach and as a human being, but one thing tells that story more than any anecdote – every football program that Joe Tiller was a part of brought him back for a second stint. Think about that for a second. He was an amazing human being who touched so many lives, was a brilliant coach and a great player. And to his very end, he was a Bobcat. We here at BBTN miss Joe a lot.
Chronology: Ron Warzeka (1956), Carmen Turley (1957), Clyde Cleveland (1958), Hans Fedge (1960), Joe Tiller (1961-63), Ken Brunsvold (1964), Mickey Matthews (1965-67), Rick Bean (1968-69), Gary Enger (1970), Bill Kollar (1971-73), Retired for Bill Kollar
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