Summer Months Crucial in Building Bobcat Football Program
6/12/2019 1:00:00 PM | Football
There is much more to the work Bobcat football players get done in the summer than lifting and running
BOZEMAN, Montana – Jeff Choate has made no bones about the importance of the summer months in his Montana State football program.
"If we could trade spring football for eight or 10 extra practices in the summer," Choate said in the days after this year's session ended in April, "I'd do it, no question. That's how important the summer months are for us."
Every player on the Bobcat roster is in Bozeman for what is known in the Bobcat program as PRPs, or Player-Run Practices, daily workouts organized and operated by Montana State's 2019 team captains. The team's daily drills include strength work, conditioning and agility, and on-field drills. "We make our most significant gains at this time of year."
But improvement on the field, individually and as a team, is only part of the equation. So much of football is built on measurable characteristics – 40-yard dash times and agility drills and vertical jump. But executing plays, winning games, comes down to much more than what shows up on a stop watch. "Summer is when a team really builds a bond," Choate said. "It's not just the workouts. It's time on lakes and rivers, barbecues, taking advantage of the natural beauty this great state offers. When people go through both good times and difficulties together, there's a trust and familiarity that emerges. You learn to rely on each other. And that's the essence of football."
The essence of being a Bobcat in Choate's program is working for the greater good – of the team, the university, the human experience. To that end, his Bobcats have reached out in ways large and small. A group of Montana State football players, led by former Bobcat and current Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations, traveled to Poland to participate in a Habitat for Humanity International project. This May, a group of 20 Bobcats assisted in building a home in Livingston for Habitat for Humanity, as well as helping at that organization's re-store in Belgrade.
On Friday, 15 or so Bobcat players and coaches participate in the annual Bobcat Summer Classic, a charity softball game at Heroes Park in Bozeman. The Cats play a team of area first responders to benefit Wade Palmer, a state trooper wounded in the line of duty. Over the course of an academic year every Bobcat football player is committed to involvement in some sort of community activity, many of which benefit local school projects such as in-class reading and carnivals.
"A lot of what we try to do is build connections," Choate said. "That's important in a successful program, but showing young men how to build connections in their lives, to those around them and to their community, will benefit them when they leave here. It builds better husbands, better fathers, better people in their chosen line of work. That's what we promise parents when we recruit their sons, and that's the most important part of our mission. And we're fortunate to be part of an athletic department and university that emphasize that and foster that."
And that, to Choate, is what makes the summer months great. "This is when we do the important work."
#GoCatsGo
"If we could trade spring football for eight or 10 extra practices in the summer," Choate said in the days after this year's session ended in April, "I'd do it, no question. That's how important the summer months are for us."
Every player on the Bobcat roster is in Bozeman for what is known in the Bobcat program as PRPs, or Player-Run Practices, daily workouts organized and operated by Montana State's 2019 team captains. The team's daily drills include strength work, conditioning and agility, and on-field drills. "We make our most significant gains at this time of year."
But improvement on the field, individually and as a team, is only part of the equation. So much of football is built on measurable characteristics – 40-yard dash times and agility drills and vertical jump. But executing plays, winning games, comes down to much more than what shows up on a stop watch. "Summer is when a team really builds a bond," Choate said. "It's not just the workouts. It's time on lakes and rivers, barbecues, taking advantage of the natural beauty this great state offers. When people go through both good times and difficulties together, there's a trust and familiarity that emerges. You learn to rely on each other. And that's the essence of football."
The essence of being a Bobcat in Choate's program is working for the greater good – of the team, the university, the human experience. To that end, his Bobcats have reached out in ways large and small. A group of Montana State football players, led by former Bobcat and current Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations, traveled to Poland to participate in a Habitat for Humanity International project. This May, a group of 20 Bobcats assisted in building a home in Livingston for Habitat for Humanity, as well as helping at that organization's re-store in Belgrade.
On Friday, 15 or so Bobcat players and coaches participate in the annual Bobcat Summer Classic, a charity softball game at Heroes Park in Bozeman. The Cats play a team of area first responders to benefit Wade Palmer, a state trooper wounded in the line of duty. Over the course of an academic year every Bobcat football player is committed to involvement in some sort of community activity, many of which benefit local school projects such as in-class reading and carnivals.
"A lot of what we try to do is build connections," Choate said. "That's important in a successful program, but showing young men how to build connections in their lives, to those around them and to their community, will benefit them when they leave here. It builds better husbands, better fathers, better people in their chosen line of work. That's what we promise parents when we recruit their sons, and that's the most important part of our mission. And we're fortunate to be part of an athletic department and university that emphasize that and foster that."
And that, to Choate, is what makes the summer months great. "This is when we do the important work."
#GoCatsGo
Thursday, July 31
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 03
Wednesday, May 03
