Photo by: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez
BOBCATS 125: JP Flynn
6/19/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
JP Flynn changed his game to fit a couple of drastically different Bobcat offenses
Leading to the 2022 season, the 125th anniversary of Montana State's first football team, we will look at 125 of the greatest Bobcats. You can find details here and a directory here.
JP Flynn, OG, 2013-16
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 3rd Team All-America in 2016, 1st Team All-Big Sky in 2014 and 2016, 3rd Team All-Big Sky in 2015
A CLOSER LOOK: Ponder JP Flynn's career for a second. A massive yet agile guard who came to Bozeman from eastern Iowa and found a forever home in Bozeman, Flynn began his career starting at guard as a freshman in 2013. As a sophomore he was a linchpin in Tim Cramsey's "All Gas No Brakes" offense that produced 488.6 yards per game after transitioning from DeNarius McGhee under center to Dakota Prukop. Flynn earned the first of three consecutive All-Big Sky honors, this one on the first team. The Bobcat offense was even more potent in 2015, rolling up 519.7 yards and increasing scoring from 38.2 points per game to 41.9.
And then, everything changed.
Rob Ash's tenure at MSU ended after the 2015 season, and with Jeff Choate's arrival the Bobcat offense transitioned - in the way waves transition into rocky cliffs - from extreme high octane to a measured, ground-oriented approach that emphasized the line of scrimmage. And you could feel MSU's offensive linemen smiling from wherever you were.
MSU's offensive production dipped in measurable terms, and the pace slowed, but the transition was in full effect. Flynn anchored a talented new-look offensive line, and with freshman quarterback Chris Murray engineering the multiple option offense the Cats exerted the program's toughness. Power back Chad Newell rushed for 703 yards and scored eight touchdowns, while another tough back, Gunnar Brekke, gained 474.
The willingness of seniors like Flynn and Newell to accept the change in coaches and philosophy led, in a straight line, to the success MSU football enjoys today.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT HEAD COACH JEFF CHOATE: "He was that transitional guy for us. JP bought into what we were doing, and even through we struggled in year one that was more important for us than (wins) because he showed the younger players that if they did things the right way they would have success. In terms of a guy that might be able to play on Sundays I thought JP was the most ready-to-go (Bobcat) offensive lineman, along with Lewis (Kidd). And obviously he lived up to that with the 49ers until he got injured."
JP Flynn, OG, 2013-16
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 3rd Team All-America in 2016, 1st Team All-Big Sky in 2014 and 2016, 3rd Team All-Big Sky in 2015
A CLOSER LOOK: Ponder JP Flynn's career for a second. A massive yet agile guard who came to Bozeman from eastern Iowa and found a forever home in Bozeman, Flynn began his career starting at guard as a freshman in 2013. As a sophomore he was a linchpin in Tim Cramsey's "All Gas No Brakes" offense that produced 488.6 yards per game after transitioning from DeNarius McGhee under center to Dakota Prukop. Flynn earned the first of three consecutive All-Big Sky honors, this one on the first team. The Bobcat offense was even more potent in 2015, rolling up 519.7 yards and increasing scoring from 38.2 points per game to 41.9.
And then, everything changed.
Rob Ash's tenure at MSU ended after the 2015 season, and with Jeff Choate's arrival the Bobcat offense transitioned - in the way waves transition into rocky cliffs - from extreme high octane to a measured, ground-oriented approach that emphasized the line of scrimmage. And you could feel MSU's offensive linemen smiling from wherever you were.
MSU's offensive production dipped in measurable terms, and the pace slowed, but the transition was in full effect. Flynn anchored a talented new-look offensive line, and with freshman quarterback Chris Murray engineering the multiple option offense the Cats exerted the program's toughness. Power back Chad Newell rushed for 703 yards and scored eight touchdowns, while another tough back, Gunnar Brekke, gained 474.
The willingness of seniors like Flynn and Newell to accept the change in coaches and philosophy led, in a straight line, to the success MSU football enjoys today.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT HEAD COACH JEFF CHOATE: "He was that transitional guy for us. JP bought into what we were doing, and even through we struggled in year one that was more important for us than (wins) because he showed the younger players that if they did things the right way they would have success. In terms of a guy that might be able to play on Sundays I thought JP was the most ready-to-go (Bobcat) offensive lineman, along with Lewis (Kidd). And obviously he lived up to that with the 49ers until he got injured."
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