Bobcat Family Loses Hall of Famer Dave Alt
1/2/2025 9:00:00 AM | Football
Quarterback of 1956 National Championship team passes away
Montana State football lost a legend last week with the passing of Bobcat Athletics Hall of Famer Dave Alt, the quarterback on the school's 1956 National Championship team.
Alt came to Montana State in the fall of 1956 and joined a Bobcat football team built around a core of experienced seniors and talented freshmen. Inserted into the starting lineup early that season, the "mini Tommy Mellott," as former teammate Phil Schneider once called him, helped spark the nation's Tony Storti's powerful Split T offense the most dominant Bobcat team in history to that point. Montana State cruised through the regular season without a loss and then, mired in mud, played St. Joseph's (Indiana) to a 0-0 tie in the Aluminum Bowl in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In nine regular season games, the 1956 Bobcats scored a school-record 312 points and won every game by double digits. That campaign began the most successful run of success in the program's first 100 years. The Cats rolled up records of 25-3-1 over three seasons, 31-6-1 over four seasons, and 36-11-2 over the course of Alt's five-year career (he was granted the 1960 season after missing most of the 1957, 1958 and 1959 seasons.
From the time Alt arrived on campus through 1984, Montana State won nearly 60% of its game, 10 conference championships, and three national titles. Included in that span – 1977 to 1980 – was a time when Dave's son Tobin Alt played for Sonny Holland, a teammate of the elder Alt's on the 1956-59 Bobcat teams, and Sonny Lubick.
Like Alt, the now-deceased Holland was a freshman straight out of high school in 1956, mixing with not just traditional upperclassmen but players nearing 30 years of age who came to Montana State from the military. "It was an interesting mix of players," Holland recalled. "(The coaching staff) brought in a whole lot of people, and it was really different than it is now."
Holland, who played center, remembered Alt as a scrappy competitor with the ability to lead men who came from literally all walks of life. "Physically he was a really tough kid who ran the team well. The players really took to his leadership."
The late Tom Parac, a former Bobcat who was the Bobcat's backfield coach in Alt's last three seasons, called Alt's skills perfectly suited him for his role. "He had excellent quickness and was very skilled running the option. He threw the ball very well, too."
Alt was a standout baseball player for the Bobcats, earning all-conference honors, and was also an outstanding boxer. He made his career as a teacher at two Toledo, Ohio, high schools, and golf was a lifelong passion. In addition to coaching football and baseball he initiated innovative programs such as the Whitmer and Waite Gymnastics Circs to encourage athleticism and involvement. Alt was inducted into the Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame with the 1956 team in 1957, and as an individual in 2001. He previously had been inducted into Toledo Whitmer High Hall of Fame, where he was a multi-sport star.
The center of Dave's life was his wife Sandy and their three children – Tobin, Tracy and Stephanie. They enjoyed their 13 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
Alt came to Montana State in the fall of 1956 and joined a Bobcat football team built around a core of experienced seniors and talented freshmen. Inserted into the starting lineup early that season, the "mini Tommy Mellott," as former teammate Phil Schneider once called him, helped spark the nation's Tony Storti's powerful Split T offense the most dominant Bobcat team in history to that point. Montana State cruised through the regular season without a loss and then, mired in mud, played St. Joseph's (Indiana) to a 0-0 tie in the Aluminum Bowl in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In nine regular season games, the 1956 Bobcats scored a school-record 312 points and won every game by double digits. That campaign began the most successful run of success in the program's first 100 years. The Cats rolled up records of 25-3-1 over three seasons, 31-6-1 over four seasons, and 36-11-2 over the course of Alt's five-year career (he was granted the 1960 season after missing most of the 1957, 1958 and 1959 seasons.
From the time Alt arrived on campus through 1984, Montana State won nearly 60% of its game, 10 conference championships, and three national titles. Included in that span – 1977 to 1980 – was a time when Dave's son Tobin Alt played for Sonny Holland, a teammate of the elder Alt's on the 1956-59 Bobcat teams, and Sonny Lubick.
Like Alt, the now-deceased Holland was a freshman straight out of high school in 1956, mixing with not just traditional upperclassmen but players nearing 30 years of age who came to Montana State from the military. "It was an interesting mix of players," Holland recalled. "(The coaching staff) brought in a whole lot of people, and it was really different than it is now."
Holland, who played center, remembered Alt as a scrappy competitor with the ability to lead men who came from literally all walks of life. "Physically he was a really tough kid who ran the team well. The players really took to his leadership."
The late Tom Parac, a former Bobcat who was the Bobcat's backfield coach in Alt's last three seasons, called Alt's skills perfectly suited him for his role. "He had excellent quickness and was very skilled running the option. He threw the ball very well, too."
Alt was a standout baseball player for the Bobcats, earning all-conference honors, and was also an outstanding boxer. He made his career as a teacher at two Toledo, Ohio, high schools, and golf was a lifelong passion. In addition to coaching football and baseball he initiated innovative programs such as the Whitmer and Waite Gymnastics Circs to encourage athleticism and involvement. Alt was inducted into the Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame with the 1956 team in 1957, and as an individual in 2001. He previously had been inducted into Toledo Whitmer High Hall of Fame, where he was a multi-sport star.
The center of Dave's life was his wife Sandy and their three children – Tobin, Tracy and Stephanie. They enjoyed their 13 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
Players Mentioned
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