Football
Vigen, Brent
Brent Vigen
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- football@msubobcats.com
- Phone:
- 406.994.5694
BRENT VIGEN, the son of a small-town football coach who has enjoyed championship success throughout his coaching and playing career, became Montana State’s 33rd head football coach on February 8, 2021, and immediately began extending that legacy.
Vigen’s 47 wins stands as second-most in Bobcat history, his 56 games coached is sixth, and his .887 winning percentage is easily the best by an MSU coach. He became Montana State’s fourth national coach of the year in 2024, the first to win the Eddie Robinson Award. He owns three seasons of at least 12 wins. He is the program’s only coach to lead MSU to four straight post-season appearances, and two national championship games.
From Troy Andersen’s brilliant senior season in Vigen’s debut campaign of 2021 to the spectacular seasons that Brody Grebe and Tommy Mellott enjoyed in 2024, Vigen has mentored some of the most productive and celebrated Bobcats in history. Andersen (2021 FCS ADA Defensive Player of the Year) and Mellott (2024 Walter Payton Award, FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year, and Walter Camp Player of the Year) each earned national player of the year honors.
The success extends beyond the football field. Mellott won the 2023 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award, and Grebe joined Andersen as finalists for the National Football Foundation Walter V. Campbell Award, known as the Academic Heisman. Grebe was also named one of the top two student-athletes in the FCS by the FCS ADA.
Vigen’s first impression on Bobcat fans was historic. He led the Cats to an appearance in the 2021 FCS Championship Game, and a year later captured MSU’s first Big Sky title in a decade. The Cats capped a perfect conference regular season in 2022 by hosting ESPN College Game Day just hours before thrashing the Grizzlies 55-24, the most points ever scored by the Bobcats in a Cat-Griz game. MSU advanced to the FCS Playoffs again in 2023, and in 2024 won all 15 games before falling in the national championship game.
Vigen grew up in Buxton, North Dakota, under the watchful eye of his father Randy, an eventual coaching hall of famer who served as Brent Vigen’s first and most influential coach. He starred in multiple sports at Central Valley High, and played tight end for one NDSU conference championship team and three that advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Vigen’s coaching career began as an NDSU grad assistant in 1998, and by 2001 he was elevated to coach tight ends, then running backs, and eventually quarterbacks, rising to the level of pass game coordinator then offensive coordinator. During his time coaching at his alma mater the Bison won four straight league titles and three national crowns. In 2014, Bison head coach Craig Bohl accepted the head coaching position at Wyoming, and Vigen became the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He added the title of associate head coach in 2018. Vigen’s teams at Wyoming won one division championship and played in three bowl games, and he helped coach All-America running back Brian Hill and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Vigen and his wife Molly, a former NDSU basketball player and member of that school’s 1996 National Championship squad, have three sons - Jake, Grant, and Luke. Jake is a sophomore on the Bobcat football team.
Vigen’s 47 wins stands as second-most in Bobcat history, his 56 games coached is sixth, and his .887 winning percentage is easily the best by an MSU coach. He became Montana State’s fourth national coach of the year in 2024, the first to win the Eddie Robinson Award. He owns three seasons of at least 12 wins. He is the program’s only coach to lead MSU to four straight post-season appearances, and two national championship games.
From Troy Andersen’s brilliant senior season in Vigen’s debut campaign of 2021 to the spectacular seasons that Brody Grebe and Tommy Mellott enjoyed in 2024, Vigen has mentored some of the most productive and celebrated Bobcats in history. Andersen (2021 FCS ADA Defensive Player of the Year) and Mellott (2024 Walter Payton Award, FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year, and Walter Camp Player of the Year) each earned national player of the year honors.
The success extends beyond the football field. Mellott won the 2023 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award, and Grebe joined Andersen as finalists for the National Football Foundation Walter V. Campbell Award, known as the Academic Heisman. Grebe was also named one of the top two student-athletes in the FCS by the FCS ADA.
Vigen’s first impression on Bobcat fans was historic. He led the Cats to an appearance in the 2021 FCS Championship Game, and a year later captured MSU’s first Big Sky title in a decade. The Cats capped a perfect conference regular season in 2022 by hosting ESPN College Game Day just hours before thrashing the Grizzlies 55-24, the most points ever scored by the Bobcats in a Cat-Griz game. MSU advanced to the FCS Playoffs again in 2023, and in 2024 won all 15 games before falling in the national championship game.
Vigen grew up in Buxton, North Dakota, under the watchful eye of his father Randy, an eventual coaching hall of famer who served as Brent Vigen’s first and most influential coach. He starred in multiple sports at Central Valley High, and played tight end for one NDSU conference championship team and three that advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Vigen’s coaching career began as an NDSU grad assistant in 1998, and by 2001 he was elevated to coach tight ends, then running backs, and eventually quarterbacks, rising to the level of pass game coordinator then offensive coordinator. During his time coaching at his alma mater the Bison won four straight league titles and three national crowns. In 2014, Bison head coach Craig Bohl accepted the head coaching position at Wyoming, and Vigen became the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He added the title of associate head coach in 2018. Vigen’s teams at Wyoming won one division championship and played in three bowl games, and he helped coach All-America running back Brian Hill and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Vigen and his wife Molly, a former NDSU basketball player and member of that school’s 1996 National Championship squad, have three sons - Jake, Grant, and Luke. Jake is a sophomore on the Bobcat football team.
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