Choate to Nevada

[onceacat]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

[BelligerentBobcat]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

[onceacat]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

[GoldstoneCat]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

I laughed earlier when someone said Choate always had his team ready to play and didn't lose games they shouldn't. Outside cat griz, which is admittedly a big caveat, that was clearly not true. Kennesaw State at home, lost a game to a very mediocre und team while scoring like 9 points, and lost at Idaho State which any 2010s msu team should never do. Off the top of my head. Choate was a good recruiter, great motivator, and a very mediocre gameday coach. He was what this program needed at the time, as things had grown stale and toxic under ash. But I'm not sad he's on to greener pastures, either, i completely agree with you.

[Common Cat]

Put a fork in it! Move this thread to college athletics.

[onceacat]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

[AFCAT]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

[BelligerentBobcat]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

$5-10 million is ludicrous.

[BigBruceBaker]

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

$5-10 million is ludicrous.

Conservative estimates out of the Anderson camp has that number closer to $40 million on the career earnings side.

....not sure what the Andersen camp says though. Who knows -they might like Choate and think Troy is doing great in the NFL. I wouldn't actually know - like 99.9% of us.

[MSU01]

Is the argument here that Troy got so banged up playing on offense for two years that it has led to his continued bad luck with injuries after switching back to defense? That seems quite a stretch, especially to try and assign a monetary value to it. We can safely say that it didn't hurt his draft position, which only skyrocketed after his exceptionally good performance at the Draft Combine.

[PapaG]

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

$5-10 million is ludicrous.

I think it is Eleventy billions of dollars lost, plus Troy being the #1 overall pick, since we’re just making things up out of thin air. Stupid Coach “Chode!”

[coloradocat]

Is the argument here that Troy got so banged up playing on offense for two years that it has led to his continued bad luck with injuries after switching back to defense? That seems quite a stretch, especially to try and assign a monetary value to it. We can safely say that it didn't hurt his draft position, which only skyrocketed after his exceptionally good performance at the Draft Combine.

I assume the most charitable argument is that if Troy just focused on playing LB for 4 years his development would have been much further along which would have resulted in a smoother transition to the NFL. He wouldn't necessarily have been drafted much higher but he'd be much better set up for a larger second contract.

I agree with this version of the argument but also don't really care as Troy was amazing to watch on offense at MSU. I hope he has a successful NFL career but if that doesn't happen it won't matter to me as I'll always have the memories of him as a Bobcat. What Bobcat players do after they leave MSU is just a bonus.

[CelticCat]

I think they won two games last year, and it's not like they play a brutal schedule or anything. Choate will come in, install the right culture, get the right players in place and they'll play their guts out for him. I don't know if it happens next season (especially the culture thing in terms of a player led team, players doing the right thing, putting in max effort in the off season, etc), but in two or three years, four max, he'll have them undefeated with that schedule, ranked pretty high in the country, maybe make the playoffs... and then he will jump up to a team that has the capability to truly compete for a chipper.

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

And Ash took over a program on academic scholarship probation coming off a pretty big national scandal. If you want to compare which coach inherited a bigger mess I’d argue Ash did. Plus Ash didn’t have Cruzado.

It’s easy to revered when you leave while you’re ahead like Choate did. If Ash left after 2012 he’d be talked about in a whole different way. He kept the ship steady in 08 and 09 and then went on a tear in 2010-2012, winning more conference championships in his first 5 years than anyone else has done since… the 70s? Don’t even know. But things spiraled and he deserves blame for that but it tends to be all people remember it seems. Things may have reverted under Choate you never know, no one will ever know with Choate because he doesn’t stick around anywhere longer than one recruiting class.

[Bocephus]

Offseason threads are the funner-est!

[tetoncat]

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

$5-10 million is ludicrous.

Conservative estimates out of the Anderson camp has that number closer to $40 million on the career earnings side.

....not sure what the Andersen camp says though. Who knows -they might like Choate and think Troy is doing great in the NFL. I wouldn't actually know - like 99.9% of us.

Got drafted about where he would have being a LB for 4 years, maybe higher since he showed the athleticism on offensive side. Had a year to develop at Atlanta then an injury tat had nothing to do with time at MSU. His career earnings are entirely up to him and his ability to excel next year and stay injury free. Blaming earnings on time at MSU is crap.

[grizzh8r]

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

$5-10 million is ludicrous.

Conservative estimates out of the Anderson camp has that number closer to $40 million on the career earnings side.

....not sure what the Andersen camp says though. Who knows -they might like Choate and think Troy is doing great in the NFL. I wouldn't actually know - like 99.9% of us.

Got drafted about where he would have being a LB for 4 years, maybe higher since he showed the athleticism on offensive side. Had a year to develop at Atlanta then an injury tat had nothing to do with time at MSU. His career earnings are entirely up to him and his ability to excel next year and stay injury free. Blaming earnings on time at MSU is crap.

And at the end of the day, I think it's safe to say that we all know that Troy Anderson doesn't care how much he makes in the NFL. If you asked him today if he would have changed anything about his time at MSU, I'd bet an extremely large sum of money that he'd say no. He's about as humble and grounded as they come.

[Common Cat]

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

$5-10 million is ludicrous.

Conservative estimates out of the Anderson camp has that number closer to $40 million on the career earnings side.

....not sure what the Andersen camp says though. Who knows -they might like Choate and think Troy is doing great in the NFL. I wouldn't actually know - like 99.9% of us.

Got drafted about where he would have being a LB for 4 years, maybe higher since he showed the athleticism on offensive side. Had a year to develop at Atlanta then an injury tat had nothing to do with time at MSU. His career earnings are entirely up to him and his ability to excel next year and stay injury free. Blaming earnings on time at MSU is crap.

And at the end of the day, I think it's safe to say that we all know that Troy Anderson doesn't care how much he makes in the NFL. If you asked him today if he would have changed anything about his time at MSU, I'd bet an extremely large sum of money that he'd say no. He's about as humble and grounded as they come.

Doesn’t care how much money he makes in the NFL? No matter how humble Troy is, I find that hard to believe.

[CodyCat]

Got himself a QB

[PapaG]

He couldn’t even do that at a top FCS school…

Given the condition of the program when he took over, that was a damn good job. And yes, I understand catatacs sarcastic post.

Never said he didn’t do good here, but some of you think he walked on water.

Always makes me laugh. Choate was clearly a solid coach & much needed for the program when he got here....but he was God-awful in year 1 and in the process of rebuilding the defense absolutely destroyed one of the most talented offenses in the FCS. Anyone else remember how he trotted out Tyler Bruggman for embarassment after embarrassment until the crowd actually booed the coaches for putting the kid back in?

I never really forgave him for that...sort of undermines the whole 'player centered' thing.

But he was 4-0 against the Griz & got Bob Stitt fired. And after 3 years had returned the Cats to where they were in 2012.

I'm glad he was here & glad he fixed the problems on D, but we lucked out so much when he took the job at Texas.

If he was still here, we'd probably be sitting Sean Chambers & Tommy Mellot on the bench & trying to figure out which linebacker to start at QB.

Oh my gosh.

I’m sorry, but you don’t understand how bad things were getting under Ash. The players despised him, there was hardly any leadership, and the depth was mediocre at best. Sure, the offense performed well (against mid level teams), but you can’t blame Prukop leaving on Choate.

Choate had to rebuild so much when he got here. It was bad, bad. Clearly he wasn’t an offensive savant, but he was the best coach MSU had in the 2000’s prior to Vigen.

I'm pretty well aware of how bad things got under Ash-Choate was a clear upgrade over late career Ash. But he was pretty much even with early career Ash....in every category except Cat-Griz, in which aspect he was light years better.

But the QB situation was so far beyond unacceptable that I'm still shaking my head in shock.

Hopefully as Texas DC, Choate learned that it's NEVER OK to move your best defensive player to be a mediocre offensive player. If he hasnt' learned that, he's going to struggle at Nevada.

It wasn’t a great move, but that aforementioned linebacker was 1st Team Big Sky and an All-American at the wrong position. Seems like he’s done okay — really sorry to see him get re-injured this year.

Probably cost Troy $5-$10m over his career. But sure. Worked out really well for Choate.

I’m not sure how you came up with that figure. Troy first caught the attention of the scouts because of the athleticism he showed on offense. Sure, he wasn’t a true quarterback but his ability to score, his physicality, and the speed he showed on the offensive side of the ball certainly helped him. We will never know how high he would have been drafted had he played defense his entire career but I doubt it would have been higher than where he eventually went.

$5-10 million is ludicrous.

Even more ludicrous when you consider that real NFL money doesn’t happen for all but the very top picks until the second contract. Second contracts aren’t based on how a player performed in college or tested at the Combine. That poster is making up dollar amounts solely to criticize what Choate did at and for Montana State football and the university in general.