OL/DL In-State Recruits - Start of Hauck 2.0

[VimSince03]

This thread is for the Bobcat fans who have been told by Griz fans "there just aren't any big bodies in Montana to recruit anymore for the lines". This is a list of in-state talent that got recruited to either school since Hauck came back to UM on November 30, 2017. These players were recruited to either play on the OL or DL (DT/DE).

2018

Joe McElroy (Missoula Loyola) - Montana State
Trevor Welnel (Helena Capital) - Montana
Conor Quick (Helena Capital) - Montana
Gerrit Bloemendaal (CMR) - Montana

2019

Holden Sampson (Helena High) - Montana State
Garrison Poetzl (Billings Senior) - Montana
Marcus Wehr (Billings Central) - Montana State
Dillon Botner (Whitefish) - Montana

2020

Henry Nuce (Kalispell Glacier) - Montana
Journey Grimsrud (Huntley Project) - Montana
Trey Yates (Colstrip) - Montana State
Conor Reitler (Billings Skyview) - Montana State
Aaron Richards (Butte Central) - Montana State

2021

Dylan Rollins (Missoula Sentinel) - BYU
Kenneth Eiden IV (Bozeman) - Montana State
Kellen Detrick (Havre) - Montana
Paul Brott (Billings West) - Montana State
Dylan Smith (Whitehall) - Montana
Sloan McPherson (Savage) - Montana
Zach Evans (Helena High) - Montana

2022

Zac Crews (Missoula Sentinel) - Montana
Burke Mastel (Red Lodge) - Montana State
Ethan Abbott (Florence) - Montana State
Tommy Nilson (Missoula Hellgate) - Montana State
Braunson Henriksen (Polson) - Montana

2023

Jacob Anderson (Billings West) - Oregon State
Talon Marsh (Helena Capital) - Montana State
Austin Buehler (Helena Capital) - Montana
Hunter Sharbono (Fairview) - Montana State
Everett Carr (Bozeman) - Montana State
Jaxon Tucker (Billings West) - Montana
Tate Templeton (Missoula Sentinel) - Montana
Jonathan Luhmann (Florence) - Montana State

2024

Hayden Hanks (Thompson Falls) - Boise State
Hudson Weins (Bozeman) - Montana State
Dalton Noble (Jefferson) - Montana State
Braden Zimmer (Billings West) - Montana State

2025

Ben Winters (Kalispell Glacier) - Montana State
Vaughn Wirkus (Kalispell Glacier) - Montana State
Blaine Downing (Malta) - Montana State

2026

Tommy Lewis (Havre) - Montana State
Derek Opitz (Helena Capital) - Montana
Maverick Diede (Kalispell Glacier) - Army
Brody Bullette (Polson) - Montana State
Lincoln Senter (CMR) - Montana

Final tallies:

OL recruits to MSU - 15 (Rollins went to BYU so not included here)
OL recruits to UM - 10

DL recruits to MSU - 8
DL recruits to UM - 8 (Crews was won by UM initially)

OL/DL recruits to FBS - 4

Starters or have received varsity minutes (not mop-up duty and Crews flips over to MSU for this report):

MSU (11) - McElroy, Sampson, Wehr, Eiden, Brott, Mastel, Crews, Marsh, Sharbono, Carr, Zimmer
UM (4) - Nuce, Grimsrud, Detrick, Botner

If you take out the 2025 and 2026 kids, hit rate so far since Hauck 2.0 on the "bigs" earning starter minutes: MSU is 11/18 for 61% while UM is 4/15 for 27%

I actually thought Hauck started strong by getting some good kids out of Capital that first year and Poetzl was my #2 recruit in the state in 2019. Nuce, Grimsrud, and Detrick where all Top 10 kids on my lists with Journey or Hank probably being the best player coming out of that crop. Trevor Welnel made a two-deep and Austin Buehler is on the current two-deep but that's about it with every recruited player up through 2024. Dillon Botner has stuck it out and is now a part-time starter at center and swing lineman in 2025.

Getting Sampson and Wehr in 2019 were big wins for Choate though we really didn't know what we had in Wehr at that time. The in-state recruiting war on the lines really started to swing MSU in 2021 when they landed legacy players in Eiden and Brott. 2022 the Griz landed Crews which was a giant win prior to all his stuff going down but Burke was part of that class too along with current reserve Tommy Nilson. 2023 we got Marsh, Sharbono, and Carr and since then its arguably been a wipe-out for MSU over UM. No one really knew how quickly Braden Zimmer will develop but he's current our starting LT and isn't going to let go of the spot unless he gets hurt or gets plucked by a FBS school.

When it comes down to it, MSU has prioritized the OL and it shows in our in-state Montana production. The fact the Griz have only developed ONE in-state OL since Hauck 2.0 came back into the fold is pretty astonishing...and Journey was recruited as a DL like Wehr.

[NewEra]

This is a nightmare post for Andrew Schmidt! Who I didn’t know existed until colter brought him on his podcast, which shows how irrelevant he was when he played. All “joking” aside, what a stark contrast in the approach of how we have recruited compare to the griz. Skyline needs to even out the griz to Bobcat discussion, maybe they could have you on to discuss the in state recruiting.

[nutman]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

[VimSince03]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

[Catsrgrood]

RTD though

[HelenaCat95]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

I agree with Vim that it's both. With an emphasis on development, and a HUGE part of that is Sean Herrin and his staff and program.
Edit: The Strength and Conditioning part of development is important to the whole program, but especially for the Oline and Dline. Also, if you go over the recent history of MSU's success as a program, what is the one constant from the Choate era through the Vigen era....it's Sean Herrin.

[wbtfg]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

[nanacat]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

So what changed do you think?

[110010110]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

So what changed do you think?

I have to wonder if the arrogant asshole head coach schtick doesn't have the same impact it did 20 years ago.

[coloradocat]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

So what changed do you think?

I have to wonder if the arrogant asshole head coach schtick doesn't have the same impact it did 20 years ago.

Vigen mentioned in one of his interviews this week how today's players want to know the "why" when their coaches tell them to do something. I have a feeling this generation can see right through Bobbi and at some point, either before of after signing day, decide they don't have to put up with it.

[nanacat]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

So what changed do you think?

I have to wonder if the arrogant asshole head coach schtick doesn't have the same impact it did 20 years ago.

Vigen mentioned in one of his interviews this week how today's players want to know the "why" when their coaches tell them to do something. I have a feeling this generation can see right through Bobbi and at some point, either before of after signing day, decide they don't have to put up with it.

I'm sure that does play a role. Thing is, Bobby doesn't think he should have to give a why, and in some ways I do get that, but it sure seems he micromanages his players too. You never see them interviewed without him there, and I'm not sure I've ever seen any of them smile or laugh like the Cats players do when they're being interviewed. Not that its all about fun, but if they aren't enjoying being there, if they're not being developed, taught, etc, what's the point?

[catscat]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

So what changed do you think?

First time around the griz had recent national championships which made it much easier to recruit talented or developable players. This time, not so much for a variety of reasons including hauck himself.

[nanacat]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

So what changed do you think?

First time around the griz had recent national championships which made it much easier to recruit talented or developable players. This time, not so much for a variety of reasons including hauck himself.

Yup, I can see that too. Honestly I'm amazed that Montana high school students still want to go there.

[WeedKillinCat]

The thing that I've been watching is how much playing time our in state players are getting vs the gris. I feel sorry for in state kids that commit to them only to fizzle out or not get a chance because of how much they use the portal.

[nutman]

Colter stated on Tootel and Nuanez that he thinks one of their OL players would start for the Cats. The round robin of players and lack of consistency from year to year look to be primary to their issue. However, we’ve had our own attrition from both players and new coaches. Doesn’t seem to matter. There is always a guy who is ready to go in the wings. As a business owner, I wish I knew more about how they achieve this so consistently.

[Helcat72]

I think Bobby only recruits OL that are already 6'6" and over 300 lbs. He doesn't want to wait 2 years to develop them. Vigen seems to recruit potential OL that are 6'4" and have good mobility and all around athleticism. Then he has em gain strength and "good" weight until they are in the 290 range.

What results for Bobby are a bunch of huge behemoths that can't block anyone on the second level. So Gilman gets tackled for no gain on 50% of his runs. He's good enough to spring himself on long runs in spite of his OL.

[Go Scats Go]

So the numbers overall sway in the Cats direction, but impact radically swings to the Cats. Anyone have thoughts about whether this is a player development issue or just the he fact that we are recruiting the ones that can contribute better than the Pandaz?

Emphatically both.

Which is wild considering how strong Bobby and his staff were at developing guys during his first tenure.

So what changed do you think?

The transfer pool

[MTmadeCat]

The thing that I've been watching is how much playing time our in state players are getting vs the gris. I feel sorry for in state kids that commit to them only to fizzle out or not get a chance because of how much they use the portal.

And this should (continue to) be a huge emphasis in recruiting the in state guys. With everything MSU offers academically, combined with the fact that MSU has won more games and therefore played more games (because what recruit doesn’t want the chance to play as much football as possible), invested in football and academic facilities more than just about any FCS school in the country since ~2011, should be a MT high school players dream if they don’t have FBS opportunities. Since BH returned, the Griz avg. conference finishing position is 4.167 with the 2023 year (1st) being the outlier. In that same span, MSU avg finishing position is 2.33, and an even better 1.75 since Vigen took over with 2023 also being their outlier (3rd). My numbers should be pretty accurate but someone is welcome to fact check me lol…we are not the same. If Vigen can find a way to get these guys to win in Missoula, the momentum that’s kind of been balanced out by the home team’s success in recent years will swing back to MSU considerably (have won 6 of last 8, could be 7 of 9 this year with a chance at 8 of 10 at home next season). Plus, as Colter recently stated on his show, if we can snag that win in Missoula this year, BH will be .500 against MSU in his career (I believe) with a chance at a losing record next year in Bozeman…

[onceacat]

The thing that I've been watching is how much playing time our in state players are getting vs the gris. I feel sorry for in state kids that commit to them only to fizzle out or not get a chance because of how much they use the portal.

Such a key difference IMO. Bobby brings transfers in, Vigen develops players so they can transfer out & get a big payday.

Which team would you rather commit to as a 17 year old?