BOBCATS HEAD COACH JEFF CHOATE Jeff Choate College Coaching Resume Head Coach Year All Conf. HomeRoad GrassTurf Day Night 2018 8-5 5-3 6-1 2-4 0-0 8-5 7-4 1-1 2017 5-6 5-3 3-3 2-3 1-0 4-6 5-2 0-4 2016 4-7 2-6 3-3 1-4 0-0 4-7 4-4 0-3 Assistant Coach Year School Assighment Team Record/Notes 2015 Washington Special Teams/Defensive Line 2014 Washington Special Teams/Defensive Line 2013 Florida Special Teams/Outside Linebackers 2012 Washington State Defensive Run Game Coord./LBs 2011 Boise State Special Teams/Linebackers 2010 Boise State Special Teams/Linebackers 2009 Boise State Special Teams/Linebackers 2008 Boise State Special Teams/Running Backs 2007 Boise State Special Teams/Running Backs 2006 Boise State Special Teams/Running Backs 2005 Eastern Illinois Special Teams/Safeties The Bobcats 2004 Utah State Special Teams/Safeties Under Jeff Choate 2003 Utah State Special Teams/Safeties All-Time .................................................. 17-18 2002 Utah State Defensive Line Home .....................................................12-7 2001 Utah State Graduate Assistant/Linebackers Away ........................................................5-11 Post-Season ............................................... 0-0 vs. Ranked DI Opps ................................3-12^ Jeff Choate Home ........................................................1-6 Away ........................................................2-6^ From small agriculture and logging communities in the mountains of Idaho to the vs. Top 10 Teams ......................................0-8^ bright lights of the SEC and Pac 12, Jeff Choate’s coaching career has led him from one Home ........................................................0-3 corner of the nation to another. But some constants remain. Away ........................................................0-5^ Th e energy is unmistakable. Th e passion is ever-present. Th ose traits, combined vs. Unranked Teams ................................13-6 with a keen intellect, has Choate always pushing, always prodding, always moving Home ........................................................... 8-2 Away ............................................................ 3-4 forward. And that materialized in a Montana State football program that he’s reshaped on the fl y, forging teams built from the ground up, from the lines out, grounded in the vs. Non-Division I Opponents .................. 1-0 Home ........................................................1-0 physical football and resting on the foundational principle that his players are students Away .........................................................0-0 fi rst and foremost. vs. FBS Opponents ................................... 0-2 Th e element setting Choate apart is a commitment to teaching and his ability to Home ........................................................0-0 embrace the lessons learned at each stop in his career. From his time at the highest Away .........................................................0-2 level of college football, Choate learned that building relationships, the human touch, August ......................................................... 1-0 is what separates the good from the great. From other coaching assignments he picked September ................................................... 5-7 up the intricacies of coaching many diff erent positions. He also experienced football October ........................................................ 4-7 November .................................................... 6-3 every region of the nation. December .................................................... 0-1 But he’s always found his way back to one core principle. “I’ve always considered When Scoring less than 10.......................... 0-1 myself a teacher fi rst,” Montana State’s third-year coach says. “It’s the cornerstone of When Scoring 10-19 pts ............................ 0-12 what we do as coaches.” When Scoring 20-29 pts .............................. 8-4 In three seasons at MSU, Choate’s Bobcats improved. From a 4-7 mark in 2016, When Scoring 30 or more pts ......................8-2 when the Cats capped a two-game season-ending win streak with an emotional win in When Opp scores less than 10 ................... 2-0 Missoula, to the 5-6 mark one year later when MSU again beat its arch-rival, the pro- When Opp scores 10-19 pts ........................2-3 gram was always moving forward. Th at was evident in 2018, when Montana State won When Opp scores 20-29 pts ........................8-5 When Opp scores 30-more pts.................. 1-12 eight games for only the 15th time in program history and made its 10th-ever playoff When MSU’s Defense scores ...................... 1-0 appearance. When MSU ret. KO/Punt/PAT for Score ........... 0-0* Th e Cats returned to a ground-oriented approach – “My teams will always be *-includes safeties on snaps/blocks, fumble return for TD, def. conv. about running the ball and stopping the run,” Choate says simply – with an emphasis ^-Includes loss at #24 FBS Washington State on allowing players to use their athleticism. Th e focus on football’s fundamentals is obvious. And steady improvement is clear. Aft er dropping six straight Big Sky Confer- ence games, Choate’s teams have now won seven of the last 10, and in the three losses MSU had the opportunity to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter of each contest. Choate became Montana State’s 32nd head football coach on December 4, 2015. An Idaho native who graduated from UM Western in 1993, his career has spanned the continent but is rooted in the Northwest. His professional life began as a coach and teacher in rural Idaho and has led him to Choate vs. Big Sky Coaches the Mountain West, Pac 12 and SEC. All All Hm Rd the while, the Big Sky Conference and his Beau Baldwin, EWU 0-1 0-1 0-0 Bruce Barnum, PSU 2-0 1-0 1-0 home region tugged. Aaron Best, EWU 0-2 0-1 0-1 Choate played football at Montana- Earnest Collins, Jr., NC 2-0 1-0 1-0 Western in Dillon, earning his a BS in Ron Gould, UCD 1-0 1-0 0-0 Secondary Education (1994). He joined Bobby Hauck, UM 1-0 0-0 1-0 Jay Hill, WSU 0-3 0-1 0-2 the Bulldogs coaching staff for the 1992- Rob Phenicie, ISU 1-1 1-0 0-1 93 season aft er an injury ended his play- Paul Petrino 1-0 1-0 0-0 ing career, and aft er graduating he became Bubba Schweigert, UND 1-1 0-1 1-0 head football and track coach at Challis Jody Sears, SAC 0-1 0-0 0-1 Jerome Souers, NAU 0-2 0-1 0-1 High School (1994-96) in Idaho. He be- Bob Stitt, UM 2-0 1-0 1-0 came an assistant football, wrestling and Tim Walsh,CP 0-0 0-0 0-0 baseball coach at Twin Falls High School Demario Warren, SUU 0-1 0-0 0-1 (1996-97) before becoming Head Football Choate vs. Big Sky Schools Coach (and eventually AD) at Post Falls Cal Poly 0-0 0-0 0-0 High School (1997-2002). E. Wash. 0-3 0-2 0-1 Choate joined his former UMW head Idaho 1-0 1-0 0-0 coach Mick Dennehy at Utah State in Idaho St. 1-1 1-0 0-1 Montana 3-0 1-0 2-0 2002 as defensive line coach, and became North Dakota 1-1 0-1 1-0 safeties and special teams coach the next NAU 0-2 0-1 0-1 season. He held the same position at Northern Colorado 2-0 1-0 1-0 Eastern Illinois in 2005 before return- Portland St. 2-0 1-0 1-0 Sac State 0-1 0-0 0-1 ing to the West as Boise State’s special Southern Utah 0-1 0-0 0-1 teams coordinator (2006-11). He coached UC Davis 1-0 1-0 0-0 running backs (2006-08) and linebackers Weber St. 0-3 0-1 0-2 (2009-11) while with BSU. Choate coached linebackers while Choate vs. All Opponents Bryant 1-0 1-0 0-0 coordinating the defensive run game at Cal Poly 1-0 1-0 0-0 Washington State in 2012, coached special Eastern Washington 0-3 0-2 0-1 teams and outside linebackers at Florida Idaho 1-1 1-0 0-1 Idaho State 1-1 1-0 0-1 in 2013, then rejoined Chris Peterson at Incarnate Word 1-0 1-0 0-0 Washington in 2014-15. Kennesaw State 0-1 0-1 0-0 While spending time with head Montana 3-0 1-0 2-0\ North Dakota 1-1 0-1 1-0 coaches such as Chris Peterson, Mike North Dakota State 0-1 0-0 0-1 Leach, Will Muschamp, Bob Spoo and Northern Arizona 0-2 0-1 0-1 his mentors Mick Dennehy and Mick Northern Colorado 2-0 1-0 1-0 Portland State 2-0 1-0 1-0 Delaney, Choate has also produced highly Sacramento State 0-1 0-0 0-1 successful players. Under his watch as South Dakota State 0-2 0-1 0-1 a position coach, fi ve players earned Southern Utah 0-1 0-0 0-1 UC Davis 1-0 1-0 0-0 All-America honrs and 16 became all- Wagner 1-0 1-0 0-0 conference selections. Choate’s teams have Washington State 0-1 0-0 0-1 participated in bowl games eight times Weber State 0-3 0-1 0-2 Western Illinois 1-0 1-0 0-0 and the FCS Playoff s once. Western Oregon 1-0 1-0 0-0 Choate and his wife Janet, originally Total (3 years) 17-18 12-7 5-11 from Dillon, have a son, Jory, a redshirt freshman in the Bobcat program in the fall of 2018, and a daughter, Jacy, a Boze- man High sophomore. Matt Miller Kane Ioane Brian Armstrong Off. Coordinator/ QBs & Receivers/ Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Run Game CoodinatorTight Ends Recruiting Coordinator 2019- Montana State ......Def. Coordinator/S 2018- Montana State Run Game Coord/TEs 2018- Montana State ..........Off. Coord./QBs 2017-18 Washington .....Defensive Analyst/QC 2017 Montana State ...........Off.