This is one of the best discussion points I've read on here all season, especially when it comes to the declining populations in small towns, particularly in Eastern Montana.
This is the Kraig Paulson theory! He told me this, I asked Bobby about it and he said it has some legs!
So many of the great Montana-made offensive lineman came from small, farming communities. Paulson has talked with me in the past about how places like Sidney, Miles City, Plentywood (where Paulson is from), Big Timber, insert name of Montana small town based on agriculture here....have lost so much of their population base. Families don't have nearly as many kids, which means not nearly as many prospects. Also, the declining population means less coaching, less resources for sports etc.
I also think the other thing that has impacted Montana recruiting GREATLY is the evolution of and implementation of spread offenses across basically every level of Montana high school football. You used to always be able to count on getting excellent, road-grater offensive lineman, big ass tight ends and bruising running backs from Montana high schools, particularly at the Class AA and A levels. The old notion from college coaches used to be that "the foundation of our teams and the front lines of the Griz/Cats are built in Montana, while we get our arms and legs everywhere else."
But now, everyone runs everything, as Hauck famously says almost every Monday LOL. But it's true!
Who are some of the best prospects out of Montana over the last 5-7 years? A trio of 5-foot-9 slot receivers from Billings (Gabe Sulser, Junior Bergen, Taco Dowler) who are the type of players that the Montana schools used to go to Cali to get. There's very few Montana offensive lineman to recruit.
This is a COMPLETELY different conversation than the in-state recruiting battle. The Cats are not beating the Griz for in-state offensive lineman, it's the other positions that Schmidt is ranting about. The Cats did have three in-state (kind of) OL last year. Marcus Wehr was a partial scholarship DL out of Billings Central that they just developed well. Justus Perkins is a 6-foot walk-on who's dad played for the Cats. Again, development. And Cole Sain (who's father is from Hamilton even though he prepped in Cali) played for the Griz before they let him go. All ended up all-conference. But that's a different development conversation, not recruiting.
In terms of the accessibility of national recruiting to Montana, this is not a new phenomenon, but rather, a renewed one. It's easy to forget, but Shane Collins from Bozeman High was the Matt Ludwig of the late 1980s. He had over 70 offers. The best of the best were stalking the halls of Bozeman High in the off-season recruiting him for several years straight. Pat Donovan probably had a similar experience. There's been a couple or even a handful of FBS recruits most year from Montana for decades.
In the early 2000s, there were a ton of FBS recruits from Montana. The early 2000s Great Falls CMR team had QB Brady Leaf (Oregon), TE Jason Goodman (Washington), QB Allen Everidge (Nebraska, Kansas State), RB Royce Fulp (Colorado State), WR Tyler Graham (Oregon State baseball, could've gone FBS in football), plus future Griz LB Austin Mullins (Griz), LB Chase Gazerro (Cats), OL Jeff Hansen (Cats), WR Ryan Bagley (Griz), DT Kelly Kain (Montana), DE Mike Murphy (Griz), QB Justin Hartman (Griz).
Other FBS recruits from Montana recently.
| Mark Anderson | DT | Fergus (Lewistown) | Stanford | 2001 |
| Matt Miller | WR | Capital (Helena) | Boise State | 2010 |
| Brock Osweiler | QB | Flathead (Kalispell) | Arizona State | 2009 |
| Alex Green | APB | Butte Central Catholic | Hawaii | 2009 |
| Dylan Rollins | OT | Sentinel (Missoula) | BYU | 2021 |
| Matt Ludwig | TE | Billings West | Michigan | 2026 |
| Quinn Clark | WR | Gallatin (Bozeman) | Nebraska | 2024 |
| Hayden Hanks | DT | Thompson Falls | Boise State | 2024 |
| Jacob Kauwe | K | Billings West | Kentucky | 2024 |
Other historic Montanans who went FBS
- Shane Collins (Roundup): A two-sport standout who graduated from Bozeman , Collins was an NCAA shot put champion before becoming a defensive end at Arizona State and getting drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1992.
- Pat Donovan (Helena): Played at Stanford and was a four-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys.
- Rick Dennison (Kalispell): Played college football at Colorado State before a long NFL career with the Denver Broncos as a player and coach.
- Dwan Edwards (Columbus): A defensive tackle who played at Oregon State before being drafted in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft.
- John Friesz (Missoula): A College Football Hall of Fame quarterback who played at Idaho and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers.
- Ryan Leaf (Great Falls): Drafted second overall in the 1998 NFL Draft after playing quarterback at Washington State.
- Greg Carothers, Helena Capital - Went to Washington.
- Will Dissly, Bozeman High 2013 - Went to Washington, now in the NFL
- Case McMillan, Bilings Central, 2007 - Iowa
- Matt Hustad, Helena - Arizona State 2006
- Pat Ryan, Billings West - Notre Dame 1999
Mitch Donahue, Billings - Wyoming 1985.
That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there's plenty more. Matt Kegel, Havre and Washington State. The list goes on.
