As an x player, I have been there through the thick and thin with my team, and experienced the change of the program from the 2008 season to what it is now. I almost am out of room on my hand for championship rings, have more memories than I know what to do with and have a quality education from one of the best schools I could have possibly gone to. And I had the PRIVELEDGE of playing in front of a brand new stadium filled with the BEST fans in the Big Sky Conference (provided we were winning). My experiences as a Bobcat player will be cherished for many years to come, but on the inside I know we were capable of so much more. I have waited several years to post on here, but I decided finally that I could after having a couple conversations with some of my old teammates.
Coach Kane Ioane should be the head coach of the Montana State Bobcats.
Coach Ash has done some GREAT things with AMAZING players. But as I’ve read on here many times before, people know he’s not going to be THE GUY who LEADS us to a National Championship victory. As a player awaiting the kickoff, I would dread listening to the man talk. It was as if he had stuck us with a needle and we were being slowly deflated. When he spoke to us in one on one situations, it was evident we were merely numbers on a roster, and when the time came around he would put you in front of himself to save face to whatever degree he could. Ash on McGhee and his affiliation with the Greek system being one of the main reasons the season took a downhill turn was a shocking and eye opening reminder of that. Even Denarius McGhee, DMac, “In McGhee we trust” wasn’t safe from being Coach Ash’s body armor, minutes after the season ended.
We used to embrace guys like Mike Rider and Mike Person on the team. We wanted them to push the team, on and off the field. They weren’t afraid to call people out and get them going. Lighting that fire under the players falling behind is what lead us to 3 straight BSC titles. The killer instinct the team had as a unit was slowly pushed down, turned softer and made more “brand friendly”. This past season, it was made extremely clear that “getting on people” over their commitment was not acceptable whatsoever. The talent of the players on the team was greater, but the will to win, the killer instinct wasn’t there anymore; it had been snuffed out by Ash. For what reason exactly, nobody was sure. It was a several year process though. In the state of Montana, the Bobcats keep getting compared to the Grizzlies. This killed me as a player, but one thing was evident. They wanted to kill us. It wasn’t BTC, it was FTC. There were no team meetings in Missoula over FTC being on someone’s Facebook after a volleyball rivalry win. My friend who played LB there sent me a video of Coach Paulsen walking into their team meeting room with a Bobcat helmet and a crowbar. He destroyed the helmet. He was sitting there, defacing MY TEAM, yet I was ready to go to war for that man because of his passion towards what was coming their way. We were sitting in Bozeman, positive Fletcher was going to win the game for us chanting BTG and listening to a radio edited version of a pep talk from Coach Ash. (We lost that game) It may be against the rules on this blog, but even on their down years, years with players making horrible decisions, life altering things happening, they were still able to make a run in the playoffs, save 1. Maybe Coach can learn something about that fire from the guys across the divide.
Someone I wanted to go out and die for on the field and in the weight room (besides my team) was Coach Ioane. That man is going to be something special in the coaching world; I just hope it happens in Bozeman. Coach Ash talked about having a “Swagger” as a team. Coach Ioane lives that Swag. Sadly, I didn’t have the honor to have him as a position coach, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t take things from his teachings on a regular basis. He’s one of those people who will take no prisoners, die for the man beside him or playing for him and when it comes time to walk the walk, he’ll sprint straight on head first into a wood chipper if he’s going to get his people ready to go and destroy the opposition. Aside from being a phenomenal players coach, he’s obviously one of the smartest coaches we have on the staff, and still very close to the youngest, if not the youngest. That swagger, his smarts and his understanding of selling out is what makes me want to play for him. All of that is what would make him a National Championship game winning coach. However, while Fields is still the AD, I really don’t see Ash having to relinquish his spot atop MSU football.
From the inside point of view; if you want to Win the National Championship, a coaching change is needed. Ioane is a great place to start. Prukop too.
ray: 
