From 2000 to 2025

[MSU01]

In the Fall of 2000 I was a senior at MSU and have very vivid memories of the 0-11 season that year. I can remember showing up to Senior Day against Portland State and not having much trouble finding a seat in the east side bleachers that looked straight out of a scene in Major League before the Indians go on the winning streak. A friend and I also made three road trips that year, to see the Bobcats play Idaho (56-7 loss), Idaho State (58-14 loss), and Montana (28-3 loss). Since that season, so many more great memories:

2002, being in Washington-Grizzly Stadium as MSU broke the streak and made its first playoff appearance since 1984

2003 and 2005, Travis Lulay and the Bobcats win two home Cat-Griz games, two more Big Sky titles and make another playoff appearance in '03.

2006, elation after beating Colorado followed by dejection after losing three straight home games, but the team rebounded to make the playoffs and get the first playoff win in over 20 years against Furman.

2010 to 2012, Denarius McGhee takes Bozeman by storm and leads the Bobcats to three straight Big Sky titles and multiple playoff wins.

2016 to 2019, Jeff Choate takes charge and leads the Bobcats to a QF and SF appearance in his last two seasons and four straight Brawl victories.

2021, the Tommy Mellott era begins and MSU finally reaches the National Championship game for the first time in 37 years.

2024, another appearance in Frisco but the historic 14-0 season ends in heartbreak.

2025, the year that makes it all worth it. Go Cats, can't wait to see what 2026 has in store!

[BigSkyCowboy]

Very similar experience here. Started at MSU in 2001, just in time for the end of the Streak. What a wild ride we've had since then!

[msuhunter]

I think Choate deserves a ton of credit for this win. He's the one who changed the culture of the program, not an easy task after the Ash years. The current staff kept that going and brought us to this point. Changing the culture is like turning a ship - not quick and happens incrementally. Hopefully the ship keeps steaming the same direction and we don't hit too many portal icebergs.

[CatBlitz]

Each coach we've had since Hysell has left their own mark. Each has put this program on another tier and each deserves credit for where we're at.
I would say the biggest leap after Kramer was Choate. Kramer started the change in record success and you could feel the culture shift with Choate.

Vigen is the perfect coach for this program and came at the perfect time.

[exppi]

Very similar experience for me as well. It is an awesome feeling to see the program grow and succeed over time.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Each coach we've had since Hysell has left their own mark. Each has put this program on another tier and each deserves credit for where we're at.
I would say the biggest leap after Kramer was Choate. Kramer started the change in record success and you could feel the culture shift with Choate.

Vigen is the perfect coach for this program and came at the perfect time.

This all started the day Earle Solomonson was hired. That year the team gave up 454 points, the worst in the division.

Cliff Hysell (RIP) pulled us from laughingstock to sort of mediocre. He was the first coach to use analytics at MSU. Coach brought the ideas. My co-worker and I wrote the code. Each week Cliff brought us the coded film breakdowns for our game, plus the upcoming opponent from grading the film exchange. The data was entered by keypunch operators. We ran our program that looked for “tendencies” in the offenses and defenses. It was a fascinating inside look at the game. Coach Hysell said it was “very useful” and he always stopped by before the first game and dropped several sets of season tickets on our desks. He never forgot. And I started going to football games again.

Public and student interest was still at a low ebb. When Mike Kramer was hired, even in the throes of an 0-11 season, the Big Human lit the spark that became the 20,000 people in Blue and Gold in Nashville. Somehow things went terribly wrong. I will always remember the detective car blocking the back entrance to the Fieldhouse that summer of 2006, and the cluster of sheriff’s vehicles and flashing lights at the corner of Huffine Lane and Love Lane as officers inspected something in the field.

Thank you Coach Ash. Rob was hired in July (that’s late!) and somehow the team came together and played creditable football. No more reports of detectives and guns in the Fieldhouse and program-related murders. It seemed like we’d come awfully close to not having a football program — to three straight Big Sky titles and building the Sonny Holland end zone.

Thank you Coach Choate. The program he was given was tidied up and off probation, but it somehow lacked soul. From day one, that changed. Salesman, recruiter and even football coach, Jeff worked tirelessly to create culture, attitude, star players, public interest and increasingly winning football. Scared away some bears, each fall for four years, that he found had been eating our apples.

Thank you Coach Vigen. Might I say he taught us some of the “North Dakota Way” but the players and fans put their own stamp on it. The most passionate, creative, entertaining, heart-stopping program around — and now the best.

It’s the Bobcat Way. Thank you, Earle.

[CatBlitz]

Each coach we've had since Hysell has left their own mark. Each has put this program on another tier and each deserves credit for where we're at.
I would say the biggest leap after Kramer was Choate. Kramer started the change in record success and you could feel the culture shift with Choate.

Vigen is the perfect coach for this program and came at the perfect time.

This all started the day Earle Solomonson was hired. That year the team gave up 454 points, the worst in the division.

Cliff Hysell (RIP) pulled us from laughingstock to sort of mediocre. He was the first coach to use analytics at MSU. Coach brought the ideas. My co-worker and I wrote the code. Each week Cliff brought us the coded film breakdowns for our game, plus the upcoming opponent from grading the film exchange. The data was entered by keypunch operators. We ran our program that looked for “tendencies” in the offenses and defenses. It was a fascinating inside look at the game. Coach Hysell said it was “very useful” and he always stopped by before the first game and dropped several sets of season tickets on our desks. He never forgot. And I started going to football games again.

Thank you for this. I was far too young to be "in the know" when Hysell was hired but I love a history lesson!

[Bobcat Sig]

For me, it stated when I arrived in Bozeman in the Fall of ‘98. Those first few years were rough.

But what a ride, culminating in last night’s unreal, gut-wrenching, euphoric win. Last night, when I totally didn’t cry, and then laughed, and went catatonic for moment; it was a culmination of all those years since ‘98.