Dane Steel
Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services
CATS IN CAMP DAY #7: Eligibility Alterations Affect Special Teams Roles
8/6/2026 4:05:00 PM | Football
First-year freshman aim for roles in kicking game
After a year unlike any other in Montana State football history, the Bobcats prepare for the 2026 season beginning with the first preseason practice on July 30 and culminating with the season opener at Utah Tech on August 29.
THE STRAIGHT SKINNY: Montana State staged a lighter-than-usual practice in Bobcat Stadium on Thursday. The slightly-less-than-two-hour-long session in spiders (shoulder coverings rather than full pads) included a two-minute segment at the end.
SORTING OUT SPECIAL TEAMS: Montana State's first week of fall camp featured "mostly drill work" in building its special teams unit, but MSU head coach Brent Vigen said that soon ramps up into getting those units game ready.
"We'll begin meeting as a staff" to make those determinations, he said. But the process gained a wrinkle recently when academic class-based eligibility became the standard in athletics. In other words, student-athletes have five years of eligibility to use in five years, with certain standards set as starting points. Vigen said that slightly alters his staff's approach to building special teams this season.
"It changes the math of, if a guy is good enough to play but there's not an opportunity on offense or defense, you can now play him on special teams," Vigen said. "The last couple of years we've used the rule of if they're playing offense or defense then we'll run with it, but if not we've held (first-year freshmen from special teams). Now, if they're good enough to contribute on special teams they can potentially have that as a goal. We don't have to limit guys to four games to preserve that (redshirt) year."
ONE QUICK QUOTE: "We have a younger group of guys, or maybe I'm just getting older. We have a lot of young guys in the room, Taco (Dowler) is the only guy who doesn't have another year left, so it's been fun for sure. Coach Price has done such a good job of making it a fun fall camp, and that's a hard thing to do."
-MSU Receiver Dane Steel
COMING UP: The Bobcats return to the grass intramural fields on Lincoln Street on Friday and Saturday at 9:25 am to practice in full pads.
THE STRAIGHT SKINNY: Montana State staged a lighter-than-usual practice in Bobcat Stadium on Thursday. The slightly-less-than-two-hour-long session in spiders (shoulder coverings rather than full pads) included a two-minute segment at the end.
SORTING OUT SPECIAL TEAMS: Montana State's first week of fall camp featured "mostly drill work" in building its special teams unit, but MSU head coach Brent Vigen said that soon ramps up into getting those units game ready.
"We'll begin meeting as a staff" to make those determinations, he said. But the process gained a wrinkle recently when academic class-based eligibility became the standard in athletics. In other words, student-athletes have five years of eligibility to use in five years, with certain standards set as starting points. Vigen said that slightly alters his staff's approach to building special teams this season.
"It changes the math of, if a guy is good enough to play but there's not an opportunity on offense or defense, you can now play him on special teams," Vigen said. "The last couple of years we've used the rule of if they're playing offense or defense then we'll run with it, but if not we've held (first-year freshmen from special teams). Now, if they're good enough to contribute on special teams they can potentially have that as a goal. We don't have to limit guys to four games to preserve that (redshirt) year."
ONE QUICK QUOTE: "We have a younger group of guys, or maybe I'm just getting older. We have a lot of young guys in the room, Taco (Dowler) is the only guy who doesn't have another year left, so it's been fun for sure. Coach Price has done such a good job of making it a fun fall camp, and that's a hard thing to do."
-MSU Receiver Dane Steel
COMING UP: The Bobcats return to the grass intramural fields on Lincoln Street on Friday and Saturday at 9:25 am to practice in full pads.
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