If not for the cap hat and dry fit clothing, one might almost mistake Matt Miller for another Bobcat wide receiver. The Treasure State legend still looks like he could strap on the pads and be the best receiver for the team he now coaches. If not for a wrecked ankle, Miller would likely still be playing football — in the National Football League.
The 6-foot-3 Miller looks like he’s still close to his playing weight of 210 pounds as he jogs briskly from drill to drill during his first fall camp as Montana State’s wide receivers coach. The 25-year-old Helena native set numerous records as a four-year starter at Boise State. He spent one season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater before joining Jeff Choate’s first staff at MSU in January.
MSU wide receiver coach Matt Miller works drills
“I think he could still come out and play,” said MSU junior wide receiver Mitch Herbert, a third-team All-Big Sky Conference selection last season and the Bobcats’ leading returning receiver. “From drill to drill, he always challenges us to races and he gets after us. When he is demonstrates drills, he still shows us he could play the receiver position at a very high level.”
Miller is so new to the coaching game, he is a few months younger than Mitch Griebel, a Montana State team captain last fall as a senior. But Choate said he most times forgets he’s dealing with someone who played at a high level so recently.
“He just gets it,” Choate said. “Some guys are ball coaches and he’s one of them. You realize he’s only 25, but he’s so detailed in the coaching. He played under some really good football coaches and he obviously paid attention.
“He’s just a really mature guy for a young fellow. Even though he’s just getting out of playing, he’s able to have that separation that’s important to carry that credibility in the meeting room.”
Miller is working with a wide receivers group flush with players competing for time in the rotation. All-Big Sky junior Mitch Herbert seems a sure bet to starts but the other two position remain wide open. Junior Justin Paige and redshirt freshman Cam Sutton are the front-runners at the other outside position with senior Will Krolick giving chase. Sophomore John D’Agostino has emerged the top guy in the slot but junior Jayshawn Gates and senior Brandon Brown are also in the mix.
MSU wide receivers coach Matt Miller
After earning Montana Gatorade Player of the Year honors in 2009 and redshirting in 2010, Miller wasted no time making a name for himself in Idaho’s capitol city. As a freshman, he earned first-team Freshman All-America honors by setting BSU rookie records with 66 catches, 679 yards and nine touchdowns. As a sophomore, he notched team-highs with 66 catches and 769 yards, including five touchdown grabs. As a junior, he earned honorable mention All-Mountain West honors by setting a Boise State single-season record with 88 catches for 1,140 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a senior, he hauled in 28 catches for 448 yards and three touchdowns in five games before his career ended with an ankle injury.
During his career, Miller set a school record with 244 catches. If not for the injury his senior season, Miller would’ve broken the school’s receiving yardage record as well; his 3,049 yards are still second all-time.
Choate, a native of Saint Maries, Idaho, played at Montana Western and is married to a Dillon product. Choate has coached at various levels of football over the last 20 years and calls Miller “perhaps the best guy to come out of Montana” in those two decades. Miller’s playing accolades are not lost on his players.
“He’s played at a very high level and he knows as receivers, we look up to him a lot,” Herbert said. “We try to model our games after him. I think he’s trying to put his game into all of ours. Some of the tall receivers like me and Cam, he helps us out a lot because that was his style of play as well.”
MSU defensive line coach Byron Hout works drills with defensive lineman Chase Benson
“He’s young enough and was good enough, he could probably still strap up and play a little bit,” added D’Agostino.
On the other side of the practice field is another first-time position coach that seems a natural as he works with Montana State’s defensive line. Unlike Miller, Byron Hout does not look the part of his position group — at his playing peak, Hout was a 6-foot, 240-pound All-Mountain West outside linebacker at Boise State. Like Miller, he is garnering rave reviews from Choate and defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak as he navigates his first fall camp as a full-time position coach.
“He’s an intense coach but I think he’s a good teacher for a young guy,” Choate said. “He’s been in a number of systems. He was with us at Washington State. The coaching staff changed at Boise when he went back there. Now having a chance to do his own thing is good. I think he’s a guy the kids can relate to because he’s not that far out of playing but he’s also been in a number different systems.
“For me, the most important thing with Byron is he knows the culture I want to create,” Choate said. “That familiarity with me helps him.”
MSU defensive line coach Bryon Hout
Hout was a two-year starter and four-year letter winner at Boise State between 2008 and 2011. In 2010, he earned second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors despite missing the last four games of the season with an injury. In 2011, the Couer d’Alene, Idaho product was an honorable mention All-Mountain West selection after leading BSU with 69 tackles. In his BSU career, he notched 157 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
Hout spent 2013 as a graduate assistant with Choate at Washington State. In 2013, he returned to his alma mater for three seasons as a graduate assistant on Chris Peterson’s staff, transition last fall to work for Bryan Harsin.
“Coach Hout is awesome,” MSU sophomore nose tackle Tucker Yates said. “He’s been pushing us hard. I’ve learned more in the last two weeks than I think I did in the last two years. It’s been great.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
