MISSOULA — University of Montana defensive coordinator Ty Gregorak is heading to rival Montana State.
The Missoulian reports Gregorak will hold the same coaching position with the Bobcats.
New MSU coach Jeff Choate reached out to Gregorak the day after Montana lost to North Dakota State in the playoffs.
Gregorak says the decision was one of the toughest decisions in his life. He says he would like to coach an FBS school or in the NFL and he believes working under Choate is a step toward that goal.
Gregorak has been the Griz defensive coordinator for four seasons. He was a position coach at Montana from 2003 to 2009.
“I’m extremely excited to hire a coach with Ty’s reputation for coordinating defenses and coaching young men,” Choate said. “His ability to communicate and motivate players is one of his strong suits, and that was one of my top priorities in a defensive coordinator. His record of leading outstanding defenses speaks for itself. His familiarity with our conference and his credibility in Montana are great assets. This is a home run hire for the Bobcats, and I’m very happy to welcome Ty.”
Choate indicated that Gregorak will coordinate the Bobcats’ defense without assignment to a specific position group.
“That will allow him to really dig into coaching the coaches and making sure our defense is on track,” Choate said. “I know he will coach a dominating defense here at Montana State.”
Gregorak and Choate met many years ago through former Montana head coach Mick Delaney, who coached at Choate’s alma mater, Western Montana College (now UM Western).
“I’ve always felt we think about football in a similar way,” Choate said. “I think it should be a great fit.”
A Spokane native, Gregorak was a graduate assistant at Washington in 2001 and ’02 after finishing his playing career at Colorado (1997-2000). His UM team finished among the top three in most Big Sky Conference defensive categories this season and the UM defenses he’s helped coach have led the Big Sky in scoring defense seven times and total defense four times. Three of his linebackers have earned All-America honors in the past four years (before 2015).
Gregorak is married to former Bobcat volleyball standout Kandice Kelly, and they have two children.