BUTTE — Things are going to look different for Montana Tech's football team come the fall, in more ways than one.
First, the landscape of Frontier Conference football is about to increase with the league set to welcome in several former North Star Athletic Association teams. Tech is now a member of the Frontier's East division, and will host newcomers Valley City State, Dakota State and Mayville State in 2025 while also traveling to Dickinson State.
Secondly, the Orediggers are graduating a 28-player senior class including a large number of multi-year starters, including some offensive stalwarts like quarterback Blake Thelen, wide receiver Wyatt Alexander and running back Landers Smith.
That's a lot of departing talent, but for sixth-year coach Kyle Samson, he sees Tech's spring camp as an opportunity for younger players to now step up and demonstrate their mettle.
"I think there's a lot of competition this spring," said Samson during a Monday evening practice. "We're very excited about the young guys coming up. Just trying to build our 2025 team and that's what's fun about spring ball. We get a lot of competition, get a lot of young guys some reps. Competition is going to make us better for sure."
There will be a lot of positions to shore up as Tech looks to start putting together a two-deep roster over the coming weeks. But one area with some continuity is the offensive line which returns three starters that helped Smith pile up a league-leading 1,347 yards last season.
"Everything starts up front and ends up front," said senior guard Thomas Walkup. "So we take pride in everything we do. We enjoy having everyone's back and that's just a bond that we have with everybody."
Tech is coming off a 2024 campaign that saw the Orediggers go 9-3 overall, 6-2 in Frontier play and qualify for the postseason for the second straight year after ending a playoff drought that extended back to 2016.
But the Orediggers playoff run then ended with a 32-29 second-round home loss to Northwestern College (Iowa) with Red Raiders kicker Eli Stader making a 51-yard field goal as time expired.
Tech has re-established itself as a playoff team the past two seasons and the Orediggers are now looking to make a breakthrough this fall.
"We've gotten to where we want to be, we're a competitive team," said reshirt junior linebacker Kellan Beller. "But we want to start taking the next steps and we know we can. It's just going into each day trying to get better and trying to be a championship team."
