BOZEMAN — The Montana State offensive line has a new position coach and lost a few key members to graduation and the transfer portal this offseason.
But if there’s anything about the "Don Joy Mafia" — the position group’s nickname — it’s that the culture and standard doesn’t change.
Former MSU offensive line coach Al Johnson departed for the same position at Temple in January. The program then hired Matt Smith, who was the offensive line coach at Fresno State last season.
“I think just the great tradition here, over the last couple years, just the success of winning and championship mindset,” Smith said. “That’s something that I wanted to be apart of, being around like-minded people, and I know that’s the expectation every year.”
Smith worked alongside Brian Armstrong in 2023, who was the offensive line coach at Fresno State that season. Armstrong was with MSU from 2016-2022, having an impact on the run game identity for the Cats that is still felt three years later.
“You know, he’s got familiarity to some degree with what we’ve done here to some degree through his connection to Brian Armstrong, and just even how to call things and terminology Brian used, so I think that’s been a really good transition,” Montana State coach Brent Vigen said.
As for what Smith has learned from Armstrong since coming to Bozeman?
“First thing is, you've got to beat the Griz,” Smith said with a laugh. “I know that was No. 1. You can do whatever you need, but got to beat the Griz. And two, just the tradition and the people, how important it is to the community, to the program, to those guys. Playing at Montana State is something special, it’s not something to be taken lightly.”
Smith further explained his knowledge of the standard and what the o-line means to the culture of the program.
“We know what that means and what the standards and the expectations are, so when I’m watching film, we watch practice tape, whatever it is, anything we do, in the weight room, in the classroom, there’s a certain standard and expectation that we have to uphold,” Smith explained.
“We realize how important that is. I love that brotherhood. I mean the best teams, the best offensive line units I’ve ever been apart of were the closest.”
MSU lost its starters at left tackle (Conner Moore), center (Cole Sain) and right guard (Marcus Wehr). Smith explained what his philosophy looks like as they build what their identity looks like in 2025.
“I think that probably is the biggest question mark, is who’s going to play center, but I do know that there’s guys in that room that are going to be ready for the challenge and that are able to,” Smith said. “We just got to find the best mix of guys, those five guys, that are going to mesh the best.”
