BOZEMAN — The Montana State football team is full of guys who bleed blue and gold.
But perhaps none are entrenched in the program like defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Bobby Daly.
“It was really easy to see that this place meant so very much to him,” Montana State coach Brent Vigen said, reflecting on 2021 when he first arrived in Bozeman. “Obviously he had played here. His brother Brad had, his dad J. had, so the roots ran real deep.”
At that time, Daly had coached just one season at MSU, leading the linebackers in 2019 as the Bobcats made a run to the FCS semifinals. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But his Bobcat blood dates way back to the 1970s.
Daly’s dad, J., was part of the 1976 national championship team — though he was ineligible to play that season as a transfer from Carroll College — and became a two-time all-conference offensive lineman.
“We won the national championship in ‘76, and then we were rated No. 1 seven weeks into the season (in 1978),” J. Daly said. “We were 7-0 and then we got beat by two teams, the only time I ever lost to the Grizzlies, and then (Northern Arizona) beat us.”
In hindsight, that 1978 season that ended with an 8-2 overall record proved to be an inflection point for Montana State football. The Bobcats went 6-4 in 1979 and then went .500 or better in just six seasons — including a national championship run in 1984 — from 1980 to 2002.
Montana State hit rock bottom in 2000, going 0-11 in then-coach Mike Kramer’s first season.
“I entered high school in 2000, and that was probably the lowest of the low for this program,” said Bobby Daly. “And I grew up coming to Bobcat games ... so it was not necessarily coming down here and that expect-to-win mentality that we now have from our group and from our fanbase.
“And we’ve gotten to that point where when people fill the stadium, they expect to see great things.”
The tide started to turn with Kramer at the helm. After that 0-11 season, the Bobcats went 5-6 in 2001 and then won Big Sky Conference championships in 2002 and 2003.
Bobby Daly, a Helena Capital High School product, walked on at MSU in 2004.
“Coach Kramer recruited me into this building, and he started pulling this program out of the dumps,” Bobby Daly said. “And by the time I was a sophomore, we were going to the playoffs. We won a home playoff game, which was our standard — that was coach Kramer’s goal, was to host a playoff game and win it. And we were able to do that in 2006.”
The Bobcats defeated Furman 31-13 in the first round of the FCS playoffs in 2006 for the program’s first playoff win since the legendary 1984 championship run. The Bobcats lost to eventual national champion Appalachian State the next week.
“They won a (playoff) game, and I was like, ‘Holy cow,’” Brad Daly recalled. “They hadn’t made the playoffs as far as I could remember, really, and then they won a playoff game. Bobby and I were talking about that. It’s pretty crazy that that was blowing my socks off that they won a playoff game and got to go to App State.
“And now it’s kind of a championship-or-bust type of deal. It’s pretty crazy. It’s crazy how far it’s come.”
By the time Bobby Daly was done playing, he was a two-time All-American linebacker and the program’s fourth-leading all-time tackler.
And then Brad joined the program, ultimately becoming a sack artist on the defensive line and winning the 2013 Buck Buchanan Award as the best defensive player in the FCS.
The Daly family, then, has been getting together at Bobcat Stadium nearly every fall since 2004, Montana State qualifying for the FCS playoffs 11 times in that span.
“Game days are a family reunion every weekend for me,” said Bobby Daly. “My brother’s coming down from Billings. My dad, my mom, my sister’s coming up from Helena. We’ve got cousins, uncles, aunts, grandmas, grandpas that want to come to the game. ... Our success, and me being here has really brought our family closer.
“And just being a part of Bobcat game days, my parents have been doing it since 2004 when I got here. My brother came right after me, and it’s just become a part of who they are, coming down here on Saturdays for Bobcat home games.”
“I feel sorry for (Bobby) because, yes, there are times when he’s (coaching) and everybody wants to go into his office, and they do,” J. said with a chuckle. “It’s not unlikely that there’s 15 people in there at one time — all the grandkids, Brad’s going to be there and his wife and he’s got two kids, and my daughter, she brings her husband and she’s got two kids, and Bobby’s got one. It’s an event.”
Nobody enjoys Bobcat game days more than Quinn Daly, Brad’s 5-year-old daughter and Bobby’s niece. She used to be babysat by MSU receiver/returner Taco Dowler, who became the Bobcats’ career leader in punt return yards earlier this season.
“She’s a big Taco fan,” Brad Daly said. “So, she can see the horses (during the team’s runout) and see Taco, and then she just loves being around her cousins. They go up into Bobby’s office and just run around and wrestle and draw on the board.”
Bobby Daly was elevated to defensive coordinator prior to this season, but he still coaches the linebackers. He also carries the title of assistant head coach and is the Bobcats’ lead in-state recruiter.
He’s risen through MSU’s coaching staff alongside this year’s senior class, which includes Montana natives Tommy Mellott, Marcus Wehr and Ryan Lonergan on offense and Brody Grebe, Rylan Ortt and McCade O’Reilly on defense, among others.
"Just watching them grow, watching them mature, that's an awesome part of this job," Daly said of the seniors. "So, I think that group, in particular, it's the best leadership from a group of seniors that I've ever been around."
While Mellott and Co. have rightfully gotten plenty of attention for the work they've done as the nation's No. 1 offense, Daly's defense has quietly shined this season and is a top-10 unit in the FCS.
“This group has developed a mentality. They’ve got a chip on their shoulder. When their backs are against the wall, they come out swinging,” Daly said. “And that’s definitely the mentality that I want them to have, and that’s the mentality that they’ve embraced. But we've got a lot of guys playing fast, physical football. And if we got guys playing hard, that's usually a good thing for us.”
Added Vigen: “I think what I see is we are very prepared each week. Our guys know what they’re doing, and I think we change our plan up enough each week to present some challenges for the other offense.
“Our success, Bobby’s certainly a big part of that this fall, and he’s been a big part of our success over a long, long time with this program.”
