How Illinois State and Montana State Built Championship FCS Rosters

There will be plenty of discussion about the X's and O's of the game and who will win the FCS national championship game between No. 2 seed Montana State and Illinois State. With over a week until kickoff, I wanted to take a different look at these two teams before Jan. 5.

We've all heard the saying, "Recruiting rankings don't matter in FCS football," which is mostly true because of how many overlooked, under-recruited players blossom into superstars at this level. I don't want anyone to think that saying means "recruiting doesn't matter," because evaluation and development typically win championships.

Since many people overlook recruiting and roster construction when discussing FCS football, I wanted to do a deep dive into the rosters of both Montana State and Illinois State.

We are going to take a look at where these significant contributors are being recruited from, whether either team values the transfer portal over high school development, and identify some key similarities in how these two teams built national championship-level rosters.

Prioritize In-State Recruiting

One major similarity stood out for both teams. These programs are built through in-state recruiting, particularly through high school talent.

Montana State features over 40 players from the state of Montana, including an impressive 13 players from Bozeman. The Bobcats have done an outstanding job of finding and developing in-state talent, which has ultimately formed the nucleus of this team.

It starts with safety Caden Dowler, the 2025 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, and his brother, Taco, who is a multi-time FCS All-American and All-Big Sky selection at wide receiver. Then it extends to the defensive line, where Paul Brott (Billings) and Kenneth Eiden IV (Bozeman) lead one of the best defenses in the country.

In fact, when looking at Montana State's significant contributors this season (Played > 200 snaps), 16 of those players are from the state of Montana. Freshman All-American Braden Zimmer has started at left tackle for the Bobcats, playing over 900 total snaps, and was signed out of Billings.

Another key in-state win was running back Adam Jones, who, ironically, was signed out of Missoula. Jones was a Freshman All-American last season and has rushed for over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. In three games against his hometown team (Montana), Jones has rushed for 376 yards and four touchdowns.

The same recipe was used for Illinois State, where over 50 players are in-state prospects. Like Montana State, 15 of Illinois State's significant contributors this season are in-state players. Two of Illinois State's biggest playmakers were in-state high school prospects who have been developed into All-Americans.

Linebacker Tye Niekamp redshirted his first season, but has been a superstar since 2023. In over 40 career games, Niekamp has 341 total tackles, 34.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, five interceptions, and 28 pass breakups. If he remains at Illinois State for his senior season, he's on pace to be one of the most accomplished players in program history.

All eyes will be on wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz in Nashville. With one game left, he is already the program's all-time leader in career receptions (257) and receiving touchdowns (40), needing only 58 yards to also become the all-time leader in receiving yards. The Redbirds signed Sobkowicz out of Arlington Heights, Illinois, another massive in-state recruiting win.

It's clear from analyzing the similarities between the two teams that each has prioritized local, in-state recruiting.

Illinois State wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz (2) | Illinois State Athletics

High School vs Transfer Portal

In today's college football landscape, the transfer portal has not only completely changed the way teams approach roster building but has also led some programs to use it as a crutch for poor development.

Looking at Illinois State and Montana State, both programs have taken a similar approach. Build the foundation through the high school ranks, and fill in the gaps with experience from the transfer portal.

There are some key differences, though: the Bobcats have only 12 total transfers (including JUCO) on the roster, while the Redbirds have nine starters who transferred into the program.

I think an interesting comparison is the secondary units, which both teams had to replace every starter from last season.

Montana State features seven underclassmen in the secondary, headlined by Freshman All-American cornerback Carson Williams. Along with Williams, Seth Johnson, Jhase McMillan, and Colter Petre have all played key roles as freshmen this year. Safety Tayden Gray and Taki Uluilakepa both saw limited action last year, but have thrived in starting roles in 2025.

Interestingly, the only significant contributor in the secondary that wasn't recruited by the Bobcats out of high school is former JUCO safety Bryant Meredith. He started his career at Northern Arizona before spending a year at Fullerton College, joining the Bobcats in January.

Illinois State brought in two key transfers in Shadwel Nkuba II and La'Shavion Brown, who have both been key contributors this year. Nkuba earned FCS All-American honors, leading the Redbirds with five interceptions. Brown was a JUCO addition from Hutchinson CC, ranking 2nd on the team with 91 tackles.

Even with the transfer additions, it was homegrown talent that has reinforced the Illinois State secondary.

Safety Jack Dwyer and Cam Wilson have been rotational pieces for multiple years, but have thrived in starting roles this year. Two redshirt freshmen, Doreon Dubose and CJ Richard Jr., have also stepped up in key moments. Richard has the second-most interceptions (3) for the Redbirds this season.

Even though most of these rosters are built with high school talent, both teams have nailed their transfer portal evaluations. It's something that's overlooked by fans who criticize building through the portal. If a team can achieve a high hit rate in the portal, it can immediately change a program's trajectory, but missing on transfers can really destroy a program's culture.

With the few transfers that Montana State has added over the past few seasons, none have been more impactful than quarterback Justin Lamson. He was tasked with replacing a program legend, Tommy Mellott, and has thrived under pressure, leading the Bobcats back to the national championship.

Montana State Bobcats quarterback Justin Lamson (8) | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Former Wisconsin running back Julius Davis has also been impactful, recording a team-high 1,100 rushing yards and posting eight rushing touchdowns. Washington State transfer Alec Eckert has been a key starter for two seasons, giving the Bobcats another strong inside force next to All-American Paul Brott.

As for the Redbirds, Cincinnati transfer Victor Dawson leads the team with 1,251 rushing yards. He's been a star throughout the playoff run, topping the 100-yard mark in three of the four postseason games. FCS All-American offensive tackle Jake Pope transferred in from Kentucky in 2022 and has started nearly 40 games over the past three seasons for the Redbirds.

Along with Pope, Coastal Carolina transfer Logan Brasfield has started 13 games at right tackle as a sophomore. The Redbirds also added Jack McGarry from Coastal Carolina, who has found a role at center. He was named to the MVFC All-Newcomer Team after playing nearly 700 snaps this year.

Along with the additions in the secondary, the Redbirds nailed transfer evaluations on Mason Kaplan (Valparaiso), Garret Steffen (Western Illinois), and Christian Lorenzo (Georgia State). Steffen has thrived in his role next to All-MVFC defensive tackle Jake Anderson, posting 10.5 tackles for loss and a team-high seven sacks.

There's no one-size-fits-all for the transfer portal vs. high school debate, but I find it interesting that both teams used a similar approach to build their rosters. Ultimately, this debate centers on teams that are effective at scouting and evaluation and those that struggle to develop and identify talent.

Significant Contributors By Class

In this section, I wanted to take a look at the breakdown of significant contributors by class for each team. We defined "significant contributors" as players who played 200 or more snaps up to this point in the season. Snap count data was collected from Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Year	Montana State	Illinois State
Fr.	9	5
So.	13	6
Jr.	9	7
Sr.	8	16

Both teams had roughly 35-40 players who have played 200 snaps this season, but the breakdown by class shows a significant difference in each team's experience. Montana State has leaned on youth at multiple key positions, especially in the secondary this season, while Illinois State is the much more experienced, older team, relying on nearly 20 seniors.

Now, the transfer portal can change a lot, but if things remain the same, this breakdown shows how well Montana State has recruited under head coach Brent Vigen. Players are being recruited and developed to contribute early, which has paid large dividends as the season takes a toll with injuries.

I also want to give credit to Montana State's staff from last season. As the Bobcats were up big in many games, a ton of these young players were given playing time, which really helped develop some of the stars they count on this season. Tayden Gray, Taki Uluilakepa, Bryce Grebe, and Hunter Parsons all played over 200 snaps last season, giving them a springboard to be key contributors this year.

On the other side, Illinois State has done an excellent job of retaining talent, setting the stage for this senior-laden team to make a run to Nashville. Finding ways to keep talent over multiple seasons has become one of the most difficult tasks in college football, but the teams that succeed in the postseason are usually the ones that find a way.

As players earn All-American and All-Conference honors, FBS teams begin circling, offering massive NIL deals and promising NFL development. Despite all this, Illinois State found a way to keep Daniel Sobkowicz for five seasons, and now he's one of the top FCS prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Not only Sobkowicz, but it's almost a guarantee that teams have reached out to Tommy Rittenhouse, Jake Anderson, Tye Niekamp, and other top contributors.

Rittenhouse has spent four seasons with the Redbirds, throwing for over 6,800 career yards and 93 passing touchdowns, adding another 19 scores with his legs. Niekamp has been an All-American nearly every season of his career, making his return one of the biggest wins for the Redbirds.

Quick Final Takeaways

It's interesting that when these programs do look out of state for talent, they don't only look at neighboring states. Montana State has eight or more players from Washington, Idaho, and California, but the Bobcats have really utilized an overlooked pipeline to build this championship roster.

All those recent trips to Frisco may have paid off for Montana State, which has 14 players from Texas on its roster. Even more interestingly, four of the underclassmen who are significant contributors in Montana State's secondary were recruited from Texas.

Jhase McMillan (Fulshear), Tayden Gray (Arlington), Carson Williams (Houston), and Seth Johnson (Frisco) were all high school recruits from the Lone Star State. All four have been key starters in the secondary, including McMillan and Williams playing over 500 total snaps this season.

The same type of trend can be seen at Illinois State, where the Redbirds have signed multiple key contributors from talent-rich states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Shadwel Nkuba II, Mason Kaplan, Cam Wilson, and Jake Pope are all from one of those three states and have been key players throughout Illinois State's run to Nashville.

The Redbirds have been extremely active in neighboring states, signing a ton of talent from Indiana and Wisconsin. Garret Steffen, Eddie Kasper, Wenkers Wright, and Landon Woodard are some examples of talent pulled in from those close recruiting pipelines.

At the start of this, I wanted to really hone in on how these two programs built rosters that made a run to the national championship. The trends are clear... Prioritize in-state recruiting, build a foundation through high school development, fill gaps with high-success-rate portal acquisitions, and capitalize on recruiting pipelines in talent-rich states.

Those things, along with talent retention at key positions, appear to be the recipe for building a national championship contender at the FCS level. We'll see which roster will take home the trophy on Jan. 5 in Nashville, TN.

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