Q&A: Former Washington State QB Ryan Leaf on calling FCS title game, Montana State connections

BOZEMAN – For the second time in as many years, Ryan Leaf will be in Frisco, Texas, calling an FCS title game involving a football team from Montana.

Leaf, a Great Falls native and former star quarterback at Washington State, was the color commentator for the Westwood One radio broadcast of the Montana Grizzlies’ 23-3 loss to South Dakota State Jan. 7, 2024, at Toyota Stadium. He’ll be back in the booth in Frisco alongside play-by-play broadcaster Ted Emrich for Westwood One on Monday, when the Montana State Bobcats face North Dakota State.

After leading Great Falls CMR to the 1992 Class AA state football title, Leaf starred at Washington State, where he earned Pac-10 offensive player of the year, All-America and Heisman Trophy finalist honors in 1997. The San Diego Chargers selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft.

Leaf performed poorly throughout his five-year NFL career, and he spent many of his post-playing days dealing with substance abuse and mental health problems. He served a prison sentence in 2014 for burglary, theft and drug possession and was placed on probation in 2020 after admitting to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.

Leaf has spent many years since giving speeches about mental health and addiction. One of the groups he spoke in front of was the MSU football team during its 2023 fall camp.

Leaf talked with 406 MT Sports over the phone last week about MSU, calling the FCS championship game and his sour relationship with Montana Grizzly fans.NOTE: This Q&A has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

406: First off, getting to call this game for Westwood One, and doing it with a Montana State team (playing) – your home state team and a team that you’ve been kind of involved with – just how excited are you to call it?

RL: First off, just incredibly honored to be able to call a national championship game, period. I was in a prison cell 10 years ago, so the fact that I’m calling a national championship football game is really a miracle. That’s first and foremost in all this, so just a ton of gratitude. And then the first two years I do it, both the universities I grew up around, the University of Montana and Montana State are both playing in it, and I get to call those games. That’s pretty remarkable too.

I don’t hide at all that I grew up my whole life as a Montana State fan. My dad’s a Montana State grad, and coach (Brent) Vigen has been incredibly supportive of me. He’s had me in to speak to the team, so there are a lot of guys on this team I know really well, and that makes for a really interesting call too. And North Dakota State, what a powerhouse, what an identity of character. I just don’t think I could have asked for a better game to be able to call.

406: Vigen’s mentioned before the talks you’ve had with the team. Can you describe what you’ve talked about and what those meetings have been like?

RL: I get asked to do this a lot. Nick Saban was the first coach to ask me to speak to his (Alabama) team a few years back after they lost the national championship to Clemson, I believe. That’s the best referral you can get.

Mostly what it is, there’s a relatability when I walk into that room. I sat in the seats of all those players. Usually before the season, (we talk about) where they want to get to, their dreams and aspirations and what realities are there and what you really can control. We speak to the idea and understanding of choice, consequences – good or bad – to the choices you make and then the things you can control. We’ve kind of come to realize that there are really only three things that you can control as a human being, though we feel like we can control more. It’s usually based around attitude, behavior and effort. If those three things you do in a positive and healthy way, it really doesn’t matter what the result is. You’ll have known that, when you walk off the field or walk out of that locker room for the last time or out of your uniform for the last time, you’ll have done everything you possibly can to be successful. It’s not just football-related, it’s life-related too. I think they mimic each other. So when you do walk out of that locker room for the last time, those three things that you can control move on into life and how you effectively govern your life from that point on too.

That’s the gist of it. Of course, it’s long form. It’s my story in more detail. When I was there in Bozeman, just an incredible response from those young men. It’s fun to see them having the success that they’re having.

406: You mentioned some of the guys on the team you’ve gotten to know. Who chief among them are the guys that you’ve maybe built the closest relationships or just gotten to know the most?

RL: Brody (Grebe), he was also at the Big Sky Conference Kickoff. I spoke to every Big Sky Conference football coach and athletic director before this season started, along with two players from every team. Brody was one of them. I’ve had time with Tommy Mellott. Cole Taylor, he’s a redshirt freshman from Great Falls. He played quarterback for my alma mater, at Russell. Some of those guys I’ve stayed in touch with. Coach Vigen and I and (MSU athletic director) Leon Costello have been on a text thread for about two years now. That’s a pretty good one we’ve got going.

I was calling games for the Pac-12 this year and I didn’t really dive too deep into the rest of college football, but I paid real close attention to the FCS, knowing I was going to call the championship game, and was seeing the success of the Big Sky Conference and Montana State in particular.

406: What’s impressed you most about this team on the field?

RL: Just their unwillingness to relinquish their will. They impose it on everybody. And then they have Tommy. Tommy is an extension of the coach on the field. That was a question I asked Brent on the Zoom call the other day. I just wanted to hear how comfortable that makes him, knowing that when something bad happens or something doesn’t go the right way or there’s a bad call and they feel like they got screwed or something like that, having another voice in that huddle – another coach, essentially, an extension of that on the football field.

What’s there not to like from a kid from Butte, America, who has just always wanted to be a Cat and absolutely worked his tail off every single day he’s been in Bozeman to put himself in this position. I’m excited for him. He just got the Walter Camp (FCS player of the year). I suspect he’s going to take home the Walter Payton (Award) on Saturday night. If that’s the case and he goes 16-0 with a national championship, I think there’d be a real strong argument for him being the best Montana-born quarterback to go to Montana or Montana State that’s ever played.

406: I’ve seen all your trolling on (social media) of Griz fans. I’m just curious your thoughts, whatever you want to say on that?

RL: Last year, when it was announced that I was calling the game, it was really bad. We got death threats, we got petitions and we got just hatred from the Griz fans. So I just kind of leaned into it. Knowing that I’m a Cat fan, I’ve had some fun with it. Unfortunately, they’ve kind of shown who they are through the process, and I just don’t think they can help themselves now. It reflects poorly on their fan base.

Nothing against their team. Their team’s amazing. Bobby Hauck’s an unbelievable coach. That whole staff I know really well. Bryce Erickson, Brent Pease, that whole crew are just top notch guys. The football team’s amazing. It really is the entitled fan base that I’ve had some fun with.

There would be nothing better than Monday night with the clock winding down for me to be able to say, “Your 2024 FCS national champions, the Montana State Bobcats.” That would be pretty incredible. Doesn’t mean I won’t do my job well. Anybody who listened to me last year call the game between Montana and South Dakota State understood fully that I respected those players and that team and I called that game as well as anybody could.

When you sign up to be a fan for the Cats or the Griz, you’ve got to dislike the other team. I know how that feels for me with the University of Washington. I hate the color purple, man. It’s the way it is. So, yeah, I think it’s a bunch of harmless nothing that they’ve taken really personally, so it’s kind of fun to be able to rub their nose in it when the Cats keep winning.

The fan base for the Bobcats was so grateful, supporting and filled with love when I got announced as the guy calling the game this weekend.

406: Anything else you want to say?

RL: This North Dakota State team is incredibly talented. This is just going to be a great football game. A lot of the playoffs weren’t all that great, the semifinals were pretty stellar and now I think we’re going to get an absolutely gangbusters national championship game.

This could be a very NFL-type game. Because of the kicking game for both teams, you eliminate maybe the third phase of the game, and it really comes down to situational football: execution on third down, red zone efficiency, getting touchdowns, not field goals. I think those are going to be the major factors, and then, of course, if the defense is able to create a turnover here or there. The smallest little details of situational football, just like what happens in the NFL, is what’s going to dictate this game.

I think that that’s the way these types of games should be when you have both talented programs like this: well-coached, well-played teams. It should be about the other team imposing a turnover or just being better in the red zone or being better on third down. I think the team that wins those three statistics in this game will probably be the one hoisting the trophy on Monday night.