Montana Tech signs 24 Treasure Staters in 2026 football recruiting class

BUTTE — Montana Tech head football coach Kyle Samson and his staff are thrilled to announce the Orediggers' 2026 high school recruiting class.

This year's group features 38 recruits from nine states, including 24 from Montana. Twenty-three of those signees were honored with selections to the 2026 Montana East-West Shrine Game, and 12 won state championships.

"All of these student-athletes are great competitors and will represent our program very well in the classroom, the community and on the field. These are the types of student-athletes that we want in our program," Samson said. "These recruits are not only good athletes but great leaders in their schools and communities."

All 38 players joining the program were multi-sport athletes for their high schools.

Samson said the staff again placed an emphasis on winning the recruiting battle in the Treasure State.

"Recruiting Montana kids is a huge priority for us, and we feel that we have done a great job getting a lot of the top players from our home state here to Butte," the head coach said. "This is our sixth full recruiting class as a staff, and we are very proud that we have been able to bring in some of the top recruits in Montana and across the West. We are very proud to add two of the top kids from our hometown right here in Butte.

"We feel like they are great fits for our culture that we are trying to build on and off the field. This is a great recruiting class, and we are very excited about the potential that these young men have. I'm very excited about the athleticism of this group from all positions. We feel this is a group that has great size and speed, and there are some guys that will definitely have big impacts on our team in the very near future."

Another hallmark of the class is its strength in the trenches. There are 13 offensive and defensive linemen in the group.

"We are extremely excited about our fronts on both sides of the ball in this class," said Samson. "You win championships up front with your O-line and D-line, and we feel that these two groups have the potential to be very special here at Tech."

That isn't to say the group is without explosiveness elsewhere.

"We have some great skill guys coming in on both sides of the ball that will be great additions to our offense and defense," Samson said.

While his leadership was instrumental in putting this year's recruiting class together, Samson said the class' strength came from a lock-step team effort by the assistant coaches, as well.

"I really want to thank our coaching staff for doing a tremendous job to get these student-athletes to Tech," Samson said. "I am very fortunate to have great assistant coaches on our staff that truly value relationships, and they have done a great job of identifying players that will be great fits for our team and our culture. I can't thank them enough for all their time, effort and commitment to bringing in young men that will make our community of Butte proud. This staff takes a ton of pride in recruiting, and they do a tremendous job.

"I also want to personally thank all of our campus community for helping us in our recruiting efforts, as well. The whole Montana Tech community is a big reason that these young men have chosen to come to Butte."

Samson said he took special pleasure in getting to know the families who have raised these future Orediggers.

"Lastly, I want to thank these recruits' families and their high school coaches and teachers," he said. "They wouldn't be where they are today without them, and we know they will be successful here at Tech because of all the great mentors they have had in their lives.

"Myself and our whole staff want to welcome these great young men and their families to our Montana Tech family and look forward to seeing all of them this fall. This class has the potential to be one of the very best that we have had here at Tech, and it will be a huge part of our future success and continue to lead us to championships."

Montana Tech enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in the program's storied history in 2025. The Orediggers went a perfect 11-0 in the regular season on their way to the Frontier Conference East Division title and carried the third seed into the NAIA Football Championship Series, where they received a first-round bye and topped rival Carroll College in the second round. Tech finished the season 12-1 (the 12 wins were a program record) and was ranked No. 5 in the NAIA's postseason coaches' top 25 poll.

2026 Montana Tech Football High School Recruiting Class