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Montana State names Matt Smith OL coach, Marcus Monaco special teams coordinator

Matt Smith
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BOZEMAN — Montana State head football coach Brent Vigen announced on Monday that Fresno State assistant Matt Smith has joined the Bobcats as offensive line coach.

Vigen also named Marcus Monaco, most recently a special teams quality control assistant for the Cats, as special teams coordinator.

“We’re very excited to bring Matt in to lead our offensive line group,” Vigen said. “He had a distinguished playing career at Fresno State and followed that up with a quick climb becoming offensive line coach for the Bulldogs this past season. I appreciate all the great coaches he has learned under and the impact that has had on him.

“Moving Marcus into the special teams coordinator role was a move that he has earned. He has played a key role in our special teams game planning and game day execution during his three seasons and did a great job leading our specialists this past season. ”

A member of the Fresno State program since arriving as a walk-on offensive lineman in 2016, Smith played for the Bulldogs from 2016-21 and started at center during the last three of those seasons.

He was a 2019 nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy recognizing the top college football player that began his career as a walk-on, and in 2020 was named to the watch list for the Rimington Award for the nation’s top center. During his playing career FSU rebounded from a 1-11 season in 2016 to a 10-4 campaign in 2017 and a Mountain West title in 2018.

A Long Beach, California, native who prepped at St. John Bosco, Smith worked at FSU as offensive line graduate assistant in 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, he worked alongside former Montana State offensive line coach, Brian Armstrong and was named the offensive line coach following Armstrong’s departure at the beginning of 2024. In each of his three years coaching, the Bulldogs made a bowl game and won a Mountain West title in 2022.

Smith earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in sports marketing in 2020, and his master’s in curriculum and instruction at Fresno State.

Monaco joined the Bobcat staff as a defensive quality control assistant in 2022, worked on the offensive side of the ball in 2023 and in 2024 moved into the elevated role of Special Teams Quality Control and Director of Football Video.

He graduated from Anaconda High in 2013, from UM Western with a Health and Human Performance degree in 2018, and from the University of Washington with a Master’s in Education, Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership in 2019.

After working as a grad student intern tight ends/special teams assistant coach at Navarro College (Corsicana, Texas) in 2018, Monaco was a special teams analyst at the University of Arkansas in 2019, and was special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at East Texas Baptist in 2020-21 before joining the Bobcats.

Working with MSU’s specialists, the Cats finished fourth in the FCS in net punting and sophomore kicker Myles Sansted finished among the nation’s top 20 in field goal percentage and scoring.