Montana State Bobcats: Inside the National Championship Hangover with Dowler Brothers & Coach Vigen

Host Luke Schmit went to the 2026 Big Sky Conference Football Media Day in Spokane, Washington. Luke got a chance to sit down with Bobcat standouts Caden and Taco Dowler and head coach Brent Vigen fresh off Montana State's national championship season, talking legacy, loyalty and what it takes to defend a title.

Caden and Taco Dowler talk about what it means to represent the state that raised them, and why the in-state pipeline keeps producing impact players for the Bobcats. They open up about resisting transfer portal money to stay loyal to a program and a community, and how one of them built a seasoning brand on the side while staying grounded in Bozeman. Both players talk candidly about the surreal aftermath of winning a national championship - the nonstop phone notifications, a same-day surgery, and the slow process of coming down from that high.

MSU Head Coach Vigen reflects on what the title meant for the Big Sky's national standing and what it takes to chase it again, while the Dowler brothers describe the pressure and joy of being recognized everywhere they go in a state where everybody knows your name.

Watch the Big Sky Now podcast's panel discussion about their time in Spokane for Big Sky Conference's Media Day: https://youtu.be/181QjRjRo1M

Big thanks to M&C Tire for sponsoring Big Sky Now podcast. Serving the Flathead Valley since 1979, M&C is your total tire dealer with trusted brands, all at affordable prices. From farm trucks to hybrids, their certified technicians handle it all with unmatched hometown service. Stop by in 1271 N. Meridian Road in Kalispell, call (406) 752-9662, or visit https://www.mandctire.com/ to keep your ride rolling.

Northwest Montana deserves strong news reporting. Your donation helps continue work like this possible. Learn more at dailyinterlake.com/support

Would you rather watch this episode? Check out Daily Inter Lake's YouTube page! Please like and subscribe to keep up to date with all things Big Sky Conference. 

Email us any questions you may have at podcast@dailyinterlake.com - you may be featured in our next discussion!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome back everyone to the Big Sky Now podcast. I'm your host, Luke Schmidt. I'm here at the Big Sky Kickoff here in Spokane. Let's see what players and coaches we can find and talk about the upcoming 2026-2027 season. Thank you to M and C Tires for sponsoring this podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Can you explain what that means to be a Montana kid playing for a Montana school?

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Yeah, I mean you go around, we had Taco in Adam Jones camps this summer. Uh 1100 kids we see that love Montana State football. And it's really special that you know you grow up, that this is your Super Bowl. November, whatever the date is, is your Super Bowl for everyone in Montana. You're wearing those colors all week, you're arguing, maybe not talking to the kid wearing the opposite colors, you know. That that might be your friend. So it's a it's a really cool thing. You you really see it in Bozeman. And honestly, when we go back to Billings all around the state, that people really appreciate it and uh to represent Montana's road school. Taco, you want to weigh in on that? Yeah, I think I think being a Montana kid, you grow up and it's always either the cats or the grizz. And you're always in school trying to wear your team's uh shirt after that game in November, and uh you get huge bragging rights after that game, and it's just really important to um our staff to recruit the state, and obviously we're from the state, we got Zach Cruz, we got Adam Jones, a bunch of guys in the state that are impact players for our team. That's the thing, is we we recruit a lot of impact players for our team. And uh making a lot of the big plays at the end of the season is is Montana kids, and that's just even cooler when you go back to your hometown. You got Cole Taylor, we brought him back to Great Falls this summer, and um he's a king there. He's awesome. So uh it's it's just a cool thing, and Montana's just a one big small town, so it's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Uh-huh. Caden, is that is that part of why in Idaho a lot of kids left you know the transfer portal. A lot of them weren't from Idaho. Is it easier for Montana kids to stay and not resist the urge to move up, or not move up, but to take the NIL stuff? Very good. Um I think honestly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

I think it's definitely it's a combination of the thing. Like if Montana State wasn't Montana State and we didn't have the coaching staff around us, we didn't have the Bozeman community around us, we didn't have the entire state rallying behind us, it'd be pretty damn easy to leave, if I'm being honest.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

So even if you're a Montana kid. Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Like if it if the if Montana State didn't have the value that it has, like people don't realize the value that Montana State has. Coach B is the best coach in the country by far. With Coach Heron, our strength, our strength coach, who develops guys like Noah, a place that Montana kids can come and Montana kids will play because they recruit the best in Montana, they recruit the best all all across the country. But you know if you're one of the best in Montana, you're gonna play Montana State. So it really makes a difference in that in that portal window. Um you're really thinking about it, and um yeah, it's it's it's hard not to commit to something that's so great.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

Okay. Taco, how you how hard was it for you to come back? I mean, was it you obviously people must have been interested in you too.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Uh yeah, I mean, there's gonna be interest and with success on a team from top down. Coaches, if with success, your coaches are gonna try to get poached almost. Um players are gonna try to get poached. That's a good thing. If your team is doing good things and you're winning, um, it's a really good thing. So that's how we kind of take it and look at it is if you're getting approached and you're you're get getting asked to leave for money, your team's doing something right. So staying loyal to your team, I think, is the main thing, and Caden spoke to it. The community and Coach Vegan, the coaching staff, our president, our athletic director are so amazing that why would you want to leave? And um, legacy has no monetary value. Um it really doesn't, especially in Montana. Um both of us grew up there, and we want to leave a legacy behind that that hasn't been done before. Um that's really as simple as it as it gets. Yeah, it's it's tempting. There's a big dollar figure out there, and we're 18 to 22-year-old men. Um and some people give into that, and that's that's for them, and maybe they have uh out family stuff or outside factors that they need money for, but um, for us, we saw it as an investment to stay in Bozeman and um continue our legacy and try to build a legacy.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

I was gonna say you gotta get a chance to win another one this year.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Exactly. Well, huh.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

Now next year, I wrote this down a long time ago, Dollars Taco Seasoning. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Yeah, so I created my own my own seasoning brand. It's not just taco seasoning, um, it is called Dowler's. And uh my first seasoning was taco seasoning. We just launched an all-purpose seasoning called Champions Blend. Um thought that was cool. Um it's in it's online, it's in retail stores, it's it's all throughout the Northwest right now. Hopefully, we're gonna end up doing some NIL for my own teammates and doing like Cadence Cowboy Butter, Lambson's lemon pepper, uh, stuff like that. So um trying to take NIL and do it the right way and maybe learn a little business.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Has it been pretty successful?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Yeah, it's been really good. Um first month we just got the report back and it was it it raised my eyebrows a little bit. I was like, wow. Um but that just shows the support that we have in Montana. Um everyone wants us to buy a $10 bottle of uh seasoning because they respect that I've stayed. So um can't do anything without the community and without the support, and Montana State's second to none in that in that aspect.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

But people over here, how can they find it online?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Um any of my social media has it all. Um my Instagram, I got a website that has it all.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Um pretty well.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Um it's linked. I don't know the exact URL because I have like 10 different websites. Um you can just type in Dowler Seasoning in Google and it'll pop up. Um but yeah, so I got a bunch of different things I'm working on. It's pretty exciting.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

I've gotta ask, you know, you guys see uh we watch the Super Bowl, there's a lot of big sky players as he was talking this morning. You know, how exciting is that for YouTube? Because you two have the opportunity to do it at the next level.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Yeah, it's it's really cool. It means that the big sky's doing something right, and then you look at someone like Ty Okada, who's uh was in my room, like I was around him for an entire year, gotta see how he worked and um be with him in individual drills, be with him at practice, be with him in film, and um probably the perfect person to watch, honestly, uh starting 10 games for the Super Bowl champs. So uh it's really cool and um looking at opportunities that you know you can you can have somewhere else that you're also gonna get a shot here. If if NFL is gonna find you with social media, with everything, um if you play if you play well, then they'll find you. The film doesn't mind.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

You guys talked to Ty et al. After that. You guys are both champions, so I feel like maybe there's a little reach out on maybe either side.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Yeah, um, after winning the Natty, a lot of people reached out to us, and we knew it was pretty overwhelming. And think of that on a grand scale of the Super Bowl, and how many people were reaching out to him. So we didn't reach out for the first little bit, but he came back to Bozeman on the way down to Denver with his fiance, who's now wife. And uh I saw him and we went out and uh hung out a little bit and just talked. And it's it's funny because nothing changes for us as human beings. It's like we won a game, but nothing changes. He's still the same old awesome Tayokata that he was when I was a freshman. And uh no, I didn't reach out specifically right away, but obviously you don't have to, it's just kind of respect. It's awesome. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

Last question I have for you. I've been meaning to ask you guys is what were your guys' phones like after you won the national championship? Was it just constant barrage, like you were just saying? I mean, that's gotta be pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

I I was sitting next to him, I don't remember what it was. It might have been at the airport the next day, or oh no, because he went, but it was that night, and he had it on Ringer for some reason. And it was like it never stopped, and it was making me so mad. Like I was so frustrated, like turn that damn phone off. And it was just going, yeah, it was going crazy, obviously. Um mine not as much, but it was definitely a little bit overwhelming, um, the whole experience. And I mean you wouldn't want it any other way, I guess. So we're trying to see yeah, I guess it's it's the price you pay for um I guess doing something pretty cool. Yeah. Uh I mean we did win a national championship, so it's hard not to play that down. It's a pretty cool thing, and it's everyone in here's goal at the end of the year, and um, we were lucky enough to do it. And uh but yeah, it was a lot. I mean, so many home we're hometown kids too, so it's so many people from Montana. It just shows you the support that you have, but my phone, like, I've I like went on it and it crashed. Yeah, so I like had to restart it like three different times and it kept crashing and crashing, and I was like, what's going on? And I still have storage issues from all the stuff people sent me. I I think I'm out of storage right now. So uh super awesome. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

Yeah, but I mean, yeah, you'll take it over anything in a second. Um I guess I do have one more. How long, you know, you guys win the national championship? How many days did it take for you guys to kind of like finally like relax and adrenaline? Like you're down from the high, everything's like how long did that take? I'm getting at surgery.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yeah, so I had an artificial down from the high kind of I had anesthesia uh basically the day after the national championship. I went in for surgery. So I honestly it was like immediately back to work. I got obviously with surgery, you get some rest right after. And um, yeah, that's when I really got to take it all in. That okay, we did it, but at the same time, like I got a little baby arm now, I gotta rehab for six months. So um yeah, I was kind of back to work after that. I had a minute um from that surgery. Honestly, it kind of helped because it just reset everything, and okay, I'm back to work now. Um yeah, so that was it for me. Yeah, coming down to the high. It was uh I don't know if it's it's a competitive thing or what, but um it was kind of like after we won, I was like angry still. Like I don't know what it was. I was I was just angry at like what people said about me before or just certain scenarios that I probably shouldn't be angry about, but I was angry, so like I was like, yeah, like it still like drives me um today is just like a little bit of anger, but um on the opposite side of that, there's love, and I was lucky enough I got to go to Mexico with my wife and her family after, like from Nashville. Oh perfectly. So I got a built-in, like I tried to put my phone down, put it on do not disturb, and um it was weird because it was opposite a kid, and I I had that week of Mexico where I just was unplugged, like no one knew me in Mexico was awesome. I bet that was then I came back and it was Bozeman, and I was like walking downtown and people were yelling my name out the out the window, so I had to like learn how to like get back into the mode of like, oh, we really did just win. Uh but it was awesome, it was fun. It's good really good problems to have.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

It's fun to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

I keep thinking of more questions that go, is it hard for you guys to go around town after that? I mean, not hard, you know, you people love you, but I feel like you guys go out and Montana's a small state, everyone knows who you are. Like, there's gotta be a time when you guys are like, oh, they're gonna recognize us, and then people want pictures. Like, does that ever happen?

SPEAKER_01 12:29

There's definitely a couple times that it might happen. It honestly is a little bit different than like if we were to play basketball and like people see our actual face all the time. Because we have helmets on and like I have a visor over my face, so never really get to see my face or be up close. And without pads on, neither of us really look like a football player. So um yeah, it it definitely does happen, just like you said, because it's Montana and we're in Bozeman, so um, it's really cool when it does happen, honestly. And the the fans are the coolest part about the whole thing. So um being able to make a little kid's day that runs up to you and asks if if you're Caden Dowler or Tucker Dallas is fair. Yeah, I think it's it's a special thing, and it it's it's all every question can get rooted back to community. And uh the community is so amazing at Montana State and in Bozeman that they think Caden and I are so much cooler than we actually are. Like I we've said that a lot, and it's really truth, is we're really not we're not cool people, and we just are good at maybe catching a ball, or I guess he's good at catching a ball too. Um but it's amazing. Like people come up to us all the time. Like I'll be walking downtown, or I'll be walking around the bookstore or campus, and I'll like feel people's eyes on me, and I'll like walk up to them, like, hey, you can come say hi to me. Like, what's going on? Oh, you can for sure feel it. Um yeah, so when me and my wife are out, we have like a secret word when people like do recognize me, and I'll go up and I'll re I'll introduce myself to them, and uh it's a cool thing, but people think we're definitely a lot cooler than we actually are.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

I'm here with Coach Vegan off their national championship coach to talk to me about this weekend. How does it feel to be here as a champion?

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Well, I think there's uh there's a sense of gratitude for the appreciation that you know uh from the commissioner on down, uh that it is that our conference has for bringing that title back. It'd been a long time for our conference going back to 2010. Um you know, so I I do think that he's you know, we we certainly represent Latina State, and that's our our biggest concern. But ultimately we represent uh our conference on the national stage and uh not only for us, it's been a long time, but for a lot of the conference that I do. So um, I I think we're excited about what's in front of us, but you know, certainly uh appreciate what we were able to do for this conference. Yeah, in in many ways unbelievable. I I know those who um haven't heard we develop so much uh independently but together and you know they've clearly become two better players in our division, let alone in our conference and it's been you know it has been easy for them both if they both had uh you know injuries that have set them back. Um they both had you know, to lean on one another. Um they both become you know these these leaders on our team, these leaders in our community are lead these leaders in our school and our state that you know if you told me back in 21 and they were high school seniors that would be a piece of it. I I you know you hope that it can be part of it, but you know, so I I think there's a complete nature of what they are. They're they're both great players, um they're both great leaders, but they they represent our our school uh state of mind. Um I can't say enough about who they are as individuals, but then they're breathing powerful force together.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

I know you say yourself high with your energy. What are you gonna try and do or for yourself?

SPEAKER_00 16:32

I think you're trying to go for that. You wanna be peaking linear can we continue to do that? Can we with all the guys that have played the familiar names and can they find a higher level? Can the guys that need to fill in some of those gaps with the departures we had? Um does that work the way you wanted? Um fortunately for us we have relative continuity on our coaching staff side, but you know, can the coaching staff continue to make it dry. So you know, it's it's a complete improvement and you're measured um I was in front of you versus what's behind you. And I know going back to January 2nd, the day after that was the focus. Um what do we need to do to take our program to another level uh in 20 seconds for you?

SPEAKER_02 17:39

How excited are you to get back playing in front of the Modcap in for the first time to end that big window?

SPEAKER_00 17:46

We had you know really magical year last year with 10 home games. Um you know, culminating with that semifinal against Montana, which is you know, I I think as far as um scenes and uh atmospheres, it was it was about as epic as you could get. So you know, and then uh a turnout we had Nashville almost felt like a home game, um a long ways away from home. And so we'd be back in our second game uh for Gold Rush. You know, Gold Rush has become a special special evening you know, year in, yeah out no matter who we play, and it'll be no different this year. And I I know uh I know we're really anxious uh to get back from our fans, because our fans mean so much to who we are and and what we're about and and uh you know the atmosphere uh it creates for our guys. I think our atmosphere is what college football is all about, and our guys are and they don't take that for granted, so uh we can't wait to get back all the time.