New-look linebackers ready to rise to the standard

Editor's Note: As fall camp ramps up, GoGriz.com will bring you position-by-position breakdowns of the 2025 team, introducing you to new faces and returners to keep an eye on this season. Next up: The linebackers.

Montana has earned the moniker "Linebacker U" of the FCS for a reason.

For decades, if not generations now, the UM linebacking corps has stood sentinel over the phrase "The pride and tradition of the Montana Grizzlies will not be entrusted to the timid or the weak."

If you're not tough, fast, strong, smart, and physical, there's no room for you here. Flying around, getting to the ball, making plays, doing whatever it takes to shut an offense down – all traits of a Grizzly 'backer.

In other words: loving the game of football and dominating everything you do.

Entering the 2025 season Montana finds itself facing the highly unusual question of: "Who's the next star at linebacker?"

With only one player back from last year's two-deep following a long list of departures to graduation, this year's LB room is not full of household names… yet.

But now two weeks into fall camp the six returners and nine newcomers have transformed this group of unknowns into one of the deepest positions on the team, and they're showing they've got the intangibles to live up to the #LBU standard.

"I tell ya, they're having a lot of fun and they're working hard. But the best thing to see is they're becoming a brotherhood so they can carry on the traditions and that pride of Montana Grizzly football," said Roger Cooper, now in his fourth season at Montana overall, his third as linebacker coach, and second as co-defensive coordinator.

"We've got a lot of things we do in that room that need to be carried over. So, it's great to see the returners teaching everyone else how we do it and the physical nature we play. So, I'm very excited about the group as a whole and the depth."

Here's a breakdown.

THE RETURNERS

Caleb Otlewski is the only linebacker on the roster to have started a game for the Griz in his career and is this year's top returning tackler. Only a sophomore, at 6-foot-4 and 235 he strikes a veteran pose when he walks on the field.

After arriving in Missoula from San Diego State ahead of last year's fall camp, the native of Melissa, Texas, put in 33 tackles in 12 games of action, with 3.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, 2 QB hurries and a picked-off pass at Northern Colorado.

"Caleb is a phenomenal athlete that has rare talent for his size. He's got quickness, strength, and athletic ability," said Cooper.

"He's just young. So, becoming more consistent play-to-play will help him because he has the tools to be a dominant football player in this league. A very dominant football player."

The only other player in the linebacker room with more than two tackles last year is Geno Leonard, a Missoula Sentinel product who has battled injury his whole career but worked his way back into the lineup as a junior to collect 15 tackles (five solo) in seven appearances.

Now a senior, he's done a little bit of everything for the team in the interim. Backup 'backer, special teams, he even picked up a clip board and served as a student assistant on the coaching staff. It's hard for someone with Montana football in his DNA to turn away from the game, and he's become a staff favorite because of it.

"He's battled so much and just fought through a lot, so we've all grown to love the guy. I was grading film once and my wife came in. She refused to give him a negative because she loves him so much. He's just that way. Everyone loves him, and he's nothing but a grizzly," Cooper adds.

"I'm hoping for great things for him this season."

Montana's history of elite linebackers doesn't just materialize out of thin air. They aren't born, they're built. Special teams have always been a proving ground for young Grizzly 'backers, and 2025 will be no different. It's a history Cooper relishes.

"That's the best thing about my job, is to see the guys that come in as freshmen, grow through special teams and grow through the weight room and become football players and get scrimmage reps," he said.

Well, keep an eye on these guys because they're primed to be the future stars at the position.

Clay Oven is a sophomore that has proven he can take care of business in a college setting. You don't get to wear Montana's famed #37 legacy jersey if you don't on the field, and you don't win UM's President's Award for the top GPA in Grizzly Athletics if you don't in the classroom.

After playing in 13 of the 14 games last season and picking up a pair of tackles as a gunner on special teams, Cooper says he may be "our most dynamic pass rushers and athletes," heading into his sophomore campaign.

Cy Stevenson of Libby and Hayden Opitz of Helena are of the same ilk. Montana boys who cut their teeth on special teams last year and are expected to be more heavily involved sophomores.

"They just keep getting better and better at each practice and finding their way into the mix, not only in scrimmage reps, but they should be part of all special teams. I think they'll be pretty dominant in that group," Cooper said.

Grady Walker is another former Sentinel standout that is entering his first year of action after redshirting as a true freshman in 2024 that has been turning heads around camp.

"Grady is a young pup that is super athletic. He was a receiver in high school, and now he's flying around at linebacker. He's about 220 pounds, looking like a man out there," Cooper added.

NEW FACES

Get to know these names, because Montana's newcomers at linebacker are set to pack a serious punch.

Elijawah Tolbert, a senior from Eastern Illinois, and Peyton Wing, a junior from Portland State, are both veterans with all-conference accolades on their resumes prior to coming to Missoula. Solomon Tuliaupupu was at one point rated as the best high school linebacker in America before suffering a rash of injuries at USC.

Fast, physical, big and experienced, they're a trio that are poised to make an immediate impact on the Grizzly defense.

"Adding Tolbert and Wing, guys that have been all-conference to that group has been nothing but great. The way they've bought in and become part of our program has been awesome. Solo (Tuliaupupu) coming in and becoming one of us has been exciting to watch as well," said Cooper.

"They all had a great summer becoming part of that brotherhood, and they've continued to grow a ton in camp."

Tolbert, a native of Chicago, comes from of a somewhat unusual recruiting area for Montana. But when the two-time first team All-OVC pick and a one-time FCS defensive player of the week came on the Grizzlies' radar, Cooper was quick to bring him on board.

With 24 starts, 33 appearances, and over 200 tackles and 16.5 TFLs to his name, he brings plenty of experience and success at this level.

"After talking and learning what his goals are, and getting to know him, he was an easy choice," said Cooper.

"He's a great person, he's playing super hard, and learning our tempo and physicality. He'll be a bright spot for sure this year."

Tuliaupupu played in 21 career games at USC with 22 total tackles (13 solo), 4 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery in two seasons of action for the Trojans amongst other seasons spent on the IR. But out of high school he did something no other Grizzly recruit has ever done: earn national player of the year awards as the 2017 High School Butkus Award winner and the 2017 USA Today All-USA Defensive Player of the Year at football factory Mater Dei high.

"He's just a big, strong athlete. He's great at the point of attack, tough to block, and plays super hard. He's physical. Just saying those things, that's what we like to model our defense after and that's what he's like," said Cooper.

"Our defense is tough to learn, and he's been on top of it. He wasn't with us in spring, but he's picked it right up."

Wing has been on the top of every preseason prognostication list this season after coming to Montana as a second-team all-conference pick for PSU last season with 93 tackles.

With preseason All-America, preseason All-Big Sky, and Buck Buchanan Award watch list expectations, Wing has fit like a glove in the Grizzly linebacker room.

Cooper, who hails from Washington and continues to recruit the area, knew of Wing out of high school in his hometown of Sumner, and knew he'd be a natural fit in the Grizzly defense.

"I know that he knows how to play football, the temperament he plays with, and how much he cares about things. So, when he hopped in, we were nothing but excited to get him here," Cooper said.

"He liked how we played defense, and liked Missoula, so it has really worked out. We're expecting him to make a lot of plays."

Some of the younger additions to the linebacker room that are likely to cut their teeth on special teams include sophomore Caleb Moran, a Georgia native who came to UM after a year at Army, but did not see action.

Freshman Styles Goodman of Austin, Texas, who spent a year at Air Force Prep joins the team with five years to play. He's joined in the class by Colton Lentz of Northwest Washington, who was rated one of the best prep prospects in the state at the position.

Bridger Salvevold of Culbertson, Taylor Jones of Missoula Loyola, and Sam Merriman of Seattle are other freshmen in the room that are seeing their first reps of college football during fall camp.

Montana returns for week three of fall camp on Monday. The Griz open the season on Sept. 6 against Central Washington in the first of eight regular season home games. Season ticket packages and single game tickets are on sale now at GrizTix.com.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Styles Goodman

Taylor Jones

Colton Lentz

Geno Leonard

Sam Merriman

Caleb Moran

Hayden Opitz

Caleb Otlewski

Clay Oven

Bridger Salvevold

Cy Stevenson

Elijawah Tolbert

Solomon Tuliaupupu

Grady Walker

Peyton Wing

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