Jeff Choate
Jeff Choate went 36–45 as a head coach, 2016–2026, at Montana State and Nevada. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 2–3); by them his record is 36–44. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2016–19 at Montana State. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 36–45 career
- Seasons
- 7
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jun 15, 1970
- Best season
- 2026 2–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Montana State * | 4–7 | T–9th | |||
| 2017 | Montana State * | 5–6 | T–6th | |||
| 2018 | Montana State * | 8–5 | T–4th | NCAA Division I Second Round L | 17 | |
| 2019 | Montana State * | 11–4 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Semifinal L | 4 | |
| 2020–23: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2024 | Nevada | 3–10 | 12th | |||
| 2025 | Nevada | 3–9 | T–9th | |||
| 2026 | Nevada | 2–4 (Wikipedia: 2–3) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 8 | 1–7 | 13% |
| Conference games | 18 | 3–15 | 17% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 15 | 4–11 | 27% |
| At home | 16 | 5–11 | 31% |
| On the road | 15 | 3–12 | 20% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 5 | 3–2 | 60% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 26 | 5–21 | 19% |
His own 31 games on file, 2024–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| San José Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Western Kentuckyseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Boise Stateseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Air Forceseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Middle Tennesseeseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| UNLVseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Sacramento Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–93 | Montana Western | Linebackers coach | |
| 1994–95 | Challis HS (ID) high school | Head coach | |
| 1996 | Twin Falls HS (ID) high school | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1997–2001 | Post Falls HS (ID) high school | Head coach | |
| 2002 | Utah State | Graduate assistant | |
| 2003–04 | Utah State | Safeties and special teams coach | |
| 2005 | Eastern Illinois | Special teams coach | |
| 2006–08 | Boise State | Running backs and special teams coach | |
| 2009–11 | Boise State | Linebackers and special teams coach | |
| 2012 | Washington State | Linebackers coach | |
| 2013 | Florida | Linebackers and special teams coach | |
| 2013–15 | Washington | Defensive line and special teams coach | |
| 2016–20 | Montana State | Head coach | |
| 2021–23 | Texas | Co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| 2024–present | Nevada | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Mick DennehyUtah State
- Bob SpooEastern Illinois
- Chris PetersenBoise State, Washington
- Mike LeachWashington State
- Marques TuiasosopoWashington
- Steve SarkisianWashington, Texas
- Will MuschampFlorida
Assistants who became head coaches
- Brian ArmstrongRocky Mountain
- Courtney MessinghamUpper Iowa
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mick Dennehy | Utah State | 2002–04 | 2002: graduate assistant; 2003–04: safeties and special teams coach | |
| Bob Spoo | Eastern Illinois | 2005 | Special teams coach | |
| Chris Petersen | Boise State | 2006–11 | 2006–08: running backs and special teams coach; 2009–11: linebackers and special teams coach | |
| Mike Leach | Washington State | 2012 | Linebackers coach | |
| Marques Tuiasosopo | Washington | 2013 | Defensive line and special teams coach | |
| Steve Sarkisian | Washington | 2013 | Defensive line and special teams coach | |
| Will Muschamp | Florida | 2013 | Linebackers and special teams coach | |
| Chris Petersen | Washington | 2014–15 | Defensive line and special teams coach | |
| Steve Sarkisian | Texas | 2021–23 | Co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Armstrong | Montana State, 2016, 2019–20: offensive line coach; 2017–18: offensive coordinator; 2018: tight ends coach; 2018–20: running game coordinator; Nevada, 2024–26: offensive line coach and running game coordinator | Rocky Mountain | |
| Courtney Messingham | Montana State, 2016: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Upper Iowa |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Kane Ioane | Montana State, 2016: linebackers coach; 2019–20: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; Nevada, 2024–26: defensive coordinator | |
| Matt Miller | Montana State, 2016: wide receivers coach; 2017–18: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2018–19: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Nate Potter | Montana State, 2019–20: tight ends coach | |
| Matt Lubick | Nevada, 2024: offensive coordinator | |
| David Gilbertson | Nevada, 2025: offensive coordinator | |
| Brett Bartolone | Nevada, 2026: offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Choate’s teams went for it on 29% of fourth downs and on 43% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 46% of plays and took 28.4 seconds a play, 2024–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 13 g | 29 of 84 35% | 51% | 48% | 29.5 | +0.09 | |
| 2025 12 g | 24 of 98 24% | 33% | 45% | 29.1 | −0.10 | |
| 2026 6 g | 13 of 44 30% | 50% | 46% | 24.7 | 0.00 | |
| All 31 g | 66 of 226 29% | 43% | 46% | 28.4 | 0.00 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.