Montana State lands versatile Stillwater tight end Carter Zollar

Montana State keeps building its offense around flexibility, and Carter Zollar looks like the kind of tight end-receiver hybrid that can make that plan harder to defend. The Stillwater, Minnesota prospect chose the Bobcats after a camp stop in Bozeman and a recruiting process that sold him on the staff, the atmosphere and the chance to learn inside a program that just reached the FCS national championship game.

At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Zollar brings more than projection. He produced 31 catches for 528 yards and nine touchdowns in six games for the Stillwater Ponies this past season, then followed that with a junior year in which he was named the offense’s most valuable player after 35 receptions for 570 yards and nine scores. Even with injuries cutting into the season, he still finished among the most productive receivers in the program and entered his senior year No. 6 in Stillwater history with 953 receiving yards, while sitting inside the top 10 for career catches and touchdowns.

That production is what makes him interesting for Montana State. Zollar can line up as a wide receiver or tight end, and that kind of flexibility fits an offense that likes to create stress through formation variety and matchup hunting. For the Bobcats, the appeal is not just size, but how his skill set could force defenses to choose between covering him with a linebacker or a defensive back.

The recruiting path also fit the way Montana State has been winning on the trail. Zollar came to Bozeman for the prospect camp on May 31, worked with tight ends coach Jordan Walsh and built a connection with head coach Brent Vigen. Walsh, who joined the staff after spring drills in 2024 after coaching at Eastern Illinois and starring at Iowa, was direct and personal throughout the process, while Vigen pulled Zollar and his father aside for a conversation that helped close the deal.

That kind of relationship-driven recruiting has become part of Montana State’s identity under Vigen, who took over as the program’s 33rd head coach on February 8, 2021. The Bobcats’ 2027 class already includes quarterback Titus Vidlak, wide receiver Kase Betz, defensive lineman Dax Yeager, offensive lineman Kade Leibrand, edge rushers Dominick Webb and Laytin Erickson, running back DaKari Releford, defensive back Kei'Dryn Edmond and offensive lineman Maciah Keene. With Zollar added to the group, the class sits in the top 100 nationally in the eyes of multiple recruiting services, and the Bobcats have another piece who could become more than a roster addition. He looks like a future chess piece in an offense built to keep getting bigger, faster and more difficult to match.