Versatile Montinar Making an Impact in Dual Role for Bulls
COACHES PROFILE SERIES: While we wait for USF football to hit the field once again, Senior Writer Tom Zebold and Voice of the Bulls Jim Louk give Bulls fans a window to know more about the people and personalities on head coach Jeff Scott's first USF staff.
The series continues with a feature on Jules Montinar, USF's new cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator who learned what it takes to succeed in big-time football from mentors like Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.
LISTEN: Montinar's interview with Voice of the Bulls Jim Louk HERE.
PAST PROFILES:
Charlie Weis Jr. - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
Glenn Spencer – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
Xavier Dye – Wide Receivers Coach
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, APRIL 13, 2020 – Bringing a highly successful track record to Tampa, versatile
Jules Montinar has hit the ground running as USF's new cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator.
The 34-year-old Naples, Fla., native headed back to his home state in January with 12 years of coaching experience at seven different schools. Big-time stops on his way to the Bulls included two seasons (2012-13) at Alabama - where he learned from Nick Saban and won a national title - along with Georgia in 2019.
Montinar also knows what it takes to reel in game-changing talent as a conference recruiter of the year for Texas State (2017). Plus, the former student-athlete is someone players can relate well to after proving himself on the field at West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky as a safety, outside linebacker and special teams contributor.
Now, Montinar is building new relationships and developing talent as a very valuable member of
Jeff Scott's new coaching staff.
"At the end of the day, you gotta have a brand, you've got to stand for something," Montinar said. "We're going to out-relationship people and we're gonna recruit the right type of young man who fits our culture (character, academics, football)."
From Player to Promising, Young Coach
Montinar was once the type of student-athlete who would fit well with the culture new head coach
Jeff Scott is currently creating at USF.
Shining in the Sunshine State, Montinar helped lead Naples High School to a state championship as a junior (2001). He stayed hungry for success as a senior who earned Southwest Florida Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Two Gator Bowl trips followed as a member of West Virginia's three-safety defense (2003-04) before Montinar contributed in a variety of ways for Eastern Kentucky. The longtime safety eventually took on a new position to fill a team need and his selfless approach led to special teams captain status as a senior on the 2007 Ohio Valley Conference championship squad.
"That was a very, very good experience for me," he said. "Looking back at it as a coach now, the fact that I played safety and outside linebacker (as a senior) has really helped me out in terms of being a coach."
Montinar stayed dedicated to academics along the way and graduated from EKU with a bachelor's degree and master's degree in sports management. He also won another conference title in his first of two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant with the Colonels (2008-09).
From there, Montinar was thankful for his first full-time position coach job at Lake Eerie College in 2010. He guided defensive backs and branched out again to assist in another important part of the game.
"I had my own room and worked on special teams, all that," he said. "It was great."
So was working with the secondary as a graduate assistant at Purdue in 2011 for "great friend" Danny Hope, his head coach at Eastern Kentucky. Hope is a name that should ring a bell with Bulls fans. He was USF's co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2015.
Job with the Tide Helps Montinar Roll to More Success
After Purdue, Montinar picked up "unbelievable experience" in a role that was mentored by Nick Saban at Alabama for the 2012-13 seasons.
"One of the unique things about being a graduate assistant at Alabama is if you're a DB GA, you work with Coach Saban," he said. "The way they've got it broken down there is Coach Saban, he's basically the corners coach and whoever is the secondary coach coaches the safeties."
Montinar made sure to take "a lot of notes" while picking up more tips from then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. In the meantime, Alabama won the SEC Championship and national title during Montinar's first season and played in the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 2013 campaign.
"I learned a lot from a recruiting standpoint, a developmental standpoint," he said.
Montinar applied his Alabama teachings well as the cornerbacks coach at James Madison from 2014-15. During the span, JMU cornerbacks led the FCS with four pick-sixes in 2014 and took six more to the house in 2015, when they collected 15 interceptions and 22 total turnovers (seven TDs) for a conference champion team.
Montinar produced more notable results at Texas State (2016-18), coaching cornerbacks for three years and serving as special teams coordinator in his final season with the program.
"It was awesome. It was a really good chance to work with the entire football team – offense and defense," he said.
Montinar also made a name for himself as 247Sports' 2017 Sun Belt Recruiter of the Year before reuniting with Smart at Georgia last season. Serving as a defensive quality control assistant, Montinar got to see how another elite program operated during a 12-2 run with the No. 5 Bulldogs that ended with a Sugar Bowl victory.
"Those Georgia's and Alabama's, and some of those LSU's and Clemson's, what they do is they do a really, really good job of recruiting guys that fit their culture, and they don't stop there," he said. "Once they get them, they do an unbelievable job of developing them – psychologically, physically. In the weight room and in practice, it is nonstop development."
Bringing in, Bettering Bulls in Family Atmosphere
Always resourceful, Montinar was quick to utilize one of his contacts when he found out
Jeff Scott was hired as the Bulls' new head coach.
Going back to his playing days, Montinar had developed a connection with Scott's dad, Brad, who recruited him at Clemson. Fast-forward to today and Brad is now the USF Football Chief of Staff.
"When I saw the job opened up at South Florida, I immediately hit him up to say, 'Hey, I (am) interested. Do you guys have anything?'" Montinar said. "One thing led to another and I was extremely fortunate and extremely excited to be part of the South Florida Bulls."
Since the call, and later a great interview with Jeff, Montinar said it's been "really special" working on a staff with two Scotts and accomplishing a lot in a short time at USF.
"We came in, we did a good job of finishing off the recruiting class. We signed seven guys. We brought seven guys in to visit and I believe six out of seven, we ended up signing, so that was great," Montinar said. "We then hit the road for the following class and have been building relationships with the high school coaches in the state, that's been awesome."
Aside from recruiting, Montinar said he's "lucky" to have two returning starters – Tampa's
KJ Sails and
Mike Hampton – in his deep cornerback position group that's filled with talent. Additional playmakers from USF's 2020 signing class are on the way as well.
"I'm excited about the players in the room and I'm really looking forward to developing those guys even more," Montinar said.
Right now, bettering Bulls consists of teaching, inspiring and constantly checking in on players virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. USF's other staff members are doing the same with their position groups while the program strengthens its family-like bond.
"They may get tired of that, but I'm gonna continue to do that because that's part of my job," Montinar said. "I want to make sure they're OK."
Valuing relationships has already taken Montinar a long way in his football career. Now, he's happy to be doing his part in the mission of building the USF program back into a big winner.
"To see the reaction from the players, it's been really refreshing because they're buying into the message that we're telling them," Montinar said. "I think one of the reasons why they're buying in is because they know that we care for them as coaches."
Montinar can't wait for the whole bunch of Bulls to get back together on the field, hopefully in the near future.
"I'm excited about the season," he said.
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23rd season (20th at the FBS level) in 2019. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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