Four thoughts on the Boise State offense heading into fall camp

Monday had those first-day-of-school vibes. Introductions. Syllabi. The Boise State coaching staff met with the media and talked a lot about expectations and goals and how great this upcoming year is going to be.

It won’t be until Wednesday that Boise State actually begins the real work. The Broncos will kick off fall camp then, exactly one month before they’ll open the 2023 season at Washington.

Before then, here are four thoughts on the Broncos’ offense after talking with all 11 BSU coaches:

1. Latrell Caples is out for the season

The shocker of Monday’s press conference came early, when head coach Andy Avalos announced that wide receiver Latrell Caples — the Broncos’ leading receiver last season — will miss the entire 2023 season with a leg injury.

Avalos wouldn’t delve too much into the injury, but it should be noted that Caples was riding on a scooter with a big brace while in attendance at the Boise State summer softball game in late June.

“As we move along through his rehab plan with our medical team, he can still have an impact,” Avalos said. “Unfortunately, it’s just not going to be on the field. … I’ll be honest with you, he was having a tremendous offseason.”

This loss is brutal for the Boise State passing game. Caples (51) caught close to twice as many passes as the Broncos’ second-leading receiver, Billy Bowens (32). But if there is a position the Broncos could suffer a major injury, it’s receiver.

Still, the Broncos’ wide receiver room is not baron. It includes Bowens (32-462), Stefan Cobbs (29-396), Eric McAlister (11-259), freshman Prince Strachan, Colorado transfer Chase Penry and others.

Even with Caples, the Broncos were never going to have one receiver have 1,000 or a no-doubt-about-it No. 1 guy. Wide receivers coach Matt Miller understands the Boise State pass-catchers are going to have to excel by committee.

“At the end of the day, everyone has to step up. I have to step up because we lost a really good player,” Miller said. “It’s an open competition. It’s competition. That’s kind of what our room has been bred on and those guys are really excited.”

2. We can’t forget about George Holani

Remember back in like 2016 and 2017 when there were some folks and fans around the NFL who thought the New England Patriots should be done with Tom Brady?

He was amazing and whatever, they said, but he was so old. The Patriots, they thought, should kick Brady to the curb and start their succession plan early with Jimmy Garoppolo. New England, as you know, kept Brady and won another Super Bowl in 2018.

I brought up this story on Monday to new Boise State running backs coach James “Jimmy” Montgomery, comparing it to what the Broncos have in George Holani and Ashton Jeanty. It was clear it struck a chord. A big grin came across Montgomery’s face as he nodded along.

“Without a doubt,” Montgomery said, chuckling a bit. “Without a doubt.”

Boise State’s George Holani celebrates after scoring a touchdown during a 30-7 home win over UT Martin. (photo by Boise State Athletics).

Montgomery veered away from the actual question, but said, “Just being able to work with those guys on a daily basis, it’s incredible.”

It’s very clear the Boise State coaches know perhaps their two best skill players are Holani and Jeanty — especially with Caples out. They are going to try and be as creative as possible to get the ball to the Broncos’ two tailbacks in space.

And as for any thoughts that 2023 should turn into The Jeanty Show, the Boise State coaches want to remind everyone how special Holani is.

“When you look at George, I can’t tell you how proud this fan base should be of that guy,” said Hamdan. “That is probably the most humble guy we have — maybe in this room day in and day out.”

3. Hamdan really trying to build Taylen Green’s “mental endurance”

Bush Hamdan likes to test guys. Likes to push them. Likes to see just how much juice he can get from every squeeze.

A few months ago, current Boise State quarterback commit Kaleb Annett was on campus for Boise State’s four-day team camp. Before he officially gave Annett an offer, Hamdan, as Annett’s high-school offensive coordinator Nick Starkell said, “put him through the wringer.”

“He wanted to see kind of how tough (Kaleb was),” Starkell said. “He made Kaleb get out there and do three or four throwing sessions. … He had him on the whiteboard. He had him out there, like, ‘Hey, we’re going to do all movement throws this time.’ So he had him going sideline to sideline. Had him throw as many passes as you’d have in a fall camp week, basically but in a couple days.”

Now think about Taylen Green.

Hamdan inherited a quarterback with all the athleticism and talent in the world. He now has to coach Green on everything away from the field: Preparation, film study, mentality, on and on.

Boise State quarterback Taylen Green runs off the field between plays during the Broncos’ 41-3 win at Nevada last season. (Photo by Boise State Athletics)

“It’s one thing coming off the bench and being able to play (without) overthinking it,” Hamdan said. “Then there’s the natural progressions of, OK, now I’m starting to get that information. I’ve been pleased from a leadership standpoint what that looks like and his mental approach.

“I don’t know if I necessarily felt when I got here that he was the guy in the meeting room who had the highest-competency level, if you will,” Hamdan added. “But I just feel like over the course of the summer, we have a different player there.”

Hamdan, in some ways, is trying to prepare his quarterback for adversity later with adversity now, introducing scenarios and situations to make sure he’s prepared for anything.

“From a mental standpoint, making sure that we go through the process to be aware of the ups and downs in games,” Hamdan said. “To stay focused. To make it about mental endurance. Can you stay focused one play at a time for three-and-a-half, four hours at a time?

4. Boise State’s coaches know the offensive line

I will not sit here and pretend I know many — if any — intricacies of the offensive line position. The offensive line, as Boise State OL coach Tim Keane put it today, gets “too much credit and too much blame.”

In other words: It is nearly impossible to quickly teach someone about offensive line intricacies. It needs to be learned, either by playing it for many years or being around it for many years.

That’s why I’m so fascinated with the coaching staff Boise State has assembled. The Broncos, obviously, have an offensive line coach in Keane. But they also have Montgomery (the RBs coach), who was an offensive line graduate assistant for many years at Sacramento State, and Nate Potter, the former Boise State All-American left tackle.

“It’s one of those things, like how do you see the game?” Keane said. “If you have all former quarterbacks on the coaching staff, they’re going to see things a specific way. It’s good to have a blend and then to have some people directly related to the offensive line.”

Said Potter: “It’s so valuable. When we can all look through the same lens and see the game the same way, it helps us — not only come up with ideas, coach and teach better — it just helps us be more efficient and helps us understand, at every position, what we’re trying to get done in the scheme.”

HERE ARE OUR FULL INTERVIEWS WITH THE OFFENSIVE ASSISTANTS:

WRs COACH MATT MILLER