Andy Avalos stood alone in the middle of a grass practice field, on a sunny day in the middle of fall camp, staring at his domain and feeling the juice of a new Boise State football season.
The coach, in his third season, looked peaceful, which could be more telling of a content coach than confidence. He was dressed in all black, from hat to shoes, and looked more than content behind dark sunglasses – like something bright and shiny is brewing this fall, the most important fall for Boise State football in many years.
No big deal, most every football coach is optimistic this time of year. They all act confident, they’re all undefeated with championship dreams, and they all have something wonderful to say about their team as a new season begins.
Mike Prater
In Boise, this season is different, and Avalos has been acting all proud about his new team. In Avalos We Trust, at least right now.
Timing is perfect – this is the most significant, critical crossroads season of the Avalos regime for several reasons:
-There have been too many program hiccups the previous two seasons.
-He has more resources available than any other coach in school history.
-Athletic director Jeramiah Dickey, the man responsible for many of those resources, won’t be around forever.
-College football’s greedy power brokers are prying their focus away from Group of Five teams.
It’s time for Boise State to be nationally relevant again, and it all starts with Avalos, who has lost more games (nine) in his first two seasons than any other Boise State coach since Pokey Allen (10, 1993-94).
In 2021, Avalos’ team didn’t play past November.
In 2022, fair or not, offensive-analyst-turned-coord
In 2023, Avalos is set up to succeed more than ever before, which explains his calm and cool demeanor – and his long line of uber-optimistic comments over the past few weeks.
He repeatedly called fall camp “fun’’ and “intense’’ – a good combination.
“We’re humble and hungry.’’
“We’ve had a tremendous summer. … Increased the strength of each individual player.’’
“We have a mature team that has a huge care factor and has done an unbelievable job this summer competing.’’
“(More lenient NCAA summer practice rules) have allowed us to prepare and be in a spot further ahead right now than we have been in years past.’’
Avalos is so comfortable with his surroundings, he’s even relaxed media policies. That’s not the norm in the paranoid world of college football, especially at tight-lipped Boise State.
“We want Bronco Nation to know what’s going on,’’ Avalos said.
There was more media access through fall camp, more interviews. Avalos is scheduled to meet with the media on Fridays during the regular season, which has never happened at Boise State.
This is all happening, all coming together, because of one word, according to Avalos: Leadership. The standard and expectations inside the football complex is “completely different because of the leadership and how they’re leading … building confidence through competence and hard work.’’
The most talented roster of the Avalos era includes eight super seniors/sixth-year players.
About 60 of the 85 scholarship players are Avalos recruits.
He’s proud of rebuilt depth on the offensive and defensive lines.
Dependable starters are established at almost every position – and there’s dependable depth behind most of those starters.
Boise State emerged from fall camp mostly healthy, the Broncos have one of the best young quarterbacks in college football, one of the best running back tandems in college football and one of the best kickers in school history.
The beloved Bush Hamdan is now in charge of an offense that should average more than 30 points a game for the first time under Avalos. Rock-solid defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson is back for his seventh season, and third as DC. Avalos even replaced Koetter with an impressive resume – Idaho State graduate Lance Anderson is the Broncos’ new offensive senior analyst. The longtime coach spent the past five seasons as the associate head coach at Stanford and was a fixture on the field during camp this fall.
The recruitment of four-star Burley High wide receiver Gatlin Bair gave Boise State a massive momentum boost, even though he’s not scheduled to hit campus until January 2026 because of a church mission.
Bottom line: Avalos says his roster is deep. Physical. Explosive. Forged together. And the future is bright. All his words.
“We’ve built this team so we can get the quality reps and the experience we need throughout fall camp so we can have a fast start to this season,’’ Avalos said.
OK, we get it. Boise State football won the offseason, slayed the summer, found its happy place in fall camp.
But can the Broncos beat Washington on Saturday?
Can they win their first Mountain West championship since 2019?
Can they go to a major bowl for the first time since 2014?
These are the things that need to happen over the next four months – based on the words that have been said since the spring.
Timing is everything – and Boise State has everything to succeed.
Now is the time for Boise State football to become relevant again.
Mike Prater is the Bronco Nation News columnist who co-hosts Idaho Sports Talk (KTIK 95.3 FM on Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m.) and the Boise State football postgame show (KBOI 670 AM). He is on Twitter @MikeFPrater and can be reached at mikefprater@gmail.com
