Boise State fired its track and field coach last month – which, of course, has me thinking about football.
And speed.
Speed kills, right?
Sprinter speed, or lack of it, has for years been slowly killing a once-proud, once-relevant track and field program that has juggled all sorts of other issues.
Back to football – and the two reasons I’ve been thinking about football in a track-and-field sort of way …
-I miss the days when football players – the fastest dudes on campus – ran track at Boise State.
-Who’s the fastest player on the roster right now?
Mike Prater
Sadly, the era of specialization has killed the spectacle of two-sport stars, and the days of Boise State football players jumping on the track team in the spring are long gone.
Former football coach Dan Hawkins busted that bond more than 20 years ago – he wanted football players to focus on football (and life). Last week, current coach Spencer Danielson said he’d be open to a conversation, if it came up from a player, but time restraints in the spring make it difficult to do both.
Remember when two of the greatest sprinters in Boise State history were football players?
Kerry Lawyer played football from 1991-93, a wide receiver and All-Big Sky return specialist. He also ran track and – 20 years later – still holds the school 100-meter record (10.21, 1994).
Corey Nelson was a wide receiver/return specialist from 1997-98. He was a good football player – and a Big West champion and All-American in track. Nelson still holds the school record in the 400 (45.36, 1999) and is second all-time in the 200 (20.57, 1999).
Today, by reputation, senior wide receiver Austin Bolt is the fastest player on the team. The Borah High speedster won all kinds of championships in junior high and high school, running the 100, 200, 400 and relays.
Bolt has no desire to join the track team now – injuries have impeded his football career and the thought of practicing 400-meter sprints is a personal nightmare.
He does remember the first time he realized he had speed – and the power it gave him as an athlete. He was in the fifth or sixth grade, playing tight end in a youth football league. Coach called a sweep – Bolt found the corner, coasted down the sideline and was immediately moved to running back.
“That’s when I realized that I have some really serious speed, that I could actually run away from people. Just having that in my back pocket gave me a lot of confidence,’’ Bolt said.
Bolt smiles brightly when the question of fastest player on the team is asked, and he’s not alone. Football players love to talk, even brag, about their speed. They all give team answers, to almost every question, until you ask the one magical question: Who’s the fastest player on the team?
Bolt threw out sophomore running back Troy Wilkey, but not at No. 1. Senior wide receiver Latrell Caples was on our KTIK radio show the other day, and declared himself the fastest player on the team. All three of those players scored touchdowns in the first official scrimmage of spring camp Saturday.
Danielson, who this offseason signed nine new players with track and field experience on their resumes, said the fastest players on his roster could be sophomore running back Breezy Dubar or freshman cornerback Franklyn Johnson Jr.
Inside the Boise State weight room, there is a “Top 5 Performers’’ board proudly displayed on a large wall. The top five fastest players listed on the board are senior cornerback Kaonohi Kaniho (22.36 mph), sophomore safely Ty Benefield (22.29), senior safety Seyi Oladipo (22.12), sophomore wide receiver Prince Strachan (22.07) and junior running back Ashton Jeanty (21.91).
The board hasn’t been updated this offseason, which leads us back to Bolt, who’s finally healthy (and without any metal in his left leg) after suffering a complicated injury in the 2022 season opener against Oregon State.
Bolt said he’s regained about 95 percent of his speed, and will be at 100 percent for the Aug. 31 opener at Georgia Southern.
Does that make him the fastest player on the roster?
“I do have the fastest GPS unit of all-time here (23.03 mph earlier in his career),’’ Bolt said, with a wide smile on his face. “All I’m saying is that the record shows that I have the fastest speed, so I’d say so, yes.’’
Still no interest in joining the track team. Understood, and too bad.
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
