Bachmeier and Sears are teammates first, competitors second – despite quarterback position battle

Despite talk surrounding the Boise State quarterback position, Hank Bachmeier and Jack Sears have settled on friendship rather than disunion.

The quarterback position reached a point of uncertainty this season. Bachmeier and Sears played well last season, but injuries to both players hindered their participation.

 Bachmeier finished the year off as the starting quarterback, but, following Sears’ strong in-game performance, naming a starting quarterback for the upcoming season was not an easy task.

Competition does not only originate between teams. To make a team and earn play time, athletes must compete with one another for positions — perhaps the most coveted of which is the football quarterback. 

Many people assume there is “bad blood” between players in the same position because they are competing for the same job. Though this assumption might be true in some scenarios, Bachmeier and Sears  are looking to make a connection instead of a division with their teammates.

“I don’t think the relationship dynamic changes when fighting for a job. I’ve done this the last few years. I’ve known Jack since I was in eighth grade, so that relationship’s pretty cool,” Bachmeier said. 

The Boise State quarterbacks, third-year Bachmeier and fourth-year Sears, see each other as friends pushing one another to become their best selves, both on and off the field. 

“I feel like [Sears and I] help each other a lot. We communicate with each other on what we’re seeing and the playbook and just pick at each other’s brains. But on the field, I think we push each other to be better,” Bachmeier said. 

Sears’ and Bachmeier’s connection didn’t spring solely out of the blue turf. Their relationship formed when they met and played against each other in high school in California. 

In a press conference, Sears had mentioned that he had met and connected with Bachmeier through striving for mutual success together in high school games and camps prior to uniting at Boise State.

It’s been fun to get to know him more as a person than as a football player and learn about his dreams outside of football along with what he does to get away from it all,” Sears said.

Today, Sears and Bachmeier’s relationship consists of motivating each other to be the best individual players they can be, as well as striving for mutual and team success.. 

“I think we’ve just grown appreciation for each other. We both know what we do well and what we don’t do well and how we help each other,” Sears said.

Like Coach Avalos had mentioned, from just looking in from the outside, one would just think that the quarterbacks hate each other because they are competing, but after getting a better look inside it’s clear that this couldn’t be more far from the truth. The truth being while both quarterbacks would like to be named the starter, they know that the team as a whole comes before themselves. 

While both quarterbacks are gunning hard for the starting position, they have come to the consensus that the team, as a whole, comes before themselves.

“I don’t know what people would think or expect to see in a situation like this, but it is probably not what people would hope for in terms of entertainment. [Bachmeier and Sears] are walking down the hallway laughing and joking together on the field,” said Boise State Head Coach Andy Avalos. 

Coach Avalos said the relationships between players are huge yet overlooked components of what makes a team great. Not only will the players need to work on becoming better players, but forming better teammate relationships as well.

“[Bachmeier and Sears] will both continue to put their best foot forward every day and compete, but are also working to grow their relationship too because that plays a huge part in succeeding as well,” Coach Avalos said.