Coaching Candidates: Who Boise State football might hire as head coach

With the Boise State football head coaching sweepstakes nearing a close end, the candidates for the position have all the attention.

Boise State is set to pay out former head coach Andy Avalos over $3 million after terminating him just two years into his five year $7.75 million contract. 

Whoever is selected for the new head coaching position, they will be entering into one of the most exciting eras Boise State has seen in years. 

With all of the new and exciting changes that college football will be experiencing this offseason, including the college football playoff expansion, reconfiguration of conferences and the new Boise State Athletics Master Village. There are more reasons than one to join the program now than ever before.

The program, though they have shown signs of struggles during the 2023 season, are in one of the best situations for a rebirth. 

The only question is, who will lead the brigade?  

Here’s yet another list of speculative candidates for the job…

RYAN GRUBB

Grubb may be exactly what the Broncos need.

In his playing days, Grubb was a running back and receiver for Buena Vista University in Iowa, and now serves as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the University of Washington.

His collegiate coaching career dates back to 2005, where he coached running backs and wide receivers for a year each respectively.

He’s also familiar with the Mountain West Conference. From 2017-2021 he coached at Fresno State University at a variety of positions, including offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and quarterback coach.

At 45, with familiarity in the pacific northwest and the Mountain West Conference, Grubb may be the offensive mind the Broncos need.

Leaving Washington for Boise State this year may be a tough sell however, as the Huskies are one game away from making an appearance in the college football playoffs as the fourth seed. 

On top of that, Boise State would have to match the $2 million per year contract from Washington that runs through 2025.

KIRBY MOORE

No not Kellen Moore, Kirby Moore.

At the ripe age of 31, Moore has already coached at four different schools: College of Idaho, University of Washington, Fresno State and is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at the University of Missouri.

Similar to Grubb, Moore’s longest coaching tenure was at rival Fresno State, spanning from 2017-2022.

Obviously, he’s also well within the Bronco brotherhood as he was a four year starting wide receiver for the team from 2009-2013.

Moore just began a three year deal with Mizzou this year that’s valued at $2.625 million.

Paying him out likely wouldn’t be a challenge for Boise State, however it would be a gamble to hire another player coach, especially one so young.

Moore just started his coordinating position, so it would be unexpected for him to move so soon, however Dickey did say that no stone will go unturned in this search.

JIMBO FISHER

Fisher is probably the least likely hire on this list, however there is that ole’ Texas connection that he and Dickey inherently share.

Nobody wouldn’t put it past Dickey to shoot his shot with the legendary head coach.

This will be the first head coach hire that Dickey will oversee from start to finish for Boise State, so landing Fisher would be a “heisman moment,” for Dickey, if athletic directors are allowed to have those.

From 2010-2017 he led Florida State University to a .783 winning percentage which is the highest in school history.

In 2018 he started a 10 year, $75 million contract at Texas A&M, but only made it halfway through the deal before the Aggies fired him, which forced a $77 million buyout.

Boise State might have to raise parking rates a little more to afford this guy.

While he is expensive, getting fired on the public stage may cause him to consider stepping down to the Mountain West, which is becoming ever more competitive.

Next year would be his 36th season coaching if he can find a landing spot, maybe it’s not entirely out of the question for him to take a pay cut and come up to Boise.

SPENCER DANIELSON

Interim head coach Spencer Danielson is the guy to beat for Boise State’s head coaching job.

Leading the Broncos to a 2-0 record and qualifying for the Mountain West Championship in his first in-season tenure as head coach, what more could you ask from the guy?

Through it all, Danielson has been completely focused on the players’ success since the moment he got promoted to interim head coach. This type of  quality is what you’d like to see from a permanent head coach, especially when retaining great players will likely be a continuing challenge for Boise State.

“Me and the leadership, Jeramiah, you know we had a really good conversation yesterday and went through the process together yesterday,” Danielson said in a press conference. “But obviously with the fact that we’re playing a championship game, they were respectful of times and then came back to work and had a staff meeting and focused on UNLV.” 

Danielson also noted that this conversation was a formal interview for the head coaching position, so at this moment, he’s a finalist for the job.

What’s certain is that the players on the field will be fighting tooth and nail to secure two more wins in the coming weeks, and fighting for Danielson.

“He’s an amazing guy, words cannot describe how much I love coach D and how I would love for him to be a head coach here,” junior defensive end Ahmed Hassanein said after the Utah State game. “All week it was all about us … in the plane, coaches normally sit in front of the plane but we sat in front of the plane”

It’s likely that Boise State will wait until after both the Mountain West championship and bowl games are over to announce any decision related to the matter, however it’s hard to say if the teams performance will impact Dickey’s decision.