A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Boise State Broncos football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1933 | ||
| Athletic director | Jeramiah Dickey | ||
| Head coach | Spencer Danielson 1st season, 3–1 (.750) | ||
| Stadium | Albertsons Stadium (capacity: 36,387) | ||
| Field | Albertsons Stadium | ||
| Field surface | Blue FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Boise, Idaho | ||
| Conference | Mountain West | ||
| All-time record | 491–187–2 [1] (.724) | ||
| Bowl record | 13–8 (.619) | ||
| Playoff appearances | 8 | ||
| Claimed national titles | 2 (Junior College): 1958 (Div. I FCS): 1980 | ||
| Conference titles | 21 | ||
| Division titles | 6 (MW, Mountain) | ||
| Rivalries | Fresno State (rivalry) Idaho (rivalry) Nevada (rivalry) | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 3 | ||
| Current uniform | |||
 | |||
| Colors | Blue and orange[2] | ||
| Fight song | Orange and Blue | ||
| Mascot | Buster Bronco | ||
| Marching band | Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band | ||
| Website | broncosports.com | ||
The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games on campus at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho, and their head coach is Spencer Danielson. The program is 13–8 in bowl games since 1999, has the longest current streak of winning seasons in college football with 26. It also held a 3–0 record in the Fiesta Bowl between 2007 & 2014. As of the end of the 2023 season, the Broncos' all-time winning percentage of .725 is the sixth highest among NCAA FBS football teams, while their 491 total wins ranks 105th.[3]
History
Early history (1933–1975)
Originally a junior college, Boise State first fielded a football team in 1933 under head coach Dusty Kline.[4] That team compiled a record of 1–2–1 (.375).[4][5] Kline was succeeded by Max Eiden.[5] Under Eiden, the Broncos posted a record of 11–17–1 (.397) from 1934 to 1937.[5] Eiden was succeeded by Harry Jacoby, who coached the team from 1938 to the middle of the 1941 season before being called into Army service. The remainder of the 1941 season was coached by George "Stub" Allison, who posted a record of 2–1 (.667).[5] The Broncos did not compete in intramural football from 1942 to 1945 due to having a reduced male student population during World War II.[5] Following the war, Jacoby would return to coach the Broncos for one more season in 1946, posting a final record of 14–15–2 (.484). After a year as an assistant, Lyle Smith was promoted to head football coach of Boise Junior College in 1947. Smith saw incredible success as head coach, winning his first 31 games in a row as head coach. In 1950, the team moved into a new 10,000-seat stadium. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Smith, still undefeated as a head coach, was recalled to the Navy and was only able to coach in the first three games of the 1950 season.[6][7] George Blankley assumed the head coaching duties for the remainder of 1950 and the entire 1951 season in Smith's absence and compiled a 16–2 (.889) record. Smith returned as head coach in 1952 and stretched his winning streak all the way to 37 games before suffering his first defeat. In 1954, Smith was a leading candidate for the vacant job at his alma mater Idaho, but withdrew his name from consideration, content at Boise.[8][9] Boise won thirteen conference titles in football under Smith and the NJCAA National Football Championship in 1958.[10] Smith's final record is 150–25–6 (.845).[5] Coach Smith never had a losing season as the head coach. Boise State's football program moved up to four-year status in 1968 under new head coach Tony Knap and competed as an NAIA independent for two seasons.[11][12] The Broncos were accepted into the NCAA in October 1969,[13] and a month later into the Big Sky Conference, effective the following July.[14] The Broncos began NCAA competition in 1970 in Division II ("College Division" prior to 1973) in a brand new Bronco Stadium.[15] Knap and the Broncos won three consecutive Big Sky titles from 1973 to 1975 and compiled a record of 71–19–1.[5]
Jim Criner era (1976–1982)
Knap was succeeded by Jim Criner in 1976, a defensive assistant the previous season under Dick Vermeil at UCLA, the Rose Bowl champions. BSU won the Big Sky again in 1977, and in 1978, the Broncos and the Big Sky moved up to the new Division I-AA (renamed FCS in 2006). A scouting violation late that season at NAU resulted in probation and compromised an excellent 10–1 season in 1979, undefeated in conference at 7–0;[16] the Broncos were ineligible for the Big Sky title and I-AA playoffs.[17][18][19] Off probation in 1980, BSU won its first national title, taking the I-AA national championship over defending champion Eastern Kentucky in Sacramento. A runner-up to Idaho State in the Big Sky in 1981, BSU hosted Eastern Kentucky in the I-AA semifinals, but lost, 17–23. Criner departed after the 1982 season to accept the head football coach position at Iowa State;[20] his overall record at BSU was 59–21–1 (.735).[5]
Lyle Setencich era (1983–1986)
Lyle Setencich was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach of Boise State following Criner's departure. Under Setencich, Boise State posted a 24–20 record in four seasons.[21] Setencich's final season in 1986, the first season of blue turf, saw the first losing campaign (5–6) for the Broncos football program in four decades, winning just one road game and losing the final two home games. He lost all four rivalry games against Idaho and resigned following the season.[21]
Skip Hall era (1987–1992)
Skip Hall, previously an assistant coach under Don James at Washington, was hired after Setencich's resignation.[22] In Hall's second season in 1988, the Broncos returned to the Division I-AA playoffs, their first appearance since 1981. Hall's best season was in 1990, when Boise State advanced to the national semifinals, falling in a high scoring game against Big Sky rival Nevada, the conference champion whom the Broncos had defeated a month earlier in Boise. Hall lost all six against Idaho; he resigned after six seasons, with a 42–28 (.600) record.[5][22]
Pokey Allen era (1993–1996)
The Broncos turned to Portland State head coach Pokey Allen to lead the Boise State football team after Hall resigned. In Allen's second season, the Broncos returned to the championship game in 1994.[23] After 26 years in the Big Sky, BSU joined the Big West Conference in 1996 and moved up to Division I-A (now FBS). The Broncos had an interim head coach for part of 1996 as Allen battled cancer.[24] Allen died due to the cancer in December 1996.[24]
Houston Nutt era (1997)
Head coach Houston Nutt made the step up to NCAA Division I-A the next year when Boise State hired him away from Murray State to take over the program.[25] Two years after making the Division I-AA finals in 1994, Boise State's first year in Division I-A had been difficult and was looking for a recruiter and motivator to jump start their program following Allen's death. Nutt's team posted a 5–6 record in 1997,[26] playing at the Division I-A level with its Division I-AA players. Nutt's team beat rival Idaho on the road in overtime for the first BSU win in Moscow since 1981. Additionally, Boise State almost pulled off an upset against Wisconsin of the Big Ten. Nutt resigned as head coach after just one season to accept the head football coach position at Arkansas.[27]
Dirk Koetter era (1998–2000)
In three seasons under head coach Dirk Koetter, who previously served as Oregon's offensive coordinator,[28] the Broncos were 26–10, won two Big West championships and moved to the Western Athletic Conference effective in 2001. In his three winning seasons at Boise State, Koetter won ten or more games twice, with two bowl wins. Koetter departed the Broncos after the 2000 season for Arizona State in the Pac-10.[29]
Dan Hawkins era (2001–2005)
Dan Hawkins was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach on December 2, 2000.[30] In 2004, Hawkins was honored with his second Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Coach of the Year title in three years. Through the 2005 season, he compiled a 53–11 record as Boise State's head coach, including a 37–3 record in WAC competition with four straight WAC titles. Only Walter Camp, George Washington Woodruff and Bob Pruett had more total wins in their first five years of head coaching. He holds a 31–game WAC winning streak, the longest in conference history.[31] One of his first hires at Boise State was Chris Petersen as his offensive coordinator; Petersen was a quarterback at UC Davis while Hawkins was an assistant coach, and was the wide receivers coach at Oregon under head coach Mike Bellotti. After five seasons at the helm of the Broncos football program, Hawkins left for Colorado of the Big 12 Conference.[32] He had three top 25 finishes, won ten or more games three times, and won two bowl games.
Chris Petersen era (2006–2013)
Following Hawkins' departure, offensive coordinator Chris Petersen was promoted to head coach.[33] At Boise State, Petersen won two Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year Awards, voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.[34] He is the first coach to receive this award twice, which debuted in 1986 (it has since been awarded twice to Nick Saban and three times to Dabo Swinney). Under Petersen, Boise State recorded two undefeated seasons, three undefeated regular seasons, and reached the Bowl Championship Series twice. The 2006 season was capped with a memorable upset of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, while the 2009 team defeated TCU in the Fiesta Bowl to finish at 14–0 and were fourth in both major polls. They were just the second team ever to go 14–0 in the history of major college football. Petersen brought Boise State football its highest ranking during the 2010 season. The team rose to second in the Associated Press poll during weeks 7, 8, and 9, and No. 2 in the Coaches' Poll, as well as earning the No. 3 slot in the first BCS ranking.[35] After 2010, Boise State joined the Mountain West Conference.[36]
In May 2011, Boise State Athletics was cited by the NCAA for "lack of institutional control," for one major violation in women's tennis and several minor violations in four sports, including football. While the football program's violations were minor (student athletes provided fellow recruits with meals and beds while visiting campus), the football program suffered serious penalties nonetheless.[37] The Boise State football program was given three years' probation, lost three scholarships a year, and had its number of Fall practices reduced.[38] As a result of the NCAA violations, Gene Bleymaier, the athletic director who brought blue turf to Boise State in 1986 and promoted Petersen 20 years later, was asked to resign, and ultimately fired when he refused.[39] Despite President Bob Kustra's firing of Bleymaier, boosters continued to support him. Just two years later, the new football facility was named in his honor.[40]
Between 2008 and 2011, the Broncos went 50–3 to become the first FBS team to win 50 games over a four-year span. With the 50–3 record, quarterback Kellen Moore became the winningest quarterback in FBS history, passing former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy (45 wins). On December 7, 2011, it was announced that the Broncos would join the Big East Conference as football-only members in July 2013, in a division with Memphis, SMU, Houston, San Diego State, and Temple.[41] However, the following year Boise State announced they had decided to stay in the Mountain West Conference, leaving the Big East without ever playing a game in the conference. Petersen accepted the head coaching position at the University of Washington of the Pac-12 Conference on December 6, 2013.[42] The vacancy was created when the Huskies' Steve Sarkisian left to take the head coaching position at USC.[43][44] Petersen finished his eight seasons as head coach of Boise State with a record of 92–12 (.885), with three top 10 finishes, seven seasons with ten or more wins, six top 25 finishes, two Fiesta Bowl titles, five bowl wins, and five conference titles. He was at BSU for a total of 13 years, the first five as offensive coordinator under Hawkins.[45] Assistant head coach Bob Gregory was named interim head coach for Boise State's bowl game.[46]
Bryan Harsin era (2014–2020)
On December 11, 2013, Arkansas State head coach Bryan Harsin returned to his alma mater as Petersen's replacement.[47] Harsin had been an assistant for the Broncos under Petersen and was co-offensive coordinator at Texas under Mack Brown.[47] In his first season in 2014, they went 10–2 in the regular season and won the Mountain West Championship Game, defeating Fresno State 28–14. This was Boise State's first outright Mountain West Conference championship. The Broncos faced the Arizona Wildcats in the Fiesta Bowl and won 38–30 for a 12–2 record and were ranked 15th in both major polls. Boise State shared the Mountain division title in 2016, going 10–3 with wins over Washington State and Oregon State. BSU was 11–3 in 2017 and won their second Mountain west conference championship under Harsin with a 17–14 win over Fresno State in the Mountain West Championship Game. Boise State capped the season with a Las Vegas Bowl win over Oregon and climbed to 22nd in both final polls. In 2018, Boise State was 10–3 overall; they won the Mountain Division championship and beat three teams that won ten or more games (Troy, Utah State, and Fresno State) and were ranked in both final polls. In 2019 Boise State went 12–2 won the opener at Florida State went 8–0 in the Mountain West conference play for the first time in the regular season, won the Mountain Division and won the conference championship 31–10 vs Hawaii and finished ranked in both final polls. Under Harsin, Boise State is 69–19 (.784) through 2020, with at least nine wins per year, a 3–2 record in bowl games, 1 Fiesta Bowl title, Have been ranked in the top 25 in the polls at some point in every season, won three conference titles, five division titles, and have been in the AP final poll four times. On December 22, 2020, Harsin resigned to become the head coach at Auburn.[48] He finished at Boise State with a seven-year record of 69–19.
Andy Avalos era (2021–2023)
On January 8, 2021, Boise State hired Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos as their new head coach.[49] Avalos, a former player and assistant coach for the Broncos, signed a five-year contract worth $7.75 million.[50]
Avalos was 22–14 during his time as head coach. He led the Broncos to a 2022 Mountain West Championship Game (L 28–16 to Fresno State) and the 2022 Frisco Bowl, where the Broncos defeated North Texas 35-32.
With two games remaining in the 2023 regular season and being on the verge of the team's first losing season since 1997, it was announced on November 12, 2023, that Avalos was being let go.[51] The remainder of his contract would be bought out, an amount near $3 million.[52] Defensive Coordinator Spencer Danielson was announced to be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. After winning three games to close out the year including the MWC Championship Game at UNLV, Danielson was elevated to full-time head coach.
Head coaches
Head coaching records since Boise State became a four-year school in 1968.
NAIA (1968–69), NCAA Division II (1970–77), Division I-AA (1978–95), Division I-A/FBS (1996–present)
| Head Coach | Years | Seasons | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Knap | 8 | 1968–1975 | 71 | 19 | 1 | .786 |
| Jim Criner | 7 | 1976–1982 | 59 | 21 | 1 | .735 |
| Lyle Setencich | 4 | 1983–1986 | 24 | 20 | 0 | .545 |
| Skip Hall | 6 | 1987–1992 | 42 | 28 | 0 | .600 |
| Pokey Allen | 4 | 1993–1996^ | 24 | 15 | 0 | .615 |
| Tom Mason * | 1 | 1996 | 1 | 9 | .100 | |
| Houston Nutt | 1 | 1997 | 5 | 6 | .455 | |
| Dirk Koetter | 3 | 1998–2000 | 26 | 10 | .722 | |
| Dan Hawkins | 5 | 2001–2005 | 53 | 11 | .828 | |
| Chris Petersen | 8 | 2006–2013 | 92 | 12 | .885 | |
| Bob Gregory * | 2013 | 0 | 1 | .000 | ||
| Bryan Harsin | 7 | 2014–2020 | 69 | 19 | .784 | |
| Andy Avalos * | 3 | 2021–2023 | 22 | 14 | .611 | |
| Spencer Danielson | 1 | 2023–present | 3 | 1 | .750 |
In 1980, The Big Sky Conference introduced overtime for all their games. This eventually set a precedent which lead to the elimination of all tied contests across the league by 1996.
- Mason was the interim head coach for the first 10 games of the 1996 season while head coach Pokey Allen battled cancer.
- Gregory was the interim head coach after Petersen took the job at Washington.
- Avalos was replaced by Danielson with two games remaining in the 2023 season.
Championships
National championships
Boise State Claims two national titles in the Junior College Division and at the NCAA Division I FCS.
| Season | Conference | Division | Coach | Overall record | Conference record | National Championship Game | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | ICAC | NJCAA | Lyle Smith | 10–0 | 4–0 | NJCAA Championship Game | Tyler Junior College | W 22–0 |
| 1980 | Big Sky | NCAA I-AA | Jim Criner | 10–3 | 6–1 | Division I-AA Championship Game | Eastern Kentucky | W 31–29 |
Conference championships
| Year | Conference | Coach | Conference record | Overall record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Big Sky Conference – (Div. II) | Tony Knap | 6–0 | 10–3 |
| 1974 | Big Sky Conference | Tony Knap | 6–0 | 10–2 |
| 1975 | Big Sky Conference | Tony Knap | 5–0–1 | 9–2–1 |
| 1977 | Big Sky Conference | Jim Criner | 6–0 | 9–2 |
| 1980 | Big Sky Conference – (Div. I-AA) | Jim Criner | 6–1 | 10–3 |
| 1994 | Big Sky Conference | Pokey Allen | 6–1 | 13–2 |
| 1999 | Big West Conference – (Div. I-A) | Dirk Koetter | 5–1 | 10–3 |
| 2000 | Big West Conference | Dirk Koetter | 5–0 | 10–2 |
| 2002 | Western Athletic Conference | Dan Hawkins | 8–0 | 12–1 |
| 2003 | Western Athletic Conference | Dan Hawkins | 8–0 | 13–1 |
| 2004 | Western Athletic Conference | Dan Hawkins | 8–0 | 11–1 |
| 2005 § | Western Athletic Conference | Dan Hawkins | 7–1 | 9–4 |
| 2006 | Western Athletic Conference | Chris Petersen | 8–0 | 13–0 |
| 2008 | Western Athletic Conference | Chris Petersen | 8–0 | 12–1 |
| 2009 | Western Athletic Conference | Chris Petersen | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=List_of_Boise_State_Broncos_head_football_coaches