A perennial powerhouse in the Mountain West, the Boise State Broncos head into the 2023 college football season under the leadership of Andy Avalos for the third consecutive season. Who else makes up the Boise State coaching staff as they seek their first title since 2019?
Boise State Broncos Coaching Staff
Head Coach Andy Avalos
A Boise State alum who was a team captain and all-conference linebacker for the Broncos during a standout playing career, Avalos was named the program’s head coach in 2021. He replaced Bryan Harsin, who left for the vacant Auburn Tigers job following the 2020 college football campaign.
Avalos’ return to the Broncos was a second homecoming of sorts. He was originally featured on the Boise State coaching staff between 2012 and 2018. Having worked with the defensive line, he ascended to defensive coordinator in 2016. His ferocious defensive units included future NFL names, led by first-round NFL draft pick Leighton Vander Esch.
In his two-year absence from the Boise State coaching staff between 2019 and 2020, Avalos was the defensive coordinator with the Oregon Ducks. His units helped the Ducks to consecutive Pac-12 titles, while Kayvon Thibodeaux and Noah Sewell ensured that Avalos coached back-to-back Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year recipients.
After beginning his coaching career at Corona High School, Avalos got his first college gig as a graduate assistant at the University of Colorado. He left Boulder in 2009 to become the defensive line coach at Nebraska Kearney for two seasons before coaching the Sacramento State linebacker group in 2011.
UPDATE: The Boise State Broncos reportedly dismissed Avalos as the head coach of the Broncos on Sunday, November 12, 2023. Avalos finished with a 22-14 record as the head coach in two-plus years at the helm. The search for new head coach will certainly begin immediately.
Offensive Coordinator Bush Hamdan
Former Broncos quarterback Bush Hamdan returns home as the offensive coordinator and QBs coach on the Boise State coaching staff for the 2023 college football campaign. While he never started a game for the Broncos, Hamdan is credited with having a role in the “Statue of Liberty” play against Oklahoma — a defining moment in the history of the program.
Hamdan has put his hours of work spent in the Boise State film room as a player to good use as a coach. He returns to the Broncos having spent a substantial chunk of his coaching career working with quarterbacks, including in the NFL. Hamdan was the quarterback coach of the 2017 Atlanta Falcons team that lost in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.
Like head coach Avalos, Hamdan began his college coaching career at Colorado. He also worked on the same coaching staff at Sacramento State in 2011. The new Boise State offensive coordinator’s full college coaching résumé can be found below.
- Colorado (student assistant, 2009)
- Maryland (offensive quality control, 2010)
- Sacramento State (TEs coach, 2011)
- Florida (WRs coach, 2012)
- Arkansas State (co-OC, QBs coach, 2013)
- Davidson (OC, QBs coach, 2014)
- Washington (offensive quality control, 2015; WRs coach, passing game coordinator, 2016)
- Atlanta Falcons (QBs coach)
- Washington (OC, QBs coach, 2018-2019)
- Missouri (WRs, QBs coach, 2020-2021; QBs coach, 2022)
- Boise State (OC, 2023)
Defensive Coordinator Spencer Danielson
After originally joining the Boise State coaching staff in 2017, Spencer Danielson was named the Broncos’ defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach ahead of the 2021 college football campaign.
Danielson got his first coaching gig at Azusa Pacific in 2013, where he served as the linebackers coach in 2014 while also being responsible for coordinating the program’s recruiting efforts in 2016. He was a productive student-athlete there prior to joining the coaching staff, with 190 tackles in a four-year playing career.
MORE: Mountain West QB Rankings 2023
Boise State gave Danielson his first FBS coaching role, working as a graduate assistant in 2017. He was quickly promoted to a full-time role coaching the program’s STUD position, where he worked with 2019 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Curtis Weaver.
Amongst multiple achievements since being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2021, Danielson’s Boise State defense recorded the program’s first defensive shutout since 2015 when they beat New Mexico. His defense also forced the most turnovers of any Broncos unit since 2012.
Defensive Line Coach Erik Chinander
After spending five years with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Erik Chinander joined the Boise State coaching staff as the defensive line coach, defensive run game coordinator, and assistant head coach for the 2023 college football season. Chinander also held college roles at UCF, Oregon, Northern Iowa, and Ellsworth CC while spending a year in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cornerbacks Coach Demario Warren
Demario Warren enters his second season on the Boise State coaching staff as the cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator. A former running back, his first college coaching role was as the RBs coach at Southern Utah. However, his transition to the defense in 2008 led to a 14-year spell that included six years as the head coach of the Thunderbirds.
Safeties Coach Kane Ioane
In addition to his role as the safeties coach on the Boise State coaching staff, Kane Ioane serves as the co-defensive coordinator for the Broncos. He arrived in Boise in 2021 after coaching at his alma mater Montana State — where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame — across two stints. In between, he spent two seasons as a defensive analyst at Washington.
EDGE Coach Jabril Frazier
A 28-game starter for the Broncos at the STUD position who racked up 18 sacks and 24.5 tackles for loss while playing for the program, Jabril Frazier joined the Boise State coaching staff as a defensive graduate assistant for the 2020 college football campaign. The former New York Jets undrafted free agent was promoted to EDGE coach ahead of the 2023 season.
Offensive Line Coach Tim Keane
Tim Keane joined the Boise State coaching staff as the offensive line coach in 2021. A former center at UC Davis, Keane got his coaching start with the Aggies as an offensive quality control analyst in 2007. Although he spent time at Tulane (2008-2009) and the College of Idaho (2014), the majority of his coaching career was spent as the OL coach for UC Davis.
Wide Receivers Coach Matt Miller
A standout wide receiver for the Broncos from 2011 to 2014, Matt Miller was an offensive quality control assistant on the Boise State coaching staff in 2015 — returning as WRs coach in 2020.
In between, Miller was the WRs coach at Montana State from 2016 to midway through the 2018 season, when he was promoted to offensive coordinator.
Running Backs Coach James Montgomery
The Boise State coaching staff was bolstered by the addition of a conference foe as former Fresno State running backs coach and recruiting coordinator James Montgomery joined the Broncos in the same roles for the 2023 college football season. Montgomery got his first college coaching role as a quality control coach at Weber State before moving to Sacramento State for six seasons.
Tight Ends Coach Nate Potter
One of only three Broncos to earn consensus All-American honors as a player, former OT and Boise State Hall of Fame inductee Nate Potter returned to his alma mater in 2022 as the TEs coach and run game coordinator. Potter began his coaching career on the Boise State staff in 2014, spending four years as an assistant before becoming TEs coach at Montana State.