New Boise State defensive coordinator has a strong resume

Boise State's defense shouldn't change much this year as defensive line coach Pete Kwiatkowski takes over as defensive coordinator.

Kwiatkowski, who was named the replacement for Justin Wilcox on Wednesday, helped ease Wilcox into his first coordinator job when they both arrived at Boise State in 2006.

Kwiatkowski, 43, was the defensive coordinator at Montana State from 2000 to 2005. He is a former first-team All-American with the Broncos and is a member of the Boise State Hall of Fame.

"It will be a smooth transition, probably as smooth as it could have went," said defensive backs coach Marcel Yates, who worked for Kwiatkowski at Montana State. "Pete's a smart guy. He already had so much input in the game plan in the first place."

Kwiatkowski's Montana State defenses led the Big Sky Conference in yards allowed four times in his final five seasons. He also has earned raves for his work with the Broncos' defensive line.

He was the only candidate to replace Wilcox, who left for the coordinator job at Tennessee.

Coach Chris Petersen called the Kwiatkowski hire "a slam dunk."

"That was a really healthy, awesome relationship in terms of what went on with those guys the last four years," Petersen said. "They were kind of the yin and the yang."

The biggest change, Kwiatkowski said, will be the final decision-making. Now the buck stops with him.

"I'm hoping that the 20-something years of coaching has prepared me to handle the stress better than I did when I was a younger coach," Kwiatkowski said. "É I was a little more like Justin (at Montana State) - even the wins, when they weren't pretty, I took them hard."

The Broncos still need to hire a defensive assistant to round out the staff. They could hire a line coach and make Kwiatkowski a floater, like Wilcox was, or keep Kwiatkowski as the line coach and hire a second line coach or a second linebackers coach.

Kwiatakowski is leaning toward keeping his defensive line responsibility.

"We'll make sure we get the next best piece to the puzzle," Petersen said.

STRAUSSER, HUFF SWAP COACHING JOBS

Chris Strausser will take over the offensive line and Scott Huff will move to tight ends, flipping their responsibilities, Petersen also announced Wednesday.

Strausser was the offensive line coach from 2001 to 2005. He went to Colorado in 2006 and returned as the tight ends coach in 2007.

Huff was the tight ends coach in 2006 and the offensive line coach from 2007 to 2009.

"I'm always trying to shake things up and create different energies," Petersen said.

The offensive line was considered a disappointment in 2007 and 2008, but made great strides in 2009, when the Broncos allowed the nation's fewest sacks and averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

Strausser only expects to make small changes to fit his coaching style.

"We've made this a lot like I really feel like it is, not that big a deal," he said of his conversations with the players.

Huff, a former Boise State center, has mixed feelings about his switch.

"Part of me is always an O-line guy É but probably one of, if not my favorite, year was coaching the tight ends because it is such a fun group to coach," he said.