On their first day in Boise, the Coyle children made sure to check out the most Boise State of landmarks: the blue turf.

In the three-plus weeks since, new Boise State Athletic Director Mark Coyle’s three children have been regulars at a host of Bronco sporting events. Each one pushing them closer to a mythical mark.

“My kids are going to set the Guinness Book of World Records for number of athletic events they’ve gone to when it’s all said and done,” Coyle said last week during his first interview with the Idaho Statesman since beginning work on Jan. 5.

The Coyle kids — Grace, Nicholas and Benjamin — were at Saturday’s men’s basketball game against Wyoming before a birthday party. Benjamin turns 5 today. They’ve taken in swim meets, women’s basketball games and the Beauty and the Beast — the Broncos’ unique wrestling and gymnastics combo event.

Mark Coyle has made attendance at games, meets and events an important part of his first month on the job.

“It’s important to go and show the support for those kids. Those student-athletes and coaches are working incredibly hard and I want to go,” said Coyle, who took time to shake hands with fans after Saturday’s loss. “As I’ve said before, I want to make sure we can provide a first-class experience for all our kids that represent this institution and this community, and by going to those events, you get a good feel for that.”

The other thing Coyle is trying to get a good feel for is the culture of the department he now heads. His first few weeks have been spent in one-on-one meetings with senior athletic department staff, gathering information and trying to determine strengths and weaknesses.

Among his findings: “There is a great foundation in place here and I think that my job and the job of our staff is to carry the torch forward, to continue to move this program where we all want it to go,” he said.

Before he took over, Coyle promised not to make radical change in his first days. He has maintained that position, which isn’t to say there haven’t been changes. He said he would emphasize social media as a way of reaching out to fans — and the Broncos have rolled out individual Twitter accounts for their sports and used their existing account (@BroncoSports) to break news of football hires.

The lengthy lines at men’s basketball games were another thing brought to his attention. It conflicts with his desire to be a “user-friendly” department.

“Sometimes the best change is change that’s unseen, if you can quietly implement some things you want to do that you think will benefit the department,” he said. “Like I keep saying, we want to be a department of actions and not words. I can tell you all day we’re going to do everything we can to make it better, but unless we can make it better, it’s not going to make an impact. So we got to have the actions behind that.”

Coyle insist, however, he is not a micro-manager. He didn’t have much input in the hiring of two assistant football coaches and, while he wants to be involved in men’s basketball scheduling, he won’t take it over from the basketball coaches.

Instead, he wants to blend his ideas with the existing structure at Boise State, hoping to improve the thriving department, particularly when it comes to generating revenue. Growing fundraising dollars through the Bronco Athletic Association and selling more tickets is critical.

“That’s going to be a focus of ours. How can we involve people through gifts to the program to help them grow and to have an impact on the 450 student-athletes that represent us?” Coyle said.

If you’ve got any ideas, you know where to find Coyle — and his kids. They’ll likely be at the next Boise State sporting event.

© 2012 Idaho Statesman

Brian Murphy: 377-6444

Looking for 13th football game

Boise State can play a 13th football game in 2012 because of its trip to Hawaii. The Broncos have six home games and six road games on the schedule. New Athletic Director Mark Coyle said “ideally, it’d be great to have a home game,” but that the school is “trying to find the right match and the right fit for everybody.” Many schools have open dates because of conference realignment.