Two former Boise State QBs jump on the coaching carousel, land Power 5 jobs
A pair of former Boise State quarterbacks landed offensive coaching positions at Power 5 college football programs this week.
Minnesota hired Mike Sanford away from Utah State to run its offense, the school announced Friday. And Missouri scooped up Bush Hamdan on Wednesday, nabbing him after Washington fired him as its offensive coordinator.
Missouri has not yet named a role for Hamdan.
Sanford (2001-04) and Hamdan (2005-08) both saw limited playing time at Boise State but have made a name for themselves as sought-after coaches.
Sanford helped lead the Broncos to a Fiesta Bowl victory over Arizona in 2014 as their offensive coordinator, turning that success into a spot as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and then as the head coach at Western Kentucky.
But Western Kentucky fired him after a 9-16 record over two seasons, leading him back to the Mountain West as Utah State’s offensive coordinator last fall. The 37-year-old Sanford now will take over the Minnesota offense and coach its quarterbacks after Penn State hired away the Gophers’ previous offensive coordinator, Kirk Ciarroca.
Sanford will have a co-offensive coordinator at Minnesota, but NBC Sports reported Sanford will serve as the primary play caller. Minnesota is coming off a breakthrough season that ended with an upset of Auburn in the Outback Bowl. The Gophers went 12-2.
“I have known Mike for many years, and he will be an elite addition to our staff,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said in a news release. “Mike is one of the brightest young minds in the game and brings a wealth of experience to our offensive staff room and our offensive system.”
Hamdan will be working for another former Boise State offensive coordinator at Missouri. Eli Drinkwitz was hired by the Tigers as their head coach in December after he went 12-1 in one season at Appalachian State.
Hamdan and Drinkwitz previously worked together at Arkansas State in 2013, when they were the co-offensive coordinators under current Boise State coach Bryan Harsin.
Hamdan coached quarterbacks for the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 before going to Washington to be former BSU coach Chris Petersen’s offensive coordinator the past two years.
“I’m excited to reconnect with Bush,” Drinkwitz said in a news release. “He is an outstanding teacher and has great experience, from his time as a coordinator in the Pac 12, and on successful staffs in the SEC and the NFL. Bush is a good person who does a great job of connecting with kids and he will be a great addition to our staff.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
