Boise State AD Dickey visits top coaching candidates; Harsin hires former CSU coach Bobo
New Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey was in Bozeman, Montana, on Thursday, presumably to meet with Montana State head football coach Jeff Choate.
On Thursday, Dickey and associate athletic director Bob Carney were seen at Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport but declined to comment on the coaching search, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
The private plane Dickey took from Boise to Bozeman was also scheduled to fly to Eugene, Oregon, Thursday afternoon, according to flightaware.com, which suggests a meeting with Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos.
Choate’s name was connected to Boise State’s head coaching search as soon as Bryan Harsin left for Auburn in the days following the Broncos’ loss to San Jose State in the Mountain West championship game.
He was especially popular among former Boise State players, but the 50-year-old Idaho native has emerged in recent days as a potential favorite for the job.
Choate was hired by Chris Petersen to coach special teams, running backs and linebackers at Boise State between 2006 and 2012. He rejoined Petersen in 2014 as Washington’s defensive line coach and special teams coordinator and was officially hired as the 32nd head football coach at Montana State on Dec. 4, 2015.
Petersen has been involved behind the scenes in Boise State’s search for an AD and head coach.
Choate took over a struggling FCS program at Montana State and led a team that went 4-7 in his first season to back-to-back playoff runs in 2018 and 2019.
In 2019, the Bobcats advanced to the FCS semifinals for the first time since 1984 and finished the season 11-4. Choate is a modest 28-22 at Montana State, but his 28 career wins are already tied for No. 9 in program history.
Avalos played at Boise State from 2000 to 2004 and led the Broncos in tackles in each of his final three seasons. He was an assistant coach for the Broncos from 2012 to 2015, focusing on defensive line and linebackers, before he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2016.
In 2019 — his first season as Oregon’s defensive coordinator — he was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top assistant coach in the country. The Ducks gave up just 16.5 points a game that season, which ranked No. 9 nationally and No. 2 in the Pac-12.
Avalos, Choate and Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore were seen as the immediate favorites when Harsin left, but Moore took his name out of the running last week and signed a contract extension with the Cowboys.
Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell have also been mentioned as candidates to fill the Broncos’ vacancy.
Harsin hires Bobo
Harsin has hired a familiar coach to lead his offense at Auburn.
Former Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo will serve as Harsin’s offensive coordinator, Auburn announced Thursday. Bobo spent last season as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator.
“I’ve wanted to work with Mike now for quite some time as he compliments the many things we want to do with our offense,” Harsin said in a statement on auburntigers.com. “We are going to be very versatile in what we do, and Mike’s offensive background speaks for itself.”
Bobo was the head coach at Colorado State from 2015 to 2019 and led the Rams to bowl games in each of his first three seasons, becoming the first coach in program history to do so. In five seasons, he went 28-35 and 20-20 in the Mountain West.
Bobo is a former quarterback at Georgia and spent 14 years on the Bulldogs coaching staff, so he may prove critical for Harsin as he tries to gain a foothold in recruiting in SEC country.
Williams honored again
Boise State senior Avery Williams was named a first-team All-American by Phil Steele as a kick returner Thursday, marking his fifth first-team All-American nod this offseason.
Williams also picked up three first-team All-Mountain West selections from Phil Steele: as a defensive back, a kick returner and a punt returner.
The former walk-on earned consensus All-American status last Thursday after he was named a first-team selection by the Football Writers Association of America, the American Football Coaches Association and Sporting News.
He also earned a first-team selection from USA Today, and was named second-team by CBS Sports and third-team by AP and The Athletic.
Williams led the nation this season with four special teams touchdowns — returning two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns and recovering a punt he blocked in the end zone in the Broncos’ win over Colorado State. He also blocked a field-goal attempt that night.
He declared for the NFL Draft on Christmas Eve.
Boise State wide receiver Khalil Shakir was also named first-team All-Mountain West by Phil Steele. He led the Broncos with 52 catches for 719 yards and six receiving touchdowns in 2020.
Five Boise State players were named second-team all-conference: left tackle John Ojukwu, defensive lineman Shane Irwin, linebacker Riley Whimpey, nickel Kekaula Kaniho and cornerback Jalen Walker. Three were named third-team: offensive lineman Jake Stetz, linebacker Ezekiel Noa and long snapper Daniel Cantrell.
Offensive lineman Garrett Curran, wide receiver CT Thomas, tight end John Bates, STUD Sam Whitney and freshman kicker Jonah Dalmas earned fourth-team honors.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 3:00 PM.
