Boise State QBs Bachmeier, Sears are in an open competition to win the starting job
Boise State first-year offensive coordinator Tim Plough describes himself as obsessed with football.
“Obsessed in a good way,” Plough told the Idaho Statesman on March 9. “I’m obsessed with the game and I’m obsessed with quarterback play. I love breaking down different quarterbacks. Even if a guy might be going somewhere else, I like to see what else is out there and see what the best looks like and how close we can get.”
Plough breaks down film of all the quarterbacks in the NFL Draft every year and many of the top quarterbacks coming out of high school.
That includes Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier, whom he had high grades on coming out of Murrietta Valley High in California. Plough was on the UC Davis coaching staff at the time.
“I remember doing a full breakdown and thinking, ‘This guy is going to be special,’ ” Plough said. “I was getting texts from (Boise State) coaches his first year here, saying, ‘Wait until you see this guy,’ and then he goes out and beats Florida State.”
Bachmeier kicked off his college career with a win over Florida State in the 2019 season opener. He went 7-1 as the Broncos’ starter that year and 4-1 in the five games he started last season, which was shortened to seven games because of COVID-19.
“Hank is all in on being the best player he can be,” Plough said. “He loves this program, and loves the brotherhood at Boise State. If you love all that and put the time in, I’m pretty sure the partnership is going to be a good one.”
Plough also remembers Jack Sears from high school and said he’s still good friends with Jaime Ortiz, who was Sears’ coach at San Clemente High in California.
Sears joined the Broncos last summer after transferring from USC. His debut as the starter proved to be a game to remember as he racked up 280 passing yards and four total touchdowns at Air Force with Bachmeier out of action because of COVID-19. Sears’ season ended the following week after he was knocked out of a loss to BYU with a potential head injury on the Broncos’ first drive of the game.
He said Monday that he was healthy two weeks after the BYU game, but back-to-back games against San Jose State and UNLV were canceled because of the coronavirus, and Sears tested positive before the regular-season finale at Wyoming, which kept him out of that game and the Mountain West championship against San Jose State.
“My journey so far in college football has been one where I’ve had to deal with adversity and overcome it,” Sears told reporters on Monday. “It was a tough pill to swallow to be knocked out for a couple weeks, but I’m excited abut being back out there in spring camp competing and playing ball again.”
‘Valley of the Shred’
Plough said the Broncos’ top two quarterbacks approach the game in different ways. Bachmeier is the fun-loving youngster, and Sears is the buttoned-up veteran.
“Jack is much more businesslike and sometimes acts like he’s older than me,” Plough said. “He’s very meticulous and very detailed.”
Plough and new Boise State head coach Andy Avalos have been up front about it being an open competition for the starting job, but that isn’t going to drive a wedge between the team’s top two quarterbacks, who have known one another since Bachmeier was in eighth grade.
“There’s never any bad blood or hard feelings,” Sears said. “When he throws a touchdown, I celebrate. When I throw a touchdown, he celebrates. We just like seeing how far we can push each other, and I think we both got a lot better from it.”
The Broncos have only been on the field for four practices so far this spring after they lost one last week because of a brief pause due to a spike in COVID-19 cases on the team. Practice resumed Friday.
There’s still a long way to go before a starter is named, but Plough said he’s spent several hours a week breaking down film with both quarterbacks, and he’s come away impressed with them both.
“What I love about Hank is he can win games in multiple ways. He can win games with his mind, he’s tough as nails and he can make all the throws,” Plough said. “Jack is a guy who can really move and be athletic, but he can make all the throws from the pocket as well.”
Plough is the third offensive coordinator both Bachmeier and Sears have played for in their careers. He’s also the fifth quarterbacks coach Sears has played for. He was hired in January to replace former Boise State offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau, and Zak Hill ran the offense before leaving for Arizona State following Bachmeier’s freshman season.
Both quarterbacks admitted Monday that constantly adjusting to a new coordinator isn’t easy, but they can’t help but get excited when they hear Plough describe his scheme as “The Valley of the Shred.”
“There’s something special about him, and I think you’re going to see a lot of success in the future,” Bachmeier told reporters on Monday. “Obsessed is the perfect word. The way he teaches is awesome. You understand it, and that makes football really fun.”
‘He commands this offense’
Under Plough, the UC Davis offense led the Big Sky Conference with 484.7 yards of offense and 384.3 passing yards a game in 2017 and set more than 20 program records. The Aggies led the conference with 322.8 passing yards a game in 2018, and ranked No. 3 in 2019 with 309.2.
Plough was a quarterback himself at UC Davis before joining the coaching staff, and Sears said his experience adds weight to what he’s teaching.
“Playing quarterback is all about command — command for your offense, command for yourself and command for your teammates,” Sears said. “Coach Plough is the example of that. He commands this offense.”
Bachmeier said the schemes the Broncos ran under Hill and Kiesau were extremely similar, but the offense is going to have a few new wrinkles this year. The biggest differences, according to both quarterbacks, are the tempo and the freedom enjoyed by the guys taking the snaps.
“(Plough) lets you make decisions about what to do on the field,” Bachmeier said. “I can change a protection or change a play because of what I’m seeing, and the biggest thing to me is we’re going to dictate what the defense does as opposed to the defense dictating what we do.”
Plough said playing with tempo doesn’t always mean playing fast.
“When you’re a tempo team, it doesn’t mean you’re running around crazy. What it means is that we need to be efficient in what we do from snap to snap,” he said. “We’ll be really fast sometimes, and we’ll slow it down other times. That makes it difficult for a defenses to manage that.”
Even though he knew plenty about them, neither Sears nor Bachmeier knew Plough before he joined the staff at Boise State. The closest either of them came was when Sears’ best friend in high school was recruited by Plough for UC Davis.
The quarterbacks are spending plenty time getting to know their new coordinator these days, though, and saying they’re excited about the future of the offense would be a massive understatement.
“Coach Plough is an extraordinary football mind,” Sears said. “We do have a lot more options now but it allows us to play free because he’s teaching us how to understand it, why we’re doing what we’re doing and how to learn from each rep.”
Boise State coaches have never been shy about playing multiple quarterbacks and, if history repeats itself, Bachmeier and Sears will both see the field no matter who wins the starting job.
Plough said splitting snaps between quarterbacks isn’t something he’s done in the past, but if that’s what it takes to win, he’s willing to give it a try.
“At the end of the day, it’s about playing the best 11 and winning games,” he said. “If that means playing one, two or three guys (at quarterback), I think the team would say put whatever group out there that gives us a chance to win that particular game and I’m all for it.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 3:53 PM.
