Boise State safety JL Skinner, ‘disappointed’ in 2020 season, works to find confidence
Boise State safety JL Skinner spent time in the weight room in the offseason, adding a little more muscle to his 6-foot-4, 218-pound frame, and he’s focused on improving his coverage skills.
But he does not think either of those things is what will propel him to a breakout season.
Skinner said Tuesday that his confidence is at an all-time high, and that took a lot of work after it was at an all-time low at the end of 2020.
“As a DB, if you don’t have confidence, it’s going to be really hard to succeed,” Skinner told reporters on Tuesday. “After this past season, I did a lot of reflecting on myself, and I started to build that confidence within myself again. I started to realize I’m able to play this position at a high level, and I just have to keep working.”
Boise State ended last year’s COVID-shortened season with a loss to San Jose State in the Mountain West championship game. The players voted not to play in a bowl game, which snapped the team’s streak of 18 straight bowl appearances.
The way it all ended just didn’t sit right with Skinner. So while most of his teammates went home for Christmas break, he stayed on campus and got to work.
The native of San Diego said he took two days off before getting back in the gym. He also said he spent the better part of a month and a half alone, training and reflecting on what could have been.
“I felt disappointed in last year because I know what type of player I can be,” he said. “I realized all the things I could have done last year that I didn’t do, possibly because of my confidence. I just really started reflecting on myself and looked at everything I could have done differently.”
By most accounts, Skinner didn’t struggle that much in his first full season as a starter. He finished fourth on the team with 37 tackles — 24 behind team leader Riley Whimpey. He also snagged one of the team’s three interceptions.
But that’s where his critique of last season comes into play. Those three interceptions were the only turnovers the Broncos forced, and Skinner was credited with just one pass breakup. Nickel Kekaula Kaniho led the team with seven.
“The work is never done,” said Skinner, a junior who joined the Broncos in 2019 as a three-star recruit. “All of us are just trying to really get to that next level that we know we have in ourselves.”
More turnovers, please
Skinner’s newfound confidence must be contagious, because the Broncos’ defense put its best foot forward during the spring game in April, matching last season’s total with three interceptions, racking up seven sacks and forcing 11 three-and-outs.
Skinner’s dedication hasn’t been lost on new safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Kane Ioane.
“There’s a unique set of skills that JL has put on display because of his length and range, but what I don’t want people to lose sight of is that he’s a worker,” Ioane said. “He’s put in the effort in the weight room, he’s put in the effort on the mental side of things, and I can’t wait for him to put all that work on display.”
Skinner said he always considered himself a confident football player, but the difference this year is his ability to maintain a neutral mindset, which head coach Andy Avalos and co-defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson have been pushing since January. No matter what happens in a game, he said he’s going to stay even-keeled, which wasn’t the case during the first two years of his Boise State career.
“I’d be confident and one thing would happen and, boom, it’s all downhill from there,” Skinner said. “My whole mindset would be different and I’d be feeling sorry for myself, but now one bad thing can happen and I brush it off, and I know what I need to do to fix it.”
Skinner’s confidence is also getting a boost this season from the veterans he’s playing with in the secondary.
Kaniho is one of eight super seniors, players who took the NCAA up on its offer of extra eligibility because of the impact COVID-19 had on last season. He has played nickel and safety while starting 35 games since 2017, and he was an All-Mountain West pick the past two years in a row.
Fellow safety Tyreque Jones is in his fifth year with the program, and he started nine games the past two seasons, including five last year.
“Those are two smart football players,” Skinner said. “Just being able to communicate is way easier with them because they’re ahead of everything. That pushes me to want to be like them and be able see things before they happen.”
Jones checks in at 6-2 and 205 pounds, so he and Skinner add a little intimidation factor to the secondary, Ioane said.
“If it was up to me, they’d be getting off the bus first on game day,” Ioane said. “They are big, long dudes. They’re going to fly around and make plays, and they’re not afraid to come up and hit you.”
