From bleacher runs (ugh) to Bronco Olympics (fun), Boise State football traditions thrive
As Boise State football coach Andy Avalos walked past a line of freshmen during one of the team’s first practices in August, he noticed something that made him smirk.
Every one of them had scrapes on their shins that had only recently scabbed over, and Avalos knew the cause.
Those wounds came from a misstep while sprinting up the bleachers in the upper decks in Albertsons Stadium. It’s an offseason tradition known to players as “running decks,” and it predates the coach’s days as a linebacker at Boise State from 2000 to 2004.
It’s one of several traditions Avalos plans to preserve as he prepares to open his first season as the head coach at his alma mater. He also plans to bring some back, such as having the players sleep on the blue turf in Albertsons Stadium one night during fall camp, something that was started by former Boise State coach Chris Petersen.
“Knowing our traditions and understanding how we grow those traditions and the legacy, that’s a responsibility we have in being part of it,” Avalos said.
Tradition is more than a buzzword to Avalos. Whether it’s filling his staff with former Boise State players, bringing alums back to meet the team or showing clips of some of the greatest moments in the Broncos’ history, he’s going to make sure everyone in the program is well-steeped in Boise State lore.
“You have to know where you come from to know where you’re going,” said Jeron Johnson, a former safety at Boise State who was hired in January as cornerbacks coach.
The team gathered this fall to watch old video clips of iconic moments in Boise State history, such as the final moments of the Broncos’ win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
The team has watched those moments together in the past, pass rusher Demitri Washington said, but this year, the coaches used the clips as a lesson in situational football.
“There’s a purpose to everything,” Washington said. “You’re watching some of those great moments that we remember and we all think about, but you don’t realize the football that goes into it.”
It doesn’t matter how many times the team has watched the Broncos convert a two-point conversion with a Statue of Liberty play to beat Oklahoma — the room erupts every time Ian Johnson crosses the goal line.
“Coach Avalos has pushed since he’s been back that there’s a tradition to this game and there’s a tradition to Boise State football,” Washington said. “You can see it in our coaches. They’ve suffered through the hard days that we’ve suffered through. They put their blood, sweat and tears into this program.”
Running decks: ‘They’re a man maker’
Boise State prides itself on having a blue-collar work ethic, and that title doesn’t come easy. It’s earned sprinting up the bleachers in Albertsons Stadium’s upper deck in July, which is usually the hottest month of the year.
The tradition dates back to the late 1990s, when former strength coach Joe Kenn started it during Dirk Koetter’s tenure as head coach, according to former Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins. Hawkins was on Koetter’s staff.
Beginning when the team reconvenes from summer break in early July and ending before the start of camp in August, the Broncos wrap up every week by running decks. For most players, it makes Friday their least favorite day of the week.
“We talk about visualizing plays. I try to visualize dominating the decks the night before,” Boise State linebacker Riley Whimpey said. “I’ve already run them multiple times in my head before we actually get out there, so it makes it a little easier.”
Players have to make it to the top of the bleachers in a certain amount of time, depending on position. They begin with eight trips to the top and back, and that increases to 20 by the start of fall camp.
It’s important to note that the players are running up the bleachers, which requires a longer stride than the stadium steps. Also of note: No healthy player is excused from the task. Everyone runs decks, from 300-pound linemen to skinny freshmen and star players, such as quarterback Hank Bachmeier and wide receiver Khalil Shakir.
“That is maybe my least favorite part of fall camp,” Shakir said. “Those things are tough. They’re steep, and after five or six reps, your legs are pretty shot. We get through it, though, and it does get easier as the summer goes on.”
Boise State’s coaches are all too familiar with the decks from their playing days, but many of them still run them with the team.
“It’s a little different now that I’m about 30 pounds lighter,” Avalos said, “but running those decks is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”
Jeron Johnson swore to himself that he would never run them again when his playing career ended in 2010. He got out there with the players and did it in July, though, and his opinion of the exercise hasn’t changed.
“Never again,” he said. “It’s not easy by any means, and it’s not supposed to be. It just makes you stronger at the end of the day.”
Former Boise State fullback Matt Strohfus still has scars on his shins from slipping on the decks as a freshman in 1999.
“Your legs are shaking so bad by the time you get to the top that you have to be careful coming back down the bleachers,” he said. “It’s basically like mini-box jumps all the way up those bleachers, and you really have to be explosive to get up them.”
Building enough momentum to get up the bleachers is no easy task for the offensive and defensive linemen. Will Farrar, a 322-pound guard who transferred from Texas Tech, joined the team in early July and experienced the decks for the first time.
“It’s tough, but you’ve just got to push through because it makes you better and makes the team better,” said Farrar, adding that he couldn’t think of a comparable workout from his time at Texas Tech. “I can definitely tell it has helped build the culture of this program.”
For the players, running decks is a rite of passage. It’s also an exercise in mental toughness.
“They’re a man maker,” cornerback Markel Reed said. “They help you dig deep and give all you’ve got, and it brings out who you really are.”
Avalos witnessed that resolve during the final week of fall camp. After three grueling days of practices, last Wednesday’s session was even more demanding, but the players refused to quit and had what he described as one of their best practices of the fall.
“For us to be able to fight through and respond the way we did, we can attribute those things to our mental and physical preparation,” he said.
Bronco Olympics
A tradition in fall camp that is much more popular with the players than running decks is the Bronco Olympics, which dates back to Hawkins’ tenure as head coach from 2001 to 2005. He did something similar and called it the Bearcat Olympics when he was the head coach at Willamette University.
“At some point, this whole football thing is supposed to be fun,” Hawkins said. “These guys put so much time and energy into football that you have to give them a break. You have to just let them have fun with their teammates.”
A draft is held during the first week of camp and the roster is split into teams. Some of this year’s team names included “Team Goodbye” and “Mask Up,” safety JL Skinner said.
Between practice and film study, the teams find time to compete in events that range from mini-golf on courses set up throughout the team’s facilities to free-throw shooting contests, skits and trivia battles. Whimpey said his specialty is bowling, but he also scored pretty high in a tennis ball home run derby in Albertsons Stadium.
The coaches score each event, and a winning team is crowned at the end of fall camp. Current players and coaches wouldn’t say what the winning team gets. Hawkins said it was just bragging rights when he was in charge, but the players say it’s more about spending time together than winning.
“It’s really about team chemistry,” cornerback Tyric LeBeauf said. “We’re in camp right now, so it’s a lot of football. It’s about just letting go and having fun with your guys.”
Among the traditions Avalos most hopes to preserve, of course, is the Broncos’ history of success on the field. Boise State has played in four straight Mountain West championship games, and it’s scheduled to open the season Sept. 2 at UCF (5 p.m. MT, ESPN).
BOISE STATE AT UCF
When: 5 p.m. Mountain time, Sept. 2
Where: Bounce House, Orlando, Florida
TV: ESPN (channel 133 on Sparklight, 206 on DirecTV and 140 on Dish Network)
Series: This is the first game between the programs.
Vegas line: UCF by 5
Weather: 75 degrees at game time, 24% chance of rain, 9 mph winds
▪ What’s your prediction for the game? Vote in our reader poll below, or follow this link if you don’t see it on your screen.
This story was originally published August 28, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
