Back in ‘special’ place, Boise State’s running backs coach seeks both superheroes, depth
A lot has changed since new running backs coach and special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha last roamed the halls and grounds at Boise State.
Bhonapha had been married for just six months, and he and his wife Julia didn’t have any children, when he left to join former Boise State coach Chris Petersen at Washington in 2014. They have been married for almost nine years now, and they’re returning to Boise with four children.
Boise State has changed, too. The coaches’ offices and the athletic facilities have had a face-lift since he left. Bhonapha said Friday that what was once his office was a bathroom for a while, and he isn’t even sure what it’s used for these days. He also doesn’t remember holding team meetings in the Broncos’ auditorium-style room.
What hasn’t changed in the time Bhonapha has been away, he said, is his connection to the people he worked with at Boise State and his reverence for the history of the program, which he helped write.
Bhonapha was hired as former running backs coach Winston Venable’s replacement last week, and he’ll also carry the titles of associate head coach and special teams coordinator.
“I’m excited to be part of a program that has been so special and that started my coaching career, and now having an opportunity to hopefully be as influential and continue to build on a tradition that’s really special to me,” Bhonapha said during his introductory press conference on Friday.
Bhonapha coached running backs and special teams during his tenure at Washington, and also was recruiting coordinator. He said he wasn’t thinking about leaving Washington until former Fresno State coach Kalen DeBoer was hired to replace Jimmy Lake, who was fired in November after a physical altercation with a player.
Bhonapha said things just didn’t feel right with the new staff, and he didn’t feel as if he would have the same impact at Washington as he would at Boise State, which is where his full-time coaching career began as director of football operations in 2006.
“I’m not a guy that up and moves all the time,” he said. “The one thing I do find comforting is good people. Over the course of my time here at Boise State, I was able to be influenced by and be around really good people. ... I just didn’t have as much of a heart tug (to go back to Washington) as I did to come back to a place like this, where I feel like I have influence and what I did in the past matters.”
Bhonapha said his return to Boise State started innocently enough. He was sitting in the special teams room at Washington updating his resume about a month ago when he called coach Andy Avalos to make sure it was OK that he listed him as a reference. Avalos called back a few days later, and after a lengthy late-night conversation, he offered Bhonapha a job even before Venable officially announced he was stepping down.
Bhonapha took the weekend to consider it before calling back to accept. He said his familiarity with Avalos, whom he has known since 2005, and his history with Boise State made the decision a lot easier.
Before accepting the job, Bhonapha said he reached out to Petersen for advice — the man who has been Bhonapha’s mentor since his coaching career began. He was the first assistant coach Petersen tabbed to go with him to Washington.
“Coach Pete is like the uncle you can’t get rid of, and I mean that in the best way,” Bhonapha said. “For a lot of us coaches that are still in the game and started in the game under coach Petersen, we were able to learn — not only about football, but really valuable life lessons about how you conduct yourself professionally in this business, how you conduct yourself as a husband and a father, and different things like that.”
The old Boise State ‘Stable’
Bhonapha is very much ingrained in Boise State’s history, especially as it pertains to running backs.
While coaching the Broncos’ backs from 2009 to 2013, he mentored a 1,000-yard rusher in five consecutive seasons: Jeremy Avery in 2009 (1,151), Doug Martin in 2010 (1,260) and 2011 (1,299), D.J. Harper in 2012 (1,137) and Jay Ajayi in 2013 (1,425 yards). His running backs earned the nickname “The Stable,” and under his leadership, the Broncos’ streak of 11 consecutive seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher was born.
“The tradition of what a Boise State running back is, is special,” Bhonapha said. “The stable is a group. It’s camaraderie. Doug Martin is not the stable. Jay Ajayi is not the stable. It’s everyone in the room, all the way down to Drew Wright.”
Wright, a former standout at Vallivue High in Nampa, was a career backup at Boise State from 2009 to 2012.
At Washington, Bhonapha mentored current Miami Dolphins back Myles Gaskin, who was the first player in Pac-12 history to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons. In all, running backs have eclipsed 1,000 yards in 10 of Bhonapha’s 13 seasons in charge of the position.
The Broncos have their Batman
Boise State’s streak of 1,000-yard rushers was snapped in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and the Broncos’ leading rusher in 2021 was George Holani, who had 569 yards despite missing three games with a hamstring injury.
Bhonapha is familiar with Holani, having recruited his high school — St. John Bosco in California — extensively over the years. He referred to Holani as a special player on Friday, and even went as far as to call him the Batman of the Broncos’ backfield.
“The thing about George is he can run you over, he’s athletic out of the backfield and he’s great in transition,” Bhonapha said.
If there’s one area Bhonapha believes he can help Holani improve, it’s staying healthy. Holani burst on the scene with 1,014 rushing yards as a true freshman in 2019. But he played in just one full game in 2020 before a knee injury ended his season, and he was hampered by injuries again in the 2021 season.
“He’s a guy like Doug Martin and Jay Ajayi, where if you keep him healthy, he can change the course of a season,” Bhonapha said. “You notice when George Holani is not in the football game. It’s one of those things where you can help him develop as a runner and how he’s taking care of himself in the offseason.”
Even though Boise State has its Batman, Bhonapha said it’s important to develop a Robin to keep him fresh.
He won’t have the services of Oregon transfer Cyrus Habibi-Likio, who declared for the NFL Draft, or 240-pound senior Andrew Van Buren, who transferred. But Bhonapha has met with several of the Broncos’ remaining backs, including junior college transfer Taequan Tyler and incoming freshman Ashton Jeanty, who enrolled early and will be on campus in the coming days.
Bhonapha didn’t rule out the possibility that Jeanty could become the Broncos’ Robin right away. He posted impressive numbers as a senior at Lone Star High in Frisco, Texas, rushing for 1,843 yards and 31 touchdowns, and adding 42 receptions for 803 yards and 10 more touchdowns.
“The thing he brings to the table is he’s very versatile,” Bhonapha said. “He catches the ball well out of the backfield, and he’s played other positions. Those have been some of the better backs in my history, guys who have a great FBI — football IQ.”
NOTES:
▪ Former Boise State quarterback and current Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was expected to interview for the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job on Friday, according to reports from multiple outlets, including the Dallas Morning News.
The Jaguars fired former head coach Urban Meyer in December. Moore, the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator since 2019, won an NCAA-record 50 games as the starting quarterback at Boise State from 2008 to 2011.
▪ Boise State athletes combined to record an all-department grade-point average of 3.34 during the fall semester, which is the highest fall semester GPA in athletic department history, the university announced on Friday.
Boise State athletes have combined to record a department GPA of at least 3.0 in 20 consecutive semesters. Women’s tennis led the way with a 3.91 GPA during the 2021 fall semester. It was one of four programs to establish team records, the others being beach volleyball (3.78), women’s basketball (3.69) and football (3.15).
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 5:42 PM.
