Boise State defensive lineman plans to return; Broncos hire director of recruiting
The Boise State football team will have the services of former junior college defensive tackle Divine Obichere for another year.
Obichere announced Wednesday on Twitter that he’ll return for a super senior season this year. He’ll be a fifth-year senior after he joined the program in 2020, following two years at Long Beach City College.
The 6-foot-3, 306-pound native of Los Angeles is one of 10 seniors eligible to return. Boise State hasn’t officially announced which players it’s bringing back, but Obichere is the second senior to announce that he’ll return. Safety Tyreque Jones said in December that he’ll be back.
All players that were on Boise State’s active roster during the 2020 season were granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA because of the impact COVID-19 had on the season. The Broncos only played seven games after two were canceled during the season.
Obichere and former Long Beach City College teammate Shane Irwin transferred to Boise State in 2020. Both were thrust into action right away because of injuries and absences related to COVID-19, and Obichere finished his first season as a Bronco with 18 tackles and two sacks. Irwin, a defensive end, led the team with 6.5 sacks.
Obichere appeared in nine games last season and posted 16 tackles and one sack. Irwin played in 11 games and finished with 35 tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks. He said in December that he wants to return for a super senior season but has made no official announcement.
Depth should not be a problem for Boise State’s defensive line this year. Defensive tackle Scott Matlock, who led the team with seven sacks last season, and nose tackle Jackson Cravens are both coming back.
The Broncos also got a glimpse of young linemen Herbert Gums and Ahmed Hassanein last season, and they’re bringing in another pass-rushing defensive end from the junior college ranks, Cortez Hogans Jr., and interior linemen Braxton Fely and JJ Talo as part of their 2022 recruiting class.
Broncos hire director of recruiting
A busy January continued at Boise State on Thursday as the Broncos announced they’ve hired Jason Cvercko as director of recruiting operations.
Cvercko replaces Eli Mandel, who left earlier this month to take a job at Zcruit — a company that helps college football programs track potential recruits. Mandel helped Boise State sign one of its highest-ranked recruiting classes in program history in December.
After the early signing period, the Broncos’ 2022 class ranked No. 54 in the country, according to 247Sports, which tied it with the 2019 class as the program’s highest-ranked haul of recruits. Boise State’s class currently ranks No. 55, despite the addition of former Oregon State quarterback Sam Vidlak.
Boise State will put the finishing touches on the class during the traditional signing period, which begins on Feb. 2.
Cvercko is the fourth hire Boise State football coach Andy Avalos has announced this month. The Broncos also brought in running backs coach and special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha to replace Winston Venable, who stepped down as running backs coach in December.
Kelly Poppinga — a former assistant coach at Virginia and BYU — was brought in to replace Stacey Collins as edge coach and co-special teams coordinator after he left for Penn State. Cornerbacks coach Jeron Johnson also unexpectedly stepped down this month, and he was replaced by former Southern Utah head coach Demario Warren.
Cvercko joins the Broncos after he spent the past two seasons as Chief of Staff at Washington State. He also has experience in the Mountain West, having spent the 2015 season as director of recruiting operations at Nevada and four years at Hawaii (2016-19), the final two of which were spent as Chief of Staff.
“I am extremely grateful to coach Avalos and his staff for giving me this opportunity,” Cvercko said in a statement. “Having previously worked in the Mountain West, I had always held Boise State in high regard. The Broncos have been the standard for a long time, and I am looking forward to helping continue that tradition well into the future.”
At Washington State, Cvercko reported directly to the head coach and was responsible for all logistics related to operations and recruiting. He implemented the Cougars’ entire recruiting system and oversaw all facets of the recruiting department. He also served as the football program’s liaison to campus and other areas of athletics, represented the program at all Pac-12 football meetings, oversaw the football budget, coordinated all team travel and served as the team’s pro liaison.
Cvercko was not retained at Washington State after former head coach Nick Rolovich, who he also worked for at Hawaii, was fired in October for failing to comply with a mandate that all employees of the state of Washington be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Jason brings with him a wealth of knowledge in helping to run and operate a football program, and understands that the lifeblood of a program’s success starts and ends with recruiting,” Avalos said in a statement. “Every program he has been involved with has found success, and that is a direct result of his ability to assist coaching staffs with identifying talented student-athletes that fit the cultures of the teams he has worked with. We are very fortunate to have him joining the Bronco family.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 1:18 PM.
