Where will Boise State turn to find its new offensive coordinator after this season?
Boise State interim offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter made it clear during his first meeting with the media that his time in charge of the Broncos’ offense has an expiration date.
Koetter replaced former offensive coordinator Tim Plough, who was fired less than 24 hours after a loss to 15-point underdog UTEP on Sept. 23. But the 63-year-old has been open about how much he doesn’t miss the expectations that come with full-time coaching.
“It is a grind,” Koetter said this week. “These guys work their tails off. We got done practicing Thursday, and I went to McCall golfing while all these other guys went recruiting for two days.”
Koetter will run the offense only until the end of the season. A search for his replacement has already begun, and Boise State head coach Andy Avalos said Monday that he’d like to make a hire by early signing day, which is Dec. 21.
The Boise State coaching tree is vast, so Avalos will have no shortage of qualified candidates to choose from, including a couple who might be on his staff already.
Candidates for promoting from within
Matt Miller — Miller was a wide receiver at Boise State from 2011 to 2014. He still owns program records for most receptions in a career (244), and he’s tied with Thomas Sperbeck for the most in a season after hauling in 88 passes in 2013. Miller, 31, was hired to coach wide receivers at Boise State in 2020. He was retained in 2021 after Avalos replaced former Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.
Miller has experience as an offensive coordinator. After coaching wide receivers at Montana State for two years, he was promoted to offensive coordinator midway through the 2018 season. In 2019, the Bobcats led the Big Sky Conference and ranked No. 8 nationally with 258.1 rushing yards a game.
Keith Bhonapha — Bhonapha’s coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 2003, and continued with stints as running backs coach at Boise State (2009-13) and Washington (2014-21). He has also carried recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator titles, and the 42-year-old returned to Boise State in January as running backs coach and associate head coach.
Bhonapha took a pay cut when he returned to Boise State. His base salary at Washington in 2021 was $436,500 and he had one year left on his deal, which is part of why he’s making only $125,000 this year. That will change next year when his base salary jumps to $320,000, making Bhonapha the highest-paid assistant on Avalos’ staff.
Plough’s base salary was $280,000 this year.
Candidates with Boise State ties
Kirby Moore — Moore played wide receiver at Boise State from 2009 to 2013. He’s the younger brother of former Boise State quarterback and current Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
Kirby Moore, 34, was hired to coach wide receivers at Fresno State in 2017, and he’s been on the Bulldogs’ coaching staff ever since. He was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after Jeff Tedford returned to Fresno State in December 2021 to be the head coach.
Bush Hamdan — Hamdan was a backup quarterback at Boise State from 2004 to 2008. The 36-year-old transitioned into coaching rather seamlessly and has a vast resume, which includes stops at Maryland, Florida, Washington and Davidson, where he was the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2014.
Hamdan jumped to the NFL in 2017 and spent the season coaching the Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks. He joined former Boise State offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz’s staff at Missouri in 2020 and is in his third season coaching the Tigers’ quarterbacks.
Eric Kiesau — Kiesau, 49, coached wide receivers at Boise State from 2017 to 2019. He was co-offensive coordinator in 2019 and assumed the role on his own in 2020. He followed Harsin to Auburn following the 2020 season, joining the staff as an offensive analyst. He was promoted to wide receivers coach in September 2021 and took over the offense in February, becoming Harsin’s third offensive coordinator in 14 months.
Things have not gone well at Auburn since Harsin was hired there — he has a 9-11 record, including 3-4 this season — and if the school lets the coaching staff go, as expected, Boise State could make Kiesau an offer.
Kiesau’s coaching career has included stops as offensive coordinator at Colorado (2009-2010), Washington (2012-13) and Fresno State (2016). He also served as interim head coach at Fresno State in 2016.
More names to keep an eye on: Zak Hill, Arizona State; Junior Adams, Oregon; Lee Marks, Washington; Cody Hawkins, UC Davis.
Raiding the professional ranks
Kellen Moore — Moore’s name always comes up with Boise State openings, and he seems like a logical candidate if the Dallas Cowboys decided to make changes, but he’s had so much interest from NFL teams the past few years that it’s hard to imagine him returning to the college ranks now. But it would be a dream come true for Boise State fans from coast to coast.
Moore went an NCAA-best 50-3 as the Broncos starting quarterback from 2008 to 2011, and he still owns program records for career passing yards (14,667), completions (1,157) and touchdown passes (142). He joined the staff in Dallas as the wide receivers coach in 2018, and the 34-year-old is now in his fourth season as offensive coordinator.
Ryan Dinwiddie — Dinwiddie was Boise State’s starting quarterback from 2001 to 2003. He still ranks No. 3 in program history in career passing yards (9,819) and touchdown passes (82). After a professional playing career that included stints with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League, he transitioned to coaching in the CFL.
Dinwiddie, 41, coached quarterbacks for the Calgary Stampeders from 2015 to 2018 and was hired as the head coach of the Toronto Argonauts in December 2019. The 2020 CFL season was canceled because of COVID-19, but Dinwiddie is 19-11 in two seasons with the Argonauts, who have a 10-6 record this season.
BOISE STATE AT AIR FORCE
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Falcon Stadium (46,692), Air Force Academy, Colorado
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Aaron Taylor, Sherree Burress)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 4-2, 3-0 MW; Air Force 5-2, 2-2 MW
Series: Boise State leads all-time series 6-4, but the Falcons beat the Broncos 24-17 at Albertsons Stadium last season.
Vegas line: Air Force by 3
Weather: High of 70 degrees, 0% chance of rain, 12 mph wind
This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
