Boise State is searching for a center in a new scheme that demands a lot of the position
Boise State offensive line coach Tim Keane knows exactly how much responsibility is heaped onto the shoulders of a center.
Keane played the position at UC Davis, which is also where he coached before he was hired at Boise State in January 2021. He remembers his first few spring practices being pretty rough, so he understands what the Broncos’ young group of centers is going through.
“I almost got kicked off the team,” Keane said. “It just takes time because so much goes into being a center, and nobody is going to say, ‘Good job,’ on the 70 snaps you get back to the quarterback. They’re going to say, ‘What the heck?’ on the one you mess up.”
Boise State has to replace both of its starting centers from a year ago.
Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez retired in December after two injury plagued years. Will Farrar, who joined the Broncos in 2021 after four years at Texas Tech, exhausted his eligibility, but he joined the Broncos’ coaching staff as a recruiting assistant this year.
There isn’t a position on the line as important as center, Keane said, adding that finding a starter and building depth is priority No. 1 this spring.
“Everything starts with the center,” he said. “If a receiver drops a ball, it’s no big deal. If a linebacker misses a tackle, it’s not great but we’ll coach them up. But if you can’t even get the ball to the quarterback to get the play started, everyone else on the field misses that rep.”
The Broncos’ center will carry an even heavier load this year.
While being cautious not to give too much away, several Boise State players and coaches have said the center’s pre-snap responsibilities are one of the main differences between new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s scheme and what the Broncos ran last year under Tim Plough and Dirk Koetter.
“Our old offense relied a lot on the quarterback directing the O-line, so now we have a lot more ownership in the offense, with the center running the show up front,” Boise State offensive lineman Ben Dooley said Monday. “The center making the calls and us all getting on the same page without the quarterback having to worry about his job and mine is super helpful.”
The center will identify defensive fronts, blitzers and blocking assignments, which is all pretty common stuff, Dooley said. But it’s new for many of Boise State’s centers this spring, especially considering three of the team’s top four players at the position have never attempted a snap in a college game.
“It’s a huge deal to make sure that position is locked up,” Keane said. “Once we make that decision, then we’ll try to get him a little more rhythm with the quarterback.”
Keane also has a monumental task ahead of him in finding a successor for left tackle John Ojukwu, but he at least has some experienced tackles to choose from. That’s not the case at center.
Redshirt junior Nathan Cardona is getting a lot of reps with the starters this spring. The 6-foot-3, 280-pounder was a two-year starter at center at Yorba Linda High in California, but he has only appeared in one game at Boise State the past three seasons.
Sixth-year senior Garrett Curran (6-5, 305) and redshirt sophomore Mason Randolph (6-4, 310) have also been working at center this spring, according to Keane.
Randolph started 10 games at right guard last season, but Keane said he has some experience at center from high school.
Curran has started 19 games at left guard the past two seasons, but he also got a lot of practice reps at center last fall, Keane said. Curran is taking reps at guard, tackle and center this spring.
Freshman Jason Steele is also in the mix at center. He’s on campus after enrolling early, and Keane said he’ll get plenty of reps this spring.
Keane also said the search for Boise State’s starting center will likely stretch well into fall camp, which begins in August.
The Broncos’ spring game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on April 8.
This story was originally published March 15, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
