Former Boise State quarterback stays on as offensive coordinator under new head coach
Boise State offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan is staying home.
The former Boise State quarterback, who joined the coaching staff last December, will continue running the offense and coaching quarterbacks, new head coach Spencer Danielson announced on Wednesday. Hamdan also picked up the title of associate head coach.
“Over the past year, I have come to get to know Bush Hamdan, working closely with him,” Danielson said in a statement. “In that time, he has shown that his knowledge of the game and creativity in calling plays is impressive. He and I both agree in the approach that our offense should always be opportunistic and on the attack. Asking Bush to stay was one of my first priorities in building this staff and I am incredibly excited that he will remain at Boise State.”
Hamdan also got a nice raise. He signed a two-year contract worth $940,000. The deal, which is subject to approval by the Idaho State Board of Education, will pay him $460,000 in year one and $480,000 in year two. He originally signed a two-year contract last December that paid him $400,000 this year and was scheduled to increase to $425,000 next year.
“It just means a lot for wanting stability, being a guy that’s moved around a lot,” Hamdan told reporters on Wednesday. “Obviously we made the move to Boise to hopefully be here for a long time, and it’s been an unbelievable Christmas present, if you will, to be back with these guys. ”
Hamdan, 37, was a backup quarterback at Boise State from 2004 to 2008. His coaching career has included stops as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Missouri, co-offensive coordinator at Arkansas State, and offensive coordinator at both Davidson and Washington. Hamdan also coached wide receivers at Florida and spent the 2017 season coaching quarterbacks for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
Hamdan has worked for several well-known former Boise State coaches. He was on former offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz’s staff at Missouri, helped run the offense for former head coach Bryan Harsin at Arkansas State and worked for former head coach Chris Petersen at Washington.
He has also mentored some top-end quarterbacks during his career, including former Washington starter Jacob Eason, who was a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who threw for more than 4,000 yards in 2017.
Under Hamdan’s direction, Boise State averaged 32.9 points a game this season, which ranked No. 4 in the Mountain West. The Broncos scored at least 30 points in 10 of their past 11 games, including a 44-20 victory over UNLV in the Mountain West championship game. Their lone game that didn’t hit that mark was a 27-19 win over Air Force in the regular-season finale.
The Broncos rank No. 2 in the Mountain West with 214.8 rushing yards a game and No. 6 with 229.3 passing yards this season.
One of Hamdan’s first jobs in the coming months will be to figure out the Broncos’ quarterback situation.
Taylen Green announced Monday that he was transferring to Arkansas after he spent the season both starting and splitting reps with redshirt freshman Maddux Madsen, who took over as starter at one point but suffered a season-ending knee injury. He is expected to return by the start of fall camp next August, Danielson said Tuesday.
Freshman CJ Tiller is expected to start the LA Bowl on Saturday, and the Broncos hosted 2024 verbal commit Kaleb Annett on an official visit over the weekend.
Hamdan’s first job when the Broncos return from Christmas break will be to figure out whether the team needs to try to land one of the many quarterbacks in the transfer portal or roll with the current roster.
BOISE STATE VS. UCLA
What: Starco Brands Inc. LA Bowl
When: 5:30 p.m. Mountain time, Saturday
Where: SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles (70,000)
TV: ABC (Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler, Kayla Burton)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 8-5, 6-2 Mountain West; UCLA 7-5, 4-5 Pac-12
Series: The Broncos and Bruins have played just once before, a 38-7 home win for UCLA in 1999.
Vegas line: UCLA by 3.5 points
This story was originally published December 13, 2023 at 11:49 AM.
