Boise State QB coach works on ‘special bond’ with Madsen, addresses recruiting concerns
When Zak Hill was officially hired as Boise State’s quarterbacks coach in January, one of the first people he called was Maddux Madsen.
“Our first phone call, it was like we were best friends,” Madsen said Thursday.
The early conversations between the two were nothing groundbreaking — they talked about each other’s families, their pasts and getting to know each other. It was Hill’s first step in building a “special bond” with Madsen, something he says all coaches need to have with their starter.
Hill’s arrival was exciting for everyone involved with the Boise State quarterback room.
For starters, this is Hill’s second stint with the program. He was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator from 2016 to 2019. Since then, he’s made a few stops, including as the offensive coordinator for Arizona State in 2020-21, and an offensive analyst for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks in 2024.
Hill coached Brett Rypien for his final three years at Boise State, when the Broncos went 30-9. Rypien finished his college career as the Mountain West’s all-time leader in passing yards (13,581), completions (1,036) and 300-yard passing games (21).
“We watch clips of (Rypien) all the time, or of (Arizona State),” Madsen said. “We see those guys and they’re playing at an elite level. And to me, it’s just another thing to look at how I’m really blessed to have (Hill) in the position that he is.”
Hill is also uniquely positioned in his second go-round in Boise. The quarterbacks coach quite often is also the team’s offensive coordinator, but Nate Potter has that role, leaving Hill free to focus purely on Madsen and the rest of the QBs.
“For me to get an opportunity to coach quarterbacks and be able to enjoy the connection with those guys and just focus on a position has been fun,” Hill said Thursday. “Getting to learn new guys’ names and being a part of that staff, I feel like we’ve got great cohesion and good communication.”
Madsen said it’s been good because, while he still retains a good relationship with Potter, he can work more closely with Hill on some of the technical, finer details of his game. Madsen’s previous two quarterbacks coaches, Bush Hamdan and Dirk Koetter, were simultaneously the OC.
However, there were some complications with Hill’s hiring.
In 2022, he resigned from his position at Arizona State following an NCAA investigation that found Hill guilty of recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period. Such a dead period is when coaches may not communicate in person with recruits or their parents.
As a result of the investigation, the NCAA Committee on Infractions gave Hill a three-year show-cause penalty, which prevented him from any recruiting activity in 2024 if he had a college job, and any off-campus recruiting in 2025 and ‘26.
Hill said he wasn’t concerned about the penalty, saying most schools primarily recruit within their own building.
“I think it’s beneficial to have coaches in the building always having their hands on guys and being able to connect with those guys,” Hill said. “So I don’t think it’s too much of a big deal. We don’t lose (a coach) on the road. We still get to add one.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
