Former Boise State coach is ‘right man’ to take over the offense; no word on starting QB

This has been a weekend that Boise State football coach Andy Avalos would rather forget.

On Friday, the Broncos went on the road and lost 27-10 to UTEP — a team Vegas handicappers favored them to beat by at least 15 points. After offensive coordinator Tim Plough was fired on Saturday, Avalos had the unenviable task of informing his players.

“It was a tough day, but they gave me energy because they’re awesome,” Avalos said of the players’ reaction. “One thing I’ve learned is in a time of adversity, you learn who the real people are, and I’m grateful for the people around us.”

Former Boise State and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter will take over as offensive coordinator for the rest of the season.

Avalos wouldn’t say on Sunday whether Koetter would remain a candidate for the role after this season. He also wouldn’t say whether four-year starter Hank Bachmeier, who went 13-of-34 for 93 yards against the Miners, or redshirt freshman Taylen Green would start at quarterback on Friday against San Diego State (6 p.m., FS1) at Albertsons Stadium.

Avalos did say, however, that he’s excited about the direction of the Broncos’ offense under new leadership.

“I think there’s benefits to bringing new air into the room,” Avalos said. “I’m excited to see Hank and Taylen get to be around Coach Koetter full time, and I’m excited to see how we can get that whole room into a rhythm again.”

Avalos said there weren’t any discussions about replacing Plough until after what was the Broncos’ worst offensive performance of the season Friday night at UTEP.

Boise State was limited to 177 yards of total offense, managing just 84 on the ground. The Broncos also scored just 10 points against a team that had beaten only New Mexico State this season.

Boise State’s offense has been in shambles all season. The most yards the Broncos have produced in a game was 327 against FCS program UT Martin. The offense is averaging 283.3 yards a game, which ranks No. 9 in the 12-team Mountain West. The Broncos rank No. 9 in the conference with 120.3 rushing yards a game and No. 7 with 163 passing yards per contest.

“I love Tim Plough, and I’m very grateful for his friendship and our time together,” Avalos said, “but we needed to make a change in the leadership of our offense.”

Koetter isn’t going to come in and make major structural changes to the offense, Avalos said. But his vast knowledge and experience will improve how the offense prepares and implements its game plan each week, he said.

“This provides us an opportunity to reorganize our process and create rhythm for our offensive staff and players,” Avalos said. “Practice, film study and walk-throughs, that’s where I know we’ll make a jump. It will take time and it will be a process of growth that I’m excited about not only for the offense, but the entire team.”

Koetter began his coaching career at Highland High School in Eastern Idaho in 1983. He went 26-10 as the head coach at Boise State from 1998 to 2000, and he left to assume the same role at Arizona State before making the jump to the NFL in 2007. He was offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and spent three season as head coach in Tampa Bay.

Koetter retired from the NFL in 2020 after a second stint as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator. He joined Boise State as an analyst this spring, and it didn’t take much to persuade him to return to full-time coaching, Avalos said.

Koetter’s son, Davis, is a sixth-year senior wide receiver at Boise State.

“If we were going to go this route, Dirk was the right man for the job,” Avalos said. “He was the only man for it.”

One aspect of the offense that Avalos said will change under Koetter is how much responsibility is placed on the quarterbacks in terms of presnap reads and adjustments.

Plough was open when he was hired in January 2021 about how much he puts on quarterbacks. He even went as far as to say he trains them like they’re in the NFL, expecting them to read defenses, and adjust protections and calls before just about every play.

“We won’t put so much on them at the line of scrimmage so they can play freely, and so they can create rhythm and play the game,” Avalos said.

Some of Boise State’s offensive assistants will also be more involved in creating the game plan under Koetter, Avalos said. Wide receivers coach Matt Miller, who spent two years calling plays as offensive coordinator at Montana State, and run game coordinator Nate Potter will have much more input.

There are still major questions that need to be answered on the offensive side of the ball, but Avalos said he’s confident the Broncos will get those answers.

“These things don’t get fixed overnight,” he said. “It’s going to take stacking up the little things done correctly day after day to create real confidence that will then create consistency and rhythm.”