Boise State is in the less-than-ideal situation of seeking now both an athletics director and head football coach, following Auburn University's move last week to hire Bryan Harsin away from the Broncos to run its football program.
While Boise officials have been seeking a permanent leader for the school's athletics department since late-October, when Curt Apsey shifted into a fundraising role from the lead chair and Bob Carney was named interim A.D., the school only two weeks ago formally partnered with a search firm to find its next athletics director.
The school's Web site in announcing the partnership with Collegiate Sports Associations to handle its A.D. search also indicated a lengthy timeline to fill that post, with Boise posting the search is “expected to proceed over the next eight to 10 weeks and Boise State is targeting March 2021” to name its next leader.
There are a variety of candidates for Boise's top athletics executive role, but the school's stated timeline has been complicated by Harsin's departure.
However, two clear frontrunners have emerged for the Broncos' head football coach, and both are Boise alums.
Ex-Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore, the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator, acknowledged interest in the post and becoming a head coach, in general.
Moore has been a favorite of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, serving concurrently in the organization as player and coach since 2015. Moore's been Dallas' play-caller the past two seasons, navigating through the coaching transition from Jason Garrett to Mike McCarthy.
Multiple sources have indicated to FootballScoop that Moore has been and remains Boise's top target, but another alum – Andy Avalos – also has been of interest to the Broncos since Harsin's abrupt departure last week.
Avalos is Oregon's defensive coordinator and played linebacker at Boise in the early-2000s. During the Fiesta Bowl media Zoom on Tuesday morning, Avalos said he had “not had any formal interaction” with Boise but also emphasized it as a special place in which he instilled “a lot of sweat equity.”
It's an interesting time for Boise State, which had seen Harsin's emails that urged the school to consider abandoning its Mountain West Conference membership come to light via Freedom of Information requests just before Harsin's departure.
The Broncos signed 15 players in their 2021 early signing period in mid-December.
Boise has non-conference games scheduled in 2021 at both Central Florida and BYU, as well as at home against UTEP and Oklahoma State.
As always, stay tuned to FootballScoop for the latest.