Football coaches hate wasting time.
If you can get in as many drills, as many snaps and as many chances to show a player how to do something the right way, then you’re a happy man.
It’s been evident thus far in Fall Camp things are running smoothly from the top on down, especially since the Broncos have returned every assistant coach for the first time since 2005.
“It makes us so much more efficient,”
defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox said. “You’re not showing someone the same thing you had shown someone else the year before. Everyone knows how we do things, but the communication, the verbage, everyone is on the same page.”
From head coach Chris Petersen to his coordinators to position coaches, even to the strength and conditioning coach and the graduate assistants, every member of the staff returns from last season.
It’s no easy task, considering this fall is the first time in Pete Carroll’s seven-year run at USC that he’s returned his entire staff. At Colorado, Dan Hawkins’ Buffaloes have the same staff for the first time in 19 years.
As he has kept the same coaches with him, Petersen realized continuity has bred consistent success in places across the college football landscape.
“I tried to study coaches that have been very successful and staffs that have been very successful,”
he said. “I know the University of Nebraska, when Tom Osborne was there, those guys stayed there forever. ... when you’re all on the same page and you don’t have to go through everything, it helps tremendously.”
Being an assistant at a school like Boise State, a so-called “mid-major,”
yet a program that finds ways to win year in and year out, that makes anyone on the staff a hot commodity. Right after the Fiesta Bowl, offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin was contacted by Alabama. Wilcox has heard from multiple schools.
“People definitely call,”
Wilcox said. “When you work for a guy like Chris Petersen at a place like this with kids like this, when you hear from a bigger school, it doesn’t really matter.”
Petersen said the ability to pay assistants better even than when he arrived in Boise in 2001 has been a major reason in being able to keep a staff intact.
“The vultures are around at all times,”
Petersen said. “We’re trying to create an environment where if somebody does leave here, it’s a very, very hard decision.”
From analyzing game tape, putting together a game plan or figuring out who the next crop of Broncos will be, knowing the ins and outs of the staff can leave little doubt on what should be done.
“It’s huge from the standpoint when you’re sitting in meetings, talking about whatever, if you’re with (offensive line coach Scott) Huff, (receivers coach Brent) Pease, or whoever and you say, ‘Right here, we should ...’ and they can just interrupt and say ‘Yeah, I know,’”
Harsin said. “Or when you’re recruiting and you put on a tape, and everyone can just say ‘I like him,’ or ‘He’s wrong,’ because everyone knows what you’re looking for.”
Bringing players in to a school that’s on a smooth path instead of one that’s ever-changing is a draw for potential Broncos.
“They’re the guys trying to sell you on the program,”
senior linebacker Kyle Gingg said. “You get to know them first, and it’s natural for some to leave, but if you have a connection with those coaches and think they’ll stick around, that’s a big deal.”
