Bronco’s DC Avalos Leaving for Greener Fields.

Things had been a bit too tame on the coaching carousel. But a little over half an hour ago, MWCConnection learned that some rumors were circling around the back channels of the Twitterverse.

While we were working to confirm, the news was broken: Defensive Coordinator Andy Avalos was officially leaving Boise State for the same position at PAC-12 Oregon.

Avalos has been the defensive coordinator at Boise State for the past three seasons. In that time, he has schemed strong defense after strong defense, and deserved major credit for the evolution of 1st round NFL draft pick Leighton Vander Esch last year.

His departure leaves a major void on staff, as he was regarded as one of the team’s best coaches and best recruiters. To add insult to injury, spring ball starts on Friday.

It’s extremely early, but some in-house options would include:

1) Spencer Danielson: He’s young, but a rising star in the coaching ranks, not unlike Avalos himself a few years back. It may be considered a “riskier” move but could pay enormous dividends.

2) Jeff Schmedding: He has defensive coordinator experience from his time at Eastern Washington. It is unknown how he would be at the FBS level. He may be considered the “safe” choice, but even that comes with question marks.

3) A combo of both: Boise State has done a co-coordinator thing before on the offensive side of the ball and blending the two may combine the best of both coaches strengths.

As for outside hires, no names come to mind right away. Though Boise State has lost a few defensive coaches over the past few years, none would be considered likely to return or be in the running for a coordinator job.

Some outside names to keep an eye on:

1) Antonio Pierce: It would be a rapid rise from the high school ranks, where he was two years ago. But Pierce did a great job with the linebackers at Arizona State and his son is a star safety. He might even get a slight pay raise.

2) Gerald Alexander: The former Bronco and secondary coach at Cal would be a great hire. I’m not sure if he is on the best terms with Harsin, but I expect his name to come up.

3) Bob Gregory: A former coach at BSU who is currently on the staff at Washington. Would have to take a pay cut.

4) Jimmy Lake/Pete Kwiatkowski: Both guys would have to take a substantial pay cut. Lake seems like he is on the verge of a head coaching gig. But Coach K might want to run his own defense again and he played for the Broncos.

Stay tuned for more updates as news progresses.