Breaking: Boise State fires Andy Avalos

Following a dominating win against the lowly New Mexico Lobos, news broke Sunday morning that Boise State would be firing their football coach Andy Avalos.

Though the timing of the move was surprising, the move itself seemed inevitable. Under Coach Avalos, Boise State had endured two uneven seasons (7-5 in year 1, 10-4 in 2022 with a loss in the Mountain West championship game). Going into this year, with a new offensive coordinator and the reigning MW Freshman of the Year in QB Taylen Green, things seemed primed for the Broncos to take a step forward.

But they didn’t.

The Broncos went 1-3 in their non-conference schedule, with close losses to UCF and Memphis that were going to define their season one way or another. To compound matters, Boise State blew a 20 point lead with six minutes remaining against Colorado State, surrendering a Hail Mary competition off deflection in the most embarrassing loss of the season. They also lost a close game to Fresno State last week, with a kickoff return for a TD with a few seconds remaining in the first half being the stand out play that decided that game.

Unfortunately, close losses defined the Avalos era throughout his two-plus years at the helm. As things currently stand, the team is 5-5 in this season, and 22-14 overall, which is well below the standard Boise State has built for themselves over the years. In fact, this is the first time they have had fired a head coach in 25 years.

Andy Avalos was hired just under 3 years ago to much fanfare when he replaced Bryan Harsin. Avalos was a former player and assistant coach at Boise State, he is fifth all-time in career tackles. He returned to the school in 2012, first coaching the defensive line, then moving to linebackers and eventually added defensive coordinator to his resume. Avalos was extremely successful as a DC under Bryan Harsin, being hired away to Oregon for two years before returning to attempt his first stint as head coach.

It was hard for everyone to see Coach Avalos not succeed for the first time in his tenure at Boise State. However, matters were made worse by some puzzling in-game decisions, mismanaging the clock, and the most decisive, switching to a two-quarterback system this season when the defense has struggled so much this season.

Bronco fans will now be wondering who will be the next coach hired to right the ship and return to the standard.