The Boise State Broncos had an extremely disappointing performance on Friday against the UTEP Miners, losing 27-10 and falling to 2-2. This surprising loss led to a significant coaching change within the program on Saturday.
Boise State head coach Andy Avalos relieved current offensive coordinator Tim Plough of his duties on Friday. Plough was in his second season with the Broncos.
The Broncos have named former NFL head coach Dirk Koetter as Plough’s replacement. This move will be effective immediately ahead of their Week 5 matchup against San Diego State.
Avalos discussed his reasoning for the decision in a statement, saying that it was “in the best interest” of the program.
“This was a difficult decision, but I believe it is in the best interest of our program,” said Avalos. “Our team goals are still in front of us and we are focused on working to accomplish them. Tim is a good football coach and I have no doubt he will continue to positively impact the young men he works with in the future.”
In addition to his time as Boise State’s head coach from 1998-2000, Koetter also was a college head coach with Arizona State from 2001-06. More recently, he served as head coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016 through 2018 (he’s seen above in a Dec. 2018 game). In that stint, he had some real struggles, ultimately finishing with a 19-29 record. He then returned for another stint as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, then retired following that latter season.
63-year-old Idaho native Koetter has been widely known across all levels of football to be an excellent mentor for quarterbacks as an offensive coordinator. But Boise State has been inconsistent for the majority of the offseason offensively. The program is currently averaging only 22 points per game through four games thus far.
They will hope that Koetter can have a profound impact on those woes moving forward.
[Chris Vannini on Twitter]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.