College Football Fix: Andy Avalos, Boise State Head Coach

We miss college football. Bennett takes the snap and the shotgun, throws for the corner.

Brock Bowers one on one. Caught. Touchdown.

He ate him alive. Falls down into the end zone. Six more for Georgia. We can't wait for the 2023 season. Caleb Williams throws the fade in the corner.

Oh my. Touchdown Trojans. And we're counting down the days to kick off. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? I said no. Are we there yet?

What's wrong with your ears? Here is your college football fix. Only on the Zach Gelb show. Four days away for Boise State kicking off their football season.

We were just talking about it. 3.30 p.m. Eastern on ABC up against number 10 Washington with Kalen DeBoer's program, Michael Penix as well. Should be a fun one in a few days. Let's go out to the guest line right now on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. I'm welcoming a man that played linebacker for Boise State. He's now entering his third season as the head coach of the Boise State Broncos.

That, of course, is Coach Andy Avalos. Coach, I know it's been a while, but I appreciate the time. How you been?

Been awesome. It's exciting. You know, the college football season is here and we've been preparing for this huge matchup in the first week.

Yeah, we're all like fat kids in a candy store right now. We're just jumping up and down and we can't wait to see the ball go up in the air on Saturday. Kind of give me the vibe around your team and what you've seen from them this offseason and all through training camp. Yeah, it's been a great offseason. I mean, the guys have been really diligent with the work and the process that is necessary to continue to develop and grow.

And it's been fun. This is a fun group to be around and they work hard. You know, the things that we've asked in terms of the standards and how we approach each and every day. And so obviously it's going to require our best here as we continue to prepare for this weekend's first game. What do you think your team learned from last year? You guys had a season that was a step in the right direction. We know in the regular season you didn't lose a game in conference, but then you lose the conference championship game. What did your group, in your opinion, take from last season?

Yeah, there's so many things, right? The experience gained from last year and playing through a conference that was extremely competitive last year and then making it to the championship game. Even the experience of the championship game, playing in a game like that and learning the things that go into the process.

And how to stay locked in on the primary factors and the things that we need to do to be our best. Being able to propel that into this offseason and obviously how we approach into this first matchup. It's going to require us playing the number 10 team on the road. It's one of the best offenses in the nation last year with a lot of their firepower coming back. And the defense that is really aggressive up front and big up front has caused a lot of destruction up front with the things they do.

You know what the standard is. You know what the goal is this year. It's to win the conference. I know that you guys could learn things like we just said from last year, but how do you move past last year and make this a new brand of a season for the Boise State Broncos, Coach Andy Avalos? Yeah, there's no question. I mean, the standard is the goal, but it's become the standard.

And so what does that process look like? And again, the experience from last year only gives us an opportunity to do better. We do have a fair amount of guys back from that team last year, although with the nature of college football too, we got a lot of new guys on our team. And so how we work together to bring each other along, to use our experience to teach each other what it looks like, what it needs to look like.

You know, that's going to be critical not only in this first game, but as we continue to get an opportunity each and every week throughout the season to grow. The sport has changed so much with teams changing conferences, NIL and learning more about that, which I think is great for the student athletes. But even just like in the real world, you take this job and your first year is 2021, we're starting to get back to a little bit normal times coming off of COVID.

And then last year, it felt really normal. You guys take a big jump. Just how much have you grown as a coach and how different are you as a head coach as you get set to enter your number three to a place that means so much to you? Just like the players, the experience in the last couple years and being blessed with the role that I get to be in now, it's been a tremendous learning experience in how we grow and how we find our space. For me, being able to have an impact in the various departments of the building, obviously within the team, and really creating a process and an environment where people can have the opportunity to grow and thrive. And that part to me is fun, bringing people together, working together. I mean, this is the greatest team sport, right? So as a head coach, it's about creating an environment where people can work together, they can compete each and every day. If you think about it, throughout the course of the offseason, that's a lot of months, it's a lot of days, it's a lot of hours of us competing with each other. And just really, as you said, coming out of COVID, re-establishing, what does that environment look like every day?

Talking to Coach Andy Avalos of the Boise State Broncos here with us at the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. How have you reacted to all these changes? I know you're a West Coast guy and the Pac-12 means a lot to you, but you see with NIL, which I think, like I said, is great for the student-athletes and they should definitely get money and be able to benefit off their name, image, and likeness. And then you look at the never-ending changes to all the conferences, being someone that's a coach in college football, your reaction to all this stuff is what? Yeah, I mean, the game has probably changed in the last four years. Again, you stated it coming out of COVID and then with all the changes within college football, whether it's in the recruiting process, whether it's opportunities for the players to make money off of their name, image, and likeness, the transfer portal.

You know, the conference realignment stuff. For me, it's like anything else, change changes. It can rock the boat or you can find your space within it to move forward and find the opportunities within the new changes to help a program thrive forward.

So, for me, I always take the approach of how can we use this to get better? And obviously, as a new head coach going into my third year, after the last two years in the experience we've got, it's really come down to really keeping the main things the main thing, to keeping the game pure for us and allowing ourselves to take advantage of some of these other variables when necessary. I know that you don't control what conference you're in, but we all know what the brand of Boise State has been.

Everyone remembers that Fiesta Bowl back in 2007 and they're one of those teams that a lot of people just love. Do you feel that pressure of, hey, we've got to have a successful season and maybe try to make ourselves attractive for one of these Power Five conferences or whatever remains of the Power Five? Being a player here 27 years ago and obviously being an assistant coach through the last decade and coordinator now obviously in the position, that doesn't really change for us. It has always been about the standard of what Boise State is and that's honestly how we work, the camaraderie of the team, how we're going to separate ourselves with the preparation, how we're going to thrive on the details.

And that's really what creates the brand because obviously success happens when preparation meets opportunity. And so that's been a staple for us and again, we go throughout the changes and the new opportunities in college football, we can't lose sight of the things that have made us and have been a priority. I want to ask you, Coach Andy Avalos, about your quarterback, Talon Green, who got an opportunity to be your starter after a few weeks last year. What did he show you last season when you look back at what Talon was able to bring to this team? A guy that is tremendously humble and hungry and a guy that wants to learn and grow, not just as a quarterback but how he leads himself, how he leads the offense and at that position, how he helps lead the team. He's got some physical ability that we think is really elite and that we can develop and continue to grow with that mindset that he has and it was fun to see him gain the respect of the team instantly last year when he got his opportunity. In the certain ways that are his strength and over the course of the offseason he's worked to build on his game and improve in all areas but especially within the passing game and so it's been an awesome process to see and obviously there's a huge challenge in the first week. Clearly you believe in him, you just laid it out, but what did you really challenge him to do this offseason? Find endless ways to grow as a leader in his preparation because ultimately in that position it all starts with his mindset, his ability to create a process for himself to continue to grow. We have structure here for him in how he was going to do that and then again at that position it's just not about leading yourself, it's about leading others, it's about working with the offensive line, it's about how we communicate with the wide receivers. It's the standard that we hold, it's the standard we create then we hold and he's done a good job with that, obviously he's still a young quarterback and he'll need to continue to grow. So you're a defensive minded coach, you played linebacker, your coaching background is all in defense, but as a head coach you have to have a relationship with the offense right? This is your program, you are the CEO, with your defensive background how can you help your quarterback get even better this year?

That's the fun part right? Being able to go to the other side of the ball and look at defensive structures and things like that, that's the fun part when it comes to the X's and O's side. Obviously my expertise is not in developing a quarterback as a defensive head coach, that's the first and foremost right there, but where can you have an impact?

What does that look like? It's a joy, I enjoy sitting down and looking at defensive structures and the things that cause issues to defenses, not just for him as a quarterback, but in a big picture role for our offense, I love what we're doing. And my opportunity to talk shop and share things that are actually issues on defense, what creates conflict, what puts defenses in predicament, that's the fun part. I always say you get to go on both sides of the fence as a head coach from offense to defense and to be honest with you, you get to learn a lot more at the game as to what is really true and what matters. So if you were still playing, now you get your defense prepared, but if you were still playing up against Michael Penick's junior coming up on Saturday, what would the message be to try to slow down one of the better players in college football? It's a well rounded offense, they're one of the best offenses in the nation for a reason. They're extremely efficient, they create opportunities for themselves in the run game, they've got a big physical O-line. Obviously in the past game for years, they've used the space on the field, they're really efficient with the concepts within the past game, they protect the quarterback, that's the tough thing. Last year, they were one of the top teams in the nation in terms of not giving up sacks. Anytime you're facing an offense like this, it's where do you find the opportunities to disrupt timing within their offense. Obviously I can't go into the great detail of that, that is always a task at hand when you're facing any offense, let alone one of the top offenses in the nation.

Before we let you run, Coach Andy Avalos, we talked so much about your quarterback, you returned so many other guys to this team, that's why expectations are high. What else do you really like about this football team and you want to shine light on? Some of the things that we really love is the competitiveness. To mold a team into a real competitor to win a championship, it comes down to the competitiveness each and every single day at practice.

We drive the standard home, we continually hit what it looks like from visuals, from the necessary steps, and I love the way the guys compete and work to meet that standard every single day. We're going to have to be consistent with that, as we all know, that's what college football is, who can be the most consistent week in, week out, take it one week at a time. Just going back to your quarterback real quickly before we let you run, Coach, was that 91 yard touchdown run up against Utah State his best moment from a year ago? That was one of the best moments, but I will say this, you asked earlier, what did he do early on when he got his opportunity early on last year in the San Diego State game, going into, we were starting off the second half on defense and we got an interception, we were fortunate to get a takeaway to start pretty fast there, and he made a couple plays there on that next series that really, you know, it put a lot of fire and energy into the whole team with just his ability to make plays, running the ball, and yeah, I mean, he had a few, more than a few electric run plays last year and it's pretty cool to see. I mean, he's pretty talented with what he can do with his legs, you know, as a quarterback, but I'm excited to see how he learns and grows and continues to progress within the past game as well. If you were around Justin Herbert when you were coaching over at Oregon, so you know what it looks like to be around a pro quarterback, do you see a pro quarterback right now in Taylor Green?

There's obviously the potential there, I mean, with his mindset, his work ethic, his ability to learn how to continue to become a better leader, like all those things are there. He 100% has the potential to become an NFL quarterback, and that's really what the exciting piece is, you know, he's just focused on the now and how he can continue to grow himself and help lead, not only, again, not only this offense, but lead the team. I mean, you're talking about a guy like Justin who has unbelievable, you know, quarterback attributes from the mental, the intangibles, and then the physical. I mean, Justin Herbert throws a ball around. When I was at Oregon, I would tell some of the scouts I haven't seen a guy throw the ball like this since Carson Palmer when I was playing seven-on-seven against him in high school. I mean, just the arm talent was unbelievable.

It wasn't very fun going up against him in seven-on-seven and things like that in practice. Well, Coach, we're looking forward to this Saturday, big game up against Washington, high expectations this year for your program. So good luck, good health to all your players, and we appreciate you doing this. Thank you for having us on. Go Broncos!