Coaches are often referred to as servant leaders, those who put others before them. Boise State coach Spencer Danielson seems to be the epitome of that.
“It’s all about the people, that’s your staff and your players,” Danielson said in a Zoom with reporters ahead of next week’s Fiesta Bowl. “First and foremost, your players, and then secondly, your staff. I mean, that’s everything to me, not just to be successful on the football field and continue to push forward for years to come, but the only reason I do this is to develop people.”
Danielson has been at Boise State since 2017 when he was a graduate assistant and has steadily climbed the ladder, spending the previous three seasons as the defensive coordinator before being named the interim head coach with three games left last season after Andy Avolos was fired.
From that point on, it’s been all Danielson. He led Boise State to three straight wins and a Mountain West Championship before having the interim tag removed Dec. 3, 2023.
The 36-year old is a strong believer in Christ and is not afraid to be unequivocally himself which permeates from him every time he speaks.
“It’s something that I’m very open about. I really do believe that the only reason I’m the head coach here is that Jesus put me here to develop people,” Danielson said. “Some people might not like that I say that, but I truly do believe that, and everything I focus on is developing these young men for life.”
In coaching at all levels, it’s become incredibly difficult to find coaches who are genuine and stay true to themselves. Even at Penn State, it has taken many years for James Franklin’s personality to shine through and this year in particular many have seen that personality on full display with the media.
Because Danielson is true to himself and his beliefs doesn’t mean his goals are the same on and off the field.
“I mean, it says in the Bible, run the race to win, and that’s in everything you do in life, and that’s my message to our players. In life, you can’t take losses,” Danielson said. “If you take too many losses as a husband, you’re going to get a divorce. You take too many losses as a father, your kids aren’t going to want to be around you. It’s all about developing these young men for life, and I know the more you develop them as men of character, men of integrity, men of discipline, so on and so forth, they’re going to make the right decision on fourth down when the game’s on the line, but that is a byproduct of developing them as people, and so that’s something I’m very passionate about.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.That development comes through a bevy of processes for Danielson and his staff. Ones that promote consistency and have provided the Broncos with an opportunity to play in the Fiesta Bowl for the first time in a decade.
“I focus on process over everything, and I think that’s the way to stay consistent,” Danielson said. “It’s not all right, here’s the big game so now we’re going to change everything, and I’m going to try to micromanage everybody and longer practices and more meetings. To me, every game is the most important game, so your process should continue to grow and be elite week to week to week, regardless of the opponent, regardless where the game is being played. It’s no different going into the Fiesta Bowl the quarter finals of the playoff, I just want to make sure we do our process better than we’ve ever done it. And that’s the same way when we play UNLV in the championship, no different than the week prior.”
Though Franklin and Danielson haven’t met, they share striking similarities in the way they go about their business. For Franklin, it’s a focus on a 1-0 mentality and a champion work ethic. For Danielson, it’s an internal challenge weekly to “do us better.”
“Are there times that you kind of fight? Well, we should probably do this,” he said. “There is, absolutely, but I have a phenomenal staff around me and being through this now for 13 games, I trust our process.”
The process for Danielson leading up to the Fiesta Bowl matchup, the first time the two programs have faced each other, is all about efficiency and making the most out of every moment.
“I can’t promise you what’s going to happen on the 31st, but I do know, if we trust our process, we find a way to do it better, from our meetings to our practice,” Danielson said. “We’re still very efficient at practice, we’re not going longer. We’re not doing extra meetings. We put a premium on the time they’re in this building, it is on.”
That preparation will be put to the test against Penn State in a week but Danielson and his Broncos are going to look to prove a lot of people wrong to live to play another day.
