Two recent articles inspired this post. The first was one that noted what happended to Koetter and Hawkins after they left here and remarked that at Boise State it was the system, not the coach, that was the basis for the success. The other asserted that it was a “geographical anomaly” that an elite team was located in Boise, and that it wouldnt last. A synthesis of those two points yields several good questions one of which is: Why did it hapened here at all? As a believer that knowing as much about WHAT happened often yields a lot of WHY, I offer the following with the caveat: the concept is amorphous,the boundaries indistinct. Think of a stew, not a t v dinner.
When I arrived in 1968, the first wave of the still `hated Californians, Broncos began collegiate play. Like most of the transplants, I had seen major schools; many of the transplants had graduated from those schools. I knew nothing of Broncos jr college success and could have cared less. The locals (pop. 50,000) who went to games didnt seem to have a lot of Bronco fever-few had attended the school and the games against Westminster, Whitworth et al didnt generate a lot. Weber State did-and they beat us 44-0 and it wasnt nearly that close.
But Tony Knapp was an innovator. He was first to go to Hawaii/Samoa to get players. I knew a lot of them-they dated my ex-Boise High friends. With them, you get one you get them all. Nice guys unless anything oblong was around-and it didnt matter if it wasa girls powder puff game hitting was always real. And Tony liked the pass. To give you some perspective-in the 1973 Super Bowl Dolphins QB Bob Griese went 8 for 11 for 69 yards-and they won. Bradshaw in the ’75 Superbowl went 9 for 19 and also won. Tony did it the Darryl Lamonica way-challenge the defense as much as possible, and do it all the time. Not West Coast, not even Lavell Edwards. Passes were meant to score, and did, often.
So even though the opponents didnt get your pants moist it was fun to watch. In the day you’d watch “real”(NFL) football in the morning and ersatz (AFL/Canadian) in the afternnon. Boise State was kinda like that;as was the league we were in The Stanford/USC etc grads had fun, yelled, no one took it too seriously really. Blue collar types followed pros but this was there live game. Broncos always had “gadgets” and back then some real daring ones. And we got guys who werent what ANY school was necessarily looking for, found out what they had, and either made what they had fit our scheme our changed our scheme to fit what they had.
I dont intend to give a complete history. But you can see in the little I’ve written how some innate intangible essence present then is present now.There were down points, or The Dark Ages as I think of them. We hired a defensive coordinator in ’83; bad idea in the Big Sky conference. We didnt return to Bronco mojo until we hired Pokey Allen-best coach in Bronco history. You read that right and I stand by it. Wouldnt nominate him for Man of the Year, but if he’d lived he’d have at least on Superbowl ring. His Portland State trashed us by 40 points and took it easy on us. He took us over and in 2 years we were playing in a championship game. R I P
With the arrival of Koetter the “magic” evident in ’68 began to emerge again. And the change. Begining in ’98 there started to be a better player coming here. Some symbiosis between team, school, town and region took place. I didnt expect it.. Im a Boise State alum but had to admit that being on the U of I campus(also alum), well… that had the college feel. Boise State-not so much; ok not at all. I despaired of us ever competing with Idaho. Yes. Its true-and I wasn’t alone.
Waht happened? MUNSON SAYS: we had this blue turf since ’86 and no one gave a (BW). We became Div 1 in ’96 and not only did no one give a bw, we didnt-I saw us lose to N Texas with 30 seconds to go when we’d led all day.But in 2001 there was this sexy BCS Buster named Fresno State. SI articles(cover), ESPN all over them, the whole country loved them. And on ESPN we beat them. It was an away game but someone mentioned the “smurf” turf and they started chattering. We started getting on ESPN. Quickly the blue turf elan took hold; I remember, and it may have been ESPN’S May who said “Miami could play on the blue and they’d lose”(Miami was good then). The blue turf, and the feisty guys who played on them, got their attention.
And somewhere in there the train left the station. I think Kyle Wilson first heard aout us on ESPN. So did others. But let’s be clear. Blue turf or not, feisty or not, it was the play of the Broncos that delivered the potatoes. Exciting, innovative-like in the day. And slowly what had been funny, initially unthinkable(BCS), became the thinkable. Then the thinkable became the possible, the possible the real, the impossible the not improbable.
Why? Houston Nutt( whom I detest) said only a few months ago that there was something about Boise, something that drew him when he was here and draws him now. And this by a man who slipped out in the middle of the night like some rent-dodger. You all know what Koetter said. I’m going to take a stab at the idea. Boise State grew organically out of the city. As contrasted with, say, Corvallis, there was a state captiol thriving here before anyone thought of a college. But there was a need; that need ultimatley resulted in Boise Junior College.Not Harvard or Notre Dame, a servicable place to further yourself. Needs trump wants as we are more intensely invested in them. The guys played ball; our guys. State,city, school, team-an ineffable bond was developed. And here’s another “why”.
Let’s face it; the state of Idaho,city of Boise, Boise State University and its football team, ALL have a chip on their colective shoulder. But its a blue chip(I like that-we need to work that one ). Will our current run last forever? You mean football games-no. But what keeps us,inspires us, what we love and what in some strange way loves us back, wilI- I dont even need to swear it I I know it. If this “string” runs out, another will start-like clockwork. The motto of our city and Boise State Unversity itself says it all:
SPLENDOR SINE OCCASU
(BEAUTY WITHOUT END)
WITH ALL MY HEART
TOM
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