Spencer Danielson Has Boise State 'On the Hunt' for Another Playoff Berth

Boise State coach Spencer Danielson was fired up throughout his team’s first win against Fresno State in years. Dances. Hugs. Fist bumps. Words of encouragement. On more than one occasion, he even raced down the sideline, trying to keep pace as one of his players made a big play on the field.

“Built for this. We kill bears and lions, man,” Danielson said to no one in particular in a mic’d-up segment the Pac-12 posted on social media. “We’re built for this.”

Danielson, Boise State’s 37-year-old head coach, was a bit uneasy about the attention after the clip gained some traction online. He said he looked like a “crazy man.” He also said he didn’t want the Broncos’ first victory over the Bulldogs since 2022 to be about him, “because it’s really not.”

“As a head coach, we get talked about a lot just because of the nature of the space, but it ain’t about me,” Danielson told Athlon Sports. “We got great players. We got great coordinators.”

Still, it’s Danielson who put this group together. And, to no surprise, his team is in the midst of another great season. That has become the expectation at Boise State, the standard-bearer in the Group of 6. Only 10 programs have a better record than the Broncos since Danielson’s first full season in 2024. He led them to the College Football Playoff that season, the first of the 12-team era. And he has designs on getting back there this season, likely the last before the playoff field is expected to double.

• The Pac-12 Is Back: How the Conference Emerged from the Wreckage of Realignment

No. 21 Boise State (5-1) is the only Group of 6 team ranked in the AP Top 25 at the halfway point of the season. The Broncos can tout wins over American Conference power Memphis, defending MAC champion Western Michigan, and now Fresno State, one of many old Mountain West rivals that joined them this year in the rebuilt Pac-12.

Boise State won its third consecutive conference championship last December in its final season in the Mountain West. But cracks in the foundation started to show. The Broncos lost five games after going 12-2 the prior season. That included a blowout loss to Fresno State, a rare defeat on the famous blue turf, and a poor performance against Washington in their bowl game that left Danielson soul-searching around Christmastime.

“I’m at home, kind of like, ‘Where do we go?’” Danielson said. “We’ve done some good things; it’s hard to win your conference three straight years. But we also have not played our best.”

That’s when Danielson came up with the mantra for the 2026 team: “On the hunt.” He wanted Boise State to stay hungry despite its recent success. And he didn’t want money to interfere with his team’s motivation, either.

Danielson is aware of the Broncos’ place in the food chain. High-end college football rosters reportedly cost as much as $50 million this season to assemble. Industry estimates put Boise State’s roster under $20 million.

But the Broncos still returned 13 starters from the 2025 team, despite the fact that Danielson said they all could have gone elsewhere in the transfer portal for more money.

“When you have a group of leaders that say, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I know this is the best place to play in the country and be developed in the country,’ I think everybody falls in line,” Danielson said.

That level of roster stability — rare at any level, but especially in the Group of 6 — is also a testament to a head coach who puts his players first.

Boise State’s season began with a near-upset of then-No. 2 Oregon, a team with a roster payroll reportedly more than double that of the Broncos. It was the second time in three years the Broncos pushed the Ducks to the brink. It was widely seen as a moral victory — one could even call it a “quality loss,” a term typically reserved for teams in the SEC and Big Ten — but Danielson wanted to pull off the upset.

“There’s no scoreboard that says, ‘Well, this is the money that they have, so if they lose, it’s okay, because they don’t make as much,’” he said. “There’s just one scoreboard.”

Boise State has won all five games since the opener at Oregon. Fresno State was the only team that came within one score of the Broncos, who are the favorite to represent the Group of 6 in the CFP once again.

• Related: College Football Playoff 12-Team Projections After Week 7

Much of the current roster was there in 2024, so they know what it takes to push for a spot in the playoff. Danielson is big on development, and he practices what he preaches as shown by how few transfers he starts. Many of the program’s biggest stars started their careers at Boise State and stayed.

Quarterback Maddux Madsen is in his fifth season with the Broncos, dating back to when Danielson was still the defensive coordinator. So are offensive lineman Roger Carreon and edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan. Running backs Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines are both in their third season at Boise State.

Despite the concentration of upperclassmen, Danielson is confident about the state of the roster going forward. Rasean Jones, the Broncos’ leading receiver, is a true freshman. And Danielson believes he could bring back even more starters heading into 2027 than he did this year.

As Boise State emerges from its bye week, Danielson is focused on the present. He’s cautious not to let the time away throw the Broncos off their rhythm. And with key games still to come against Texas State (3-3) and Oregon State (5-2), he doesn’t want his team to get up for big games, as it did against Memphis, and then have a letdown, like the close call against FCS South Dakota.

Danielson, like many coaches, is striving for consistency. That’s what he gives his team, and it’s what he expects in return. The hooting, hollering coach seen on the sideline is just as amped in the weight room when the mic is off and there are no cameras.

“Some guys’ personality, that’s not them, so don’t be that way, right?” Danielson said. “That’s just who I am.”