Boise State may have found its next running back who sees the program the same way Ashton Jeanty did: as home.
Junior Dylan Riley made that plain Wednesday after the Broncos’ first fall camp practice, saying there’s no amount of money that would pull him away from Boise State. The comments echoed the kind of loyalty Jeanty showed when he passed on outside offers to return for 2024 and helped fuel a College Football Playoff run.
“There’s nothing that I would want to leave for. I don’t think there’s any money to really ship me off somewhere else,” Riley told reporters Wednesday afternoon following the first practice of fall camp.
“Obviously we want money, but I’ll take a pay cut to be on this team,” he continued. “I really love this team; there’s no money that’s going to drive me away from here.”
Riley’s rise has come in a way that fits Boise State’s reputation as “RBU.” The 5-foot-10 back entered the 2025 season with little fanfare after logging just 22 carries as a freshman. Then he burst into the picture last season, finishing as the team leader in carries with 195 and rushing yards with 1,145.
That kind of jump is part production, part belief in the place around him. Riley said that starts with a family lesson from his father, Willie.
“My dad, there was a saying that he said: Always be loyal to the soil,” Riley said.
Willie Riley died ahead of the 2025 season. Dylan Riley spoke last October about the support he received from coaches and teammates during that difficult stretch, and on Wednesday he said his father “loved” the time he got to share with him around the Boise State program.
“When I got here, he always said, ‘Stay loyal to the soil, to the people that really got you,’ ” Riley said. “And so I know Boise, Bronco Nation, the coaches and the players, they’ve all got me, and I love it here.”
“Nobody wants to just leave family behind,” he continued. “It’ll hurt for me to just up and leave.”
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The bigger question is how that pressure lands once the season actually starts, especially with other Group of Six powers lining up behind them. UTSA is positioned to lead the American, James Madison is the favorite in the Sun Belt, UNLV headlines the Mountain West and Liberty is the name to watch in Conference USA, all part of a broader race shaped by coaching changes, returning players and a lot of preseason projection. For Boise State, the appeal is obvious: every week now comes with the expectation of looking like a playoff-caliber team, and the margin for anything less will be thin. [Read more 🡒]