Boise State is drawing a firm line when it comes to the new wave of roster-shopping around former NFL players.
While the Pac-12 remains one of three FBS conferences that has not banned ex-professionals from returning to college for the 2026 season, Broncos coach Spencer Danielson made it clear Monday that his program won’t be chasing that path. With the SEC already banning the practice, LSU is in court seeking eligibility for former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright, and On3’s Pete Nakos reported Wednesday that several more SEC schools are also exploring the idea of adding former NFL players and class of 2022 high school graduates.
Danielson’s answer was simple: Boise State is not interested.
“My opinion-and I know me and (athletic director Jeramiah Dickey) are aligned in this-if guys have, at the end of their senior year, went to the NFL camps or NBA and they didn’t make it, I don’t see those guys coming back to college. That’s not our model,” Danielson said during Monday’s press conference.
He doubled down on that stance by tying it directly to how he wants the Broncos built.
“Especially for us with our team, this is our team. We put a premium on pouring into this group.
We’re not going to go look for guys that didn’t make the NFL to come back here. We’re going to put culture over everything.”
That doesn’t mean Boise State hasn’t at least considered the broader eligibility picture. Last month, the Broncos explored adding former defensive standouts Braxton Fely and Jeremiah Earby after a preliminary injunction granted a fifth year of eligibility to any class of 2022 high school graduates.
But that ruling remains unresolved heading into Week 1 of the 2026 college football season, and neither Fely nor Earby came back to Boise State. Both remain unsigned in the NFL.
Danielson said his view comes from what coaching has meant in his own life, and from the belief that college is a defined chapter.
“I got into coaching to have an impact on young men,” Danielson said. “I know I’m a product of having coaches take time with me when I was 18 to 22 doing stupid stuff that helped me find Jesus, helped me do a good job dating my now-wife. There’s a lot of things where that’s who I am (because of coaching).
“I also know it’s about a season of your life. And I’m a firm believer when this college season of your life is done, it’s time to move on.
If that’s to the NFL, great. If it’s not, you’re going to be a professional in something else, and that’s OK.
It’s a hard transition because these young men have played football their whole life. I just think you have to draw the line in the sand.”
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For players such as Brantley, Edward, Esty, Ethridge, Goff, Hall, Morris, Tillmon, Washington Jr. and Wright, the opportunity is obvious. Boise State does not have the luxury of easing them in if it wants to be ready for Oregon, so the question becomes how fast those new pieces can settle into their roles and handle the speed of a major early-season stage. The Broncos spent the offseason adding depth and experience for moments like this, and now the real uncertainty is how many of those newcomers will look like instant fits when the lights come on. [Read more 🡒]