Spencer Danielson is booked as Boise State’s HC until 2029. In his very first year, he proved why he is perfect for the role. His record stands at 15-3 (3-1 in 2023, 12-2 in 2024), and his coaching has also produced a Heisman runner-up in Ashton Jeanty. In his first full year as the head coach, he shocked college football after booking a spot in the playoffs. The Broncos booked a seat at the table full of blueblood programs. However, the head coach did not come in blind to his new role. He mentions two special people who had a deep impact on his coaching mindset.

Danielson’s coaching career has experience from only one other program apart from Boise State. He started out as a graduate assistant at Azusa Pacific, his alma mater, in 2013 and rose to the ranks of linebackers coach the next year. In 2017, Spencer Danielson went back to being a graduate assistant for the Broncos. Since then, he has learned the program like the back of his hand and is now in charge of the whole team. It takes more than sheer skill to do what he did in his first year as a head coach. A playoff spot, a conference championship (his 2, after winning the 2023 title as DC), and a No. 5 draft pick. Danielson credits one of the program’s best coaches as the guiding force behind his career.

Chris Petersen was long gone from Boise State when the new HC arrived. But the former is the program’s winningest coach ever, with a success rate of 88% after 8 years. The head coach shares a really great relationship with Petersen, despite there being a 24-year age gap between the two. Spencer Danielson told On3 about how his bond with Petersen was a crucial element of his first season. “Chris Petersen is a rock for me. He’s one of the first calls I make if anything comes up,” he said. “He comes out a couple of times a year. We show him our calendar. I show him where my heart is. We talk staff, we talk recruiting,” Danielson added.

Petersen’s impact will always be felt in the program. His success with the Broncos is how high the bar is set for the program’s HCs. “I felt like how he handled his business is something I respected a lot, not just for the wins, but how he did it. That was building people for life,” Spencer Danielson added.

His predecessor’s inputs during his interim HC stint also paid off greatly, the HC told On3. Danielson’s success in just one year of his 5-year-long tenure has fans looking up to what he will give them next. 67% of his production is returning, and of that share, 75% makes up the offense. He no longer has Ashton Jeanty or other notable names like Cam Camper, Andrew Simpson, and Ahmed Hassanein. But Danielson’s returning talents, like Maddux Madsen. That makes up for a stellar team worthy of recreating last season’s successes.

The other coach whom Spener Danielson looks up to leads a Power 4 legacy program and has been associated with it for more than 20 years now.

Dabo Swinney a 10/10 coach for Spencer Danielson

The Broncos’ HC finds a mentor in Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. The zeal to learn from him was so strong that Danielson made a trip from Idaho, all the way to the East Coast, to learn from the veteran coach. He was at Clemson for only a few days but struck up a meaningful bond with Swinney in that short time. Swinney is a two-time National Championship winner, and ties with Kirby Smart as the only active coaches to have the highest number of National titles. Their reliance on faith seemed to be a common factor for their friendship.

“He told me a scripture verse in Revelation that I held on to. It says, ‘Doors God opens, no man can shut.’ He’s like, ‘Spencer, if God wants you to have this job, you’re going to get it,’” Danielson told On3. He finds more common ground with Swinney because the latter was a former interim HC himself in 2008. Swinney was also made full-time HC that same season. So, that makes him a great model to have for a young HC like Danielson. “Dabo Swinney is a 10 out of 10.” 

A major aspect that Danielson is taking from Swinney’s book is the idea of honing the team’s existing talent and relying on it for success. He does not regard the transfer portal to be the better solution when it comes to finding game-changing players. Ashton Jeanty returned to Boise State for his junior year, and we saw what that 2024 team did. And now, Danielson is having a majority of that same team factor in for his 2025 campaign as well. He’s rebuilding Boise State to be a program that makes its in-house players develop as one worthy of creating the best impact. Jeanty is the best example.

With the wisdom of Chris Petersen and Dabo Swinney, any rookie football coach is bound to create some great results. Spencer Danielson worked on them to hone his own strengths as Boise State’s HC, to emerge as a coach who will be on the lookout lists for his competitors.