Boise State football is hiring Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos, a former player and assistant at the school, as its next head coach, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Avalos, 39, spent the past two seasons at Oregon, helping the Ducks to consecutive Pac-12 championships. He came to Oregon from Boise State, where he spent seven seasons as an assistant, the last three as the team’s defensive coordinator.
A former All-WAC linebacker at Boise State, Avalos replaces Bryan Harsin, who left last month to become Auburn’s head coach. Avalos coached under Harsin at Boise State and both played and coached for Chris Petersen at the school. Petersen, who resigned as Washington’s coach after the 2019 season, assisted Boise State with its coaching search, according to sources.
Last week, Boise State hired Jeramiah Dickey as its new athletics director. Dickey on Friday afternoon tweeted that the football coaching hire was “coming soon.”
Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, a star quarterback at Boise State for Petersen, announced Saturday that he would no longer be pursuing the school’s head-coaching job and had agreed to a multiyear contract with the Cowboys. Moore and Avalos had been considered the frontrunners to replace Harsin, although Boise State also considered Montana State coach Jeff Choate, a former assistant at the school, as well as Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, according to sources.
In 2019, Avalos was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, recognizing the nation’s top assistant coach, after overseeing an Oregon defense that finished ninth nationally in scoring. The Corona, California, native helped Boise State to three Mountain West titles as an assistant.
The Idaho Press first reported Boise State’s decision to hire Avalos.