Penn State, Boise State coaches talk for last time before Fiesta Bowl. Here’s what they said

Penn State head coach James Franklin and Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson met with the media during a joint press conference Monday morning in Arizona, one day before their two teams face off in the Fiesta Bowl.

Here’s what the two coaches said on a variety of topics ahead of their College Football Playofff quarterfinal matchup.

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson

On merging his team’s history with the game Tuesday

“Obviously so excited to be here. Appreciate all your guys’ time. Thank you, Jesus, for another day of life and another opportunity. We’re so blessed to be able to play this game and impact these kids every single day. Our team is excited. Boise State has been here before. It’s been a decade since we’ve been here. It’s been a while. Obviously this is the first time it’s ever been a Fiesta Bowl and a College Football Playoff game. Making our guys focus on — it’s all about their work. Regardless of how big the stage is, how big the game is, how bright the lights are, it’s all about earning the right to play our best. Tomorrow night, our goal is to get all the prep in and then go cut it loose. Excited for our guys. I know Coach [James] Franklin is going to say the same in regards to his team. But we look forward to the game tomorrow and we’ve got to continue to finish our prep.”

On finding a college football commissioner

“That’s a good question. I get asked a lot of questions that I have no true say in. I get asked about the transfer portal, NIL, collectives, the future of college football. Nobody is calling me to make changes, so I don’t think about it a ton. I focus on things that move the needle and what matters for our team. College football is in a very interesting place. Do changes need to be made? I believe they do. What those are and how those should be implemented? I don’t spend a ton of time on that, but I do believe changes need to be made. I’m going to throw my vote in for Chris Petersen to be part of that commissioner [conversation] as well.”

On RB Ashton Jeanty creating yards after contact

“He trains that way. Ashton Jeanty, I’ve been very open about this, just to make sure everyone sees behind the veil, how great a man he is, how hard he works. That’s what he’s done since he was a 17-year-old, early-enrolling freshman doing it against the starting defense, and I was the defensive coordinator getting really upset with him. He’s been doing that this whole time and trains at that type of standard. It was January last offseason, and he’s the guy on the blue, in the snow with his shirt off, doing tug-of-war against the rest of his teammates, running them all around the field. It’s how he trains. He’s built for that. To Coach Franklin’s point, it takes a team. Ash will be the first to tell you that. It takes the offensive line, the tight ends. Our receivers, it’s mandatory to block on our team. We’re a run-first operation with complements off of it. There’s a lot of pieces that go into the success that Ashton is having. Not to take anything away from Ash. There’s been multiple times when 11 guys have a shot at him and don’t get him down, but it definitely takes a team.”

On having former Penn State ST Coordinator Stacy Collins on staff

“Stacy’s been a huge addition for us. I know Coach Franklin was able to work with him for a couple of years. He was a guy I knew kind of growing up in the profession. When he was at South Dakota Mines and I was at Azusa Pacific, I remember going out to play them in South Dakota. Then we were able to work together in 2021. Not only in regards to what he does for special teams for us, what he does for our linebackers; he’s a huge addition for me in regards to just picking his brain, because he’s been a head coach. He’s got a good understanding of kind of all facets, from recruiting to game planning to scheduling. All the things that as a first-time head coach, I want someone to be honest with me. Not just, ‘Oh, I think it’s good, Spence.’ But really be able to speak into my life and being able to speak into our team. And Stacy is able to do that.”

On similarities between the two programs

“I stopped playing football in 2012 at Azusa Pacific. And in 2013 in January, I started coaching right away. Azusa Pacific, small school, people were like, ‘Oh, you were a graduate assistant.’ It’s not really a graduate assistant in Division II football. It’s like, can you survive long enough to stay in this profession? I was so blessed; Victor Santa Cruz was the head coach at that time. I was able to go to one of the AFCA conventions, listen to Coach [James] Franklin speak, and just blown away by him. He was a Division II football player. Seeing his journey, seeing the success that Coach Franklin has had everywhere he goes; he was just — obviously I did not know him, he did not know me. But just so much respect from afar and seeing the product that he’s continually put on the field in every spot he’s ever been. Obviously for the past decade at Penn State, the success they’ve had, he’s just been someone that I’ve admired from afar for a long time.”

Penn State head coach James Franklin

On keeping his team’s momentum

“First of all, Spencer [Danielson] has done a phenomenal job at Boise. I’ve been a fan of the university and the football program for a long time. Spencer has done a phenomenal job. I love to see schools and athletic directors and administrators promote from within when they have an opportunity, and you’ve done a phenomenal job at a special place. We were fortunate to get a home game. I think that played a factor. You guys were able to get a bye. I think those are the two things that everybody in college football was working for, either a bye in Week 1 or a home game. We were able to get a home game against a really good SMU opponent who we had a lot of respect for on film.

“First quarter, kind of worked through some things, but then were able to get it going. Our fans played a role in it as well. But our kids just played well. A lot of coaches, I think, across college football were talking about where we were in our season, a four-game season, and we didn’t really approach it that way. It’s really a one-game season. Sixty-five plays on offense, 65 plays on defense is about what we’ve been averaging; about 24 on special teams. We better approach each one of those reps like they’re gold. Our guys did a really good job of that and obviously played well. It’s not very often in a playoff game, you’re able to get your backups in the game in the fourth quarter, which for us and our quarterback situation was important. That was valuable as well. We’re just trying, as you mentioned, to keep that momentum going, which we’re going to need against a really good Boise football team.”

On the cost of a College Football Playoff team

“Great question (chuckles). I can’t really get into that, and it’s not that I wouldn’t want to. It’s just hard. The way this system is set up right now, there’s no real way to track that. The information that you see out there or if an athletic director or somebody is willing to report it, there’s no real way to track it. I think Boise’s situation is probably a little bit different, and I think you guys know our situation has been a little bit different in those areas. I can’t really speak on that. I’m not one of these guys that feel like you should have a strong opinion if you don’t have all of the information, or most of the information, and I don’t have enough true valuable, credible information to make that type of statement. I think there’s things that we see out there on social media. How credible that information is, I’m not sure. But I just spend a ton of time on our roster and our guys, and making sure they’re having a great experience. Give ourselves the best chance to go out and win as many games as possible. We’re working hard at it and trying to raise as much money as we possibly can to put our program and our university in the best position to be successful. I can’t really speak on anything more than that.”

On if he’s heard from Nick Saban after saying he should be the commissioner of college football

“I have not heard from Nick. They obviously did a game at our place this year and came to practice. We sat down in my office and had good conversations. Obviously I was in the SEC when he was in the SEC. I know Nick and have an amazing amount of respect for him. I actually think Chris Petersen would be another good candidate. Another guy that I thought of was Dave Clawson, a really smart guy that did a really good job everywhere he’s been. Won at a ton of different places. As you can imagine, it’s not like I’m spending a ton of time on this. I got asked the question and I just kind of answered. But I think Coach Petersen would be another really, really good example or person that could, I think, really represent college football as a whole, which is what I think we need.”

On young up-and-coming coaches having success

“First thing is, I probably don’t have a lot of years left, is what you’re saying. No, I think it’s good. To me, at the end of the day, whether it’s age or whether it’s experience or whether it’s diverse candidates, you just want people in the job that have earned it and that are qualified. And sometimes, I think, really good candidates have been overlooked because they’re young. Candidates have been overlooked for a ton of different reasons. I think sometimes we get into a tendency of reusing former head coaches that have done it before because it’s a safe hire and you’re not going to be ridiculed or criticized for going out and hiring a guy who’s been a head coach before at a couple of different places. When, maybe, you really feel like you got a great defensive coordinator on your staff that is prepared and ready for the opportunity. I think we all tend to do that sometimes. You try to make the safe hire, rather than the best hire.

“To me, I think it’s a positive. You see it in the NFL. You see it in college football. Obviously, guys like Spencer have earned this opportunity. Then once he was able to get his foot in the door and get in that seat, he’s run with it, which I think will create other opportunities for other guys, just like I’m trying to create opportunities for guys as well.”

On Jeanty and the Boise State offense

“The first thing that we all try to do as coaches is you’re trying to figure out who are the issues in the game, or what are the issues in the game? Then how can you limit their impacts. Obviously a running back like him, everybody all year long has gone into it with the same plan, and no one’s stopped him. But I think that’s where you’ve got to start. Whether you’re a defensive guy and you’re trying to make people one-dimensional, or you’re an offensive guy and you’re trying to make a team play in a style that they don’t want to play in, that’s what we all try to do. That’s kind of where it starts. But I think the running back position, just like the quarterback position, they get a ton of credit, and deservedly so. He’s earned that.

“But Ashton will tell you, just like every other running back, if you don’t have an offensive line in front of you, if you don’t have a great offensive coordinator that’s calling the plays and taking advantage of your skill-set, that he’s not nearly as successful as he is right now. Obviously, we’ve got a great example of that. I want to be careful of how I say this, because I don’t want to be disrespectful of anybody. But our guy, Saquon Barkley. He’s in a great situation with the Eagles, my hometown team, and is flourishing right now. Part of it is because he’s playing behind a great offensive line, and maybe the best offensive line coach in the history of the NFL, or at least part of that conversation, Coach Stout [Jeff Stoutland]. I think Ashton is a great example, and obviously he’s done it. I’ve talked all week long about the craziest stat I ever heard is 1,900 yards after contact. It’s impressive. But obviously, most importantly, they’re in this position because they’ve got a great team. Obviously he’s a focus point, but they’ve got a great team.”

On similarities between the two programs

“Obviously I’m just getting to know Spencer [Danielson], and what he’s done in a short period of time as a head coach has been really impressive. Really, kind of how you described it — took over a program at a challenging time. Both D-II guys. Now, I did go to East Stroudsburg, which is like the Harvard of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, which I take a lot of pride in. But I do think his point is a good one. When you’re a Division II coach and a Division II player, a lot of the things that maybe our team takes for granted, or the staff takes for granted, we don’t. When you’re a Division II guy, you kind of have to do it all. I think there’s a lot of value in that. There’s not 75 coaches; there’s eight. And you’re doing everything from lining the fields to coaching the guys. I remember I used to fill soda machines up on campus in the morning when I worked at Kutztown and the players made fun of me, kind of going to class, talking trash as they walked by.

“But I think humility is such an important part of our job in serving others, right? When you’ve been a Division II guy and kind of had to work your way up the ladder, I think you learn a ton from that. again, I think the humility is a huge aspect for all of us. But I’m looking forward to getting to know Spencer better. I’ve gotten to know him fairly well through guys on his staff that I have a ton of respect for. Then just watching him on film. I don’t care what people say; your team is a reflection of you. They do it with class. You listen to their players speak, you watch how they conduct themselves on tape, you look at how hard they play. I think it’s the best compliment you can get as a coach is that your players play hard and they do it the right way and they do it with class. And they represent not only him, but the university the right way and the community the right way. I think that’s more challenging than it’s ever been when these young people got people pulling at them from every direction. This is just really kind of the start of our relationship. We’ll have a heated, passionate, competitive game, but hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to visit more and get to know each other. I’m a big fan of Victor Santa Cruz as well. We stayed in touch over the years. He came and visited us as well at Penn State. But he works with good people and for good people, and I feel like I’ve done the same throughout my career.”