Boise State Coach Takes Bold Stance on Freshmen Seeking NIL Money

Bush Hamdan picked a good time to get out of Boise. The Broncos’ new head coach has a bold strategy for how his program will deploy its NIL dollars this fall. Bold is probably not the right word.

Spencer Danielson was the defensive coordinator when Boise State kicked off its 2023 campaign. Head coach Andy Avalos was fired ten games into the season and Danielson received the interim tag. With Hamdan guiding the offense, Boise State won its final four games, culminating in a Mountain West title.

The interim tag was removed from Danielson this offseason and there are plenty of reasons to believe Boise State will succeed in year one of his tenure. The Broncos are returning a ton of starters and will be a popular pick to repeat. There have been no red flags, until yesterday.

No NIL Money for Freshmen?

Danielson was making the rounds with members of the media and speaking engagements with fans. The head coach said that freshmen will not be receiving NIL money. If they want it, they have to earn it.

“If you’re looking for the easy way and you’re looking for a handout, don’t come to Boise State,” he said.

Later in the day, he slightly walked back those comments on a local radio show.

“When we recruit freshmen, no NIL or collective (money) is promised to anybody. Now, any athlete can go out and get NIL opportunities in the community where they’re from or here at Boise State. That is up to them. That’s between them and what they want to do,” said Danielson.

“But for us, when we recruit young men, it is not about, if you come here, this is what we’re going to be able to do for you. This is how we’re going to develop you. We’re a developmental program. What I was talking about earlier today, all of the freshmen that come in here are not promised anything. They’re promised a chance to compete.”

That is much more palatable than a headline that says, “Boise State head coach bans freshmen from making NIL money.”

Boise State is a G5 program. They probably aren’t in the market for spending crazy dollar amounts to recruit at the high school level. Nevertheless, Danielson went a little over the top initially, causing some blowback on the day after Brian Kelly took a similar stance on paying players. Like it or not, NIL is here and it’s playing a big role in roster-building until the NCAA begins revenue sharing with players.