Spencer Danielson
Spencer Danielson went 29–9 as a head coach, 2023–2026, at Boise State. Share
- Record
- 29–9 career
- Seasons
- 4
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Born
- Nov 11, 1988
- Best season
- 2024 12–2, No. 8
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Boise State interim, remainder of season | 3–1 | T–1st | LA Bowl L | ||
| 2024 | Boise State | 12–2 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl, CFP Quarterfinal L | 8 | |
| 2025 | Boise State | 9–5 | T–1st | LA Bowl L | ||
| 2026 | Boise State | 5–1 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 5 | 1–4 | 20% |
| Against top-10 teams | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 4 | 3–1 | 75% |
| Conference games | 19 | 17–2 | 89% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 8 | 6–2 | 75% |
| At home | 18 | 17–1 | 94% |
| On the road | 17 | 12–5 | 71% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 30 | 26–4 | 87% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
His own 38 games on file, 2023–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Odom 2023–2024 | 3–0 | UNLV | 3 |
Spencer Danielson’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| UNLVseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Utah Stateseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| Air Forceseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Nevadaseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Oregonseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| San José Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Azusa Pacific | Graduate assistant | |
| 2014–16 | Azusa Pacific | Linebackers coach | |
| 2017 | Boise State | Graduate assistant | |
| 2018 | Boise State | Defensive ends coach | |
| 2019–20 | Boise State | Co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| 2021–23 | Boise State | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| 2023–present | Boise State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Victor Santa CruzAzusa Pacific
- Bryan HarsinBoise State
- Andy AvalosBoise State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Demario WarrenSouthern Utah
- Lance AndersonUtah Tech
- Dirk KoetterBoise State, Arizona State, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Stacy CollinsSouth Dakota Mines
- Frank MaileUtah State
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Santa Cruz | Azusa Pacific | 2013–16 | 2013: graduate assistant; 2014–16: linebackers coach | |
| Bryan Harsin | Boise State | 2017–20 | 2017: graduate assistant; 2018: defensive ends coach; 2019–20: co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| Andy Avalos | Boise State | 2021–23 | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demario Warren | Boise State, 2023: cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator; 2024–25: cornerbacks coach | Southern Utah | |
| Lance Anderson | Boise State, 2023: senior analyst | Utah Tech | |
| Dirk Koetter | Boise State, 2024: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2025–26: senior analyst | Boise State, Arizona State, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| Stacy Collins | Boise State, 2024–26: assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and linebackers coach | South Dakota Mines | |
| Frank Maile | Boise State, 2025–26: assistant defensive line | Utah State |
Other assistants under him (9)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bush Hamdan | Boise State, 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Erik Chinander | Boise State, 2023: assistant head coach, defensive run game coordinator and defensive line coach; 2024–26: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| Kane Ioane | Boise State, 2023: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Matt Miller | Boise State, 2023–24: wide receivers coach; 2025: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Nate Potter | Boise State, 2023: tight ends coach and running game coordinator; 2024: co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2025–26: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Steve Cooper | Boise State, 2024: assistant to offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and offensive assistant | |
| Tyler Stockton | Boise State, 2024–25: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Zak Hill | Boise State, 2025–26: quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator | |
| Terrence Brown | Boise State, 2026: co-defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Danielson’s teams went for it on 31% of fourth downs and on 56% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 46% of plays and took 27.3 seconds a play, 2024–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 14 g | 22 of 88 25% | 43% | 45% | 26.8 | +0.21 | |
| 2025 14 g | 36 of 108 33% | 65% | 49% | 26.5 | +0.05 | |
| 2026 6 g | 14 of 40 35% | 65% | 41% | 30.3 | +0.19 | |
| All 34 g | 72 of 236 31% | 56% | 46% | 27.3 | +0.14 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.