Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson on pursuing former NFL players: ‘That’s not our model’

‘We’re going to put culture over everything,’ Danielson said

Washington head coach Jedd Fisch and Boise State's Spencer Danielson shake hands after the LA Bowl. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Pac-12 is one of three FBS conferences that hasn’t banned former professional football players from returning to college for the 2026 season. 

Despite the SEC’s ban, LSU is working in the courtroom to get eligibility for former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright. On3’s Pete Nakos reported on Wednesday that several additional SEC programs are exploring the possibility of adding former NFL players and class of 2022 high school graduates to their rosters for the upcoming season.

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said the Broncos will not be pursuing any former NFLers in 2026 and beyond. 

“My opinion—and I know me and (athletic director Jeramiah Dickey) are aligned in this—if guys have, at the end of their senior year, went to the NFL camps or NBA and they didn’t make it, I don’t see those guys coming back to college. That’s not our model,” Danielson said during Monday’s press conference. 

“Especially for us with our team, this is our team. We put a premium on pouring into this group. We’re not going to go look for guys that didn’t make the NFL to come back here. We’re going to put culture over everything.”

Last month, the Broncos explored the possibility of adding former defensive standouts Braxton Fely and Jeremiah Earby following a preliminary injunction granting a fifth year of eligibility to any class of 2022 high school graduates. That ruling is in limbo entering Week 1 of the 2026 college football season. 

Earby and Fely never returned to the Broncos and remain unsigned in the NFL. 

Danielson believes athletes should move on to something else after spending four or five years in college. 

“I got into coaching to have an impact on young men,” Danielson said. “I know I’m a product of having coaches take time with me when I was 18 to 22 doing stupid stuff that helped me find Jesus, helped me do a good job dating my now-wife. There’s a lot of things where that’s who I am (because of coaching). 

“I also know it’s about a season of your life. And I’m a firm believer when this college season of your life is done, it’s time to move on. If that’s to the NFL, great. If it’s not, you’re going to be a professional in something else, and that’s OK. It’s a hard transition because these young men have played football their whole life. I just think you have to draw the line in the sand.”