Boise State must improve tackling before 2026 college football season

It was a mixed bag for Boise State football during the 2025 season.

On the positive side, the Broncos captured a third straight Mountain West title and reached the nine-win mark for the third time in four seasons.

Boise State dropped five games along the way en route to a 9-5 overall record, including a blowout 38-10 loss to Washington in the LA Bowl.

With the winter transfer portal window set to open on Jan. 2, Boise State Broncos on SI is taking a look at where Boise State stands on offense, defense and special teams heading into the offseason.

We kicked off the three-part series with the Boise State offense and will now take a look at the defense.

Defense

Boise State’s defense performed at a relatively high level during the 2025 season, ranking No. 38 nationally in total defense as of Saturday.

The Broncos were particularly strong in the secondary with the country’s No. 15 overall passing defense at 175.6 yards allowed per game.

The defensive backs room will look quite a bit different in 2026 as starting cornerbacks A’Marion McCoy and Jeremiah Earby and safety Zion Washington are out of eligibility. Fellow safety Ty Benefield could be off to the NFL, leaving the Broncos with one returning starter in the secondary: senior-to-be Jaden Mickey.

Linebacker Marco Notarainni will be moving on to the NFL, but the Broncos are set to return starter Boen Phelps and key backup Jake Ripp.

The defensive front should remain strong with edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan, a senior-to-be, leading the way. Defensive end Max Stege is also a key returning starter up front as the team looks to replace defensive tackle Braxton Fely.

Head coach Spencer Danielson said the Broncos must be a better tackling team in 2026.

“First and foremost, we’re going to continue to research tackling and figure out are we over-teaching it, are we over-repping it?,” Danielson said. “We’re going to get with some NFL guys and (see) how they teach it in this landscape where you can’t tackle bodies to the ground all the time. We have to find a way to improve that part of it.”

Danielson also said that Boise State must do a better job of creating takeaways.

In their five losses, the Broncos lost the turnover battle 15-1.

“Takeaways improved this year, but why did we not create takeaways in our losses?,” Danielson said. “Why are they not coming in some of those games? We’ve got to figure out why.”