‘It’s the reality of where college football is;’ Boise State’s Spencer Danielson on transfer portal chaos

Like many programs across college football, Boise State has been hit hard by the transfer portal.

The Broncos have lost 18 scholarship players to the portal since capturing their second straight Mountain West Conference championship in December.

Starting wide receiver Prince Strachan jumped in the portal following Boise State’s College Football Playoff loss to Penn State while fellow starters Braxton Fely (defensive line), Andrew Simpson (linebacker) and James Ferguson-Reynolds (punter) entered the portal during spring practice.

Broncos head coach Spencer Danielson spoke about the team’s portal departures following last weekend’s spring game.

“It’s the reality of where college football is,” Danielson said. “I don’t look at the outcomes. An outcome is somebody leaving, an outcome is these other things. To me, it’s ‘Are we doing everything we can as a staff to build into and develop these young men?’ If we’re doing that … that doesn’t mean you’re going to keep everybody, but you’re going to keep the right ones.

“In this space, we’re going to double down on those things. Because I’ve talked to a lot of head coaches that are very frustrated about maybe the current landscape of college football. Frustrated about how their team is acting. And for me, I’m never going to let myself go there. I do truly feel God has called me here, and I’m going to continue to pour into these young men every single day. And the ones that want to be here and know that is going to change their life, they’re going to be here, and we’re going to coach them and develop them to be the best version of themself.”

The spring transfer portal window closes on Friday.

Here is a complete list of the Broncos’ 18 scholarship transfer portal losses:

Defensive lineman Demanuel Brown Jr. (New Mexico State)

Running back Kaden Dudley

Linebacker Udoka Ezeani (UTEP)

Defensive lineman Braxton Fely

Punter James Ferguson-Reynolds

Tight end Oliver Fisher (Idaho)

Wide receiver Jackson Grier (Appalachian State)

Edge rusher Nick Hawthorne (UMass)

Edge rusher Joseph Marsh

Wide receiver Zamondre Merriweather

Linebacker Wyatt Milkovic (Western Illinois)

Quarterback Malachi Nelson (UTEP)

Linebacker Andrew Simpson

Wide receiver Prince Strachan (USC)

Safety Gabe Tahir (Idaho State)

Cornerback Khai Taylor

Cornerback Dionte Thornton (Portland State)

Defensive lineman Tyler Wegis

Here are Boise State’s 12 transfer portal additions:

Kicker Colton Boomer (UCF)

Defensive back Demetrius Freeney (Arizona)

Defensive Derek Ganter Jr. (Eastern Washington)

Long snapper Hunter Higham (Hawaii)

Kicker Evan Kiely (Sacramento State)

Defensive lineman David Latu (BYU)

Defensive lineman Keanu Mailoto (Arizona)

Defensive back Jaden Mickey (Notre Dame)

Running back Malik Sherrod (Fresno State)

Offensive lineman Miles Walker (Ohio State)

Defensive lineman Dion Washington (Hawaii)

Edge rusher Malakai Williams (Idaho)

MORE BOISE STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS