This isn’t the smartest way to maintain a relationship with Bush Hamdan, a man of relationships, but let’s be honest.
Dude’s been to more places than Santa Claus. They’ve probably crossed paths, swapped stories, reminisced over common bonds and relationships.
Boise State’s new offensive coordinator, the man in charge of turning quarterback Taylen Green into a Mountain West championship machine and NFL prospect, has been everywhere and knows everyone.
Break out pencil and paper and draw the lines of his life resume: Born in Kuwait, found himself in San Diego, and played high school sports in the Washington D.C. area. From there he played quarterback at Boise State (2004-08), followed by coaching stops at Colorado, Maryland, Sacramento State, Florida, Arkansas State, Davidson, Washington (NCAA), Atlanta (NFL), back to Washington, Missouri and this past week back to Boise State to replace Dirk Koetter.
Hamdan is 36 — already with salt and pepper hair and a long list of familiar quarterbacks and coaches who have touched his life: Dan Hawkins, Chris Petersen, Jared Zabransky, Taylor Tharp, Bryan Harsin, Kellen Moore, Eric Kiesau, Ralph Friedgen, James Franklin, Andy Avalos, Dan Quinn, Will Muschamp, Eli Drinkwitz, Matt Ryan, Steve Sarkisian, Jake Browning, to name a few.
“It’s been a long journey, a lot of moves in a short amount of time,” he told the Boise media this past week.
And now Hamdan, his wife, and two kids with a third on the way, have turned an alma mater into a home — an inspiring holiday gift to Avalos’ offense and a nervous fanbase fretting over the loss of the popular and now retired Koetter.
I’ve known Hamdan for nearly 20 years, mostly as a QB on the bench behind Zabransky, Tharp and Moore. He played in 20 career games and attempted 36 passes and was more known for having an older QB-playing brother who dabbled in the NFL.
Hamdan was OK at QB at BSU, but he masterfully played the sponge in a superera of football success. Petersen as a coach and boss is the most influential force behind Hamdan’s personal development and professional career.
Hamdan has a reputation for always being respectful, courteous and beyond pleasant. Behind the scenes, he’s known for pulling off small, random acts of kindness. He took a $150,000 paycut to leave Missouri for Boise State. He’s one of those guys — charm you with a smile, raise a beautiful family, walk grandma across the street, murder-face you on a football field.
I saw Hamdan at his media session Wednesday, the first time we’ve talked in a few years, and we hugged. Hey, it happens, even though it’s not supposed to in this sometimes stuffy profession. It’s happened with a coach probably three or four times in 30+ years and it happened with Hamdan because people are drawn to him, and vice versa. There’s a grounded professional charm about the guy.
Plus he had killer shoes — luxury loafers, brown, modern and classy with no visible socks on a cold, winter day.
Hamdan is also smart enough to know that I’ll be critical when he eventually screws up. I did just compare the grown man to Santa Claus. We’re already off to a rough start.
Hamdan, who still calls it Bronco Stadium, candidly admits that he took this job because of Green, the shiniest of all toys in the Boise State athletic department. If all works out, Hamdan will make $825,000 over the next two seasons and will send Green into the NFL to make millions more.
“You don’t necessarily take the job unless there’s a guy in place like that. That’s just me being as candid as I can. … The things you dream about from quarterbacks, he has,’’ Hamdan said.
He said with Green, “there can be so much creativity with this offense.’’ He wants rhythm with the 2023 offense, wants to dictate his own tempo, and throws out words like “attack’’ and “explosive.’’
“I love what’s already there with this offense. We’ll add a couple of tweaks to take it to the next level,’’ Hamdan said.
On several occasions Wednesday, Hamdan made a point to say he and Avalos are “aligned.’’ They were on the same Boise State team in 2004 (Avalos a senior LB star, Hamdan a true freshman QB), and worked together on the same Sacramento State staff in 2011. Today, early in this growing relationship, they appear to be on the same page, which wasn’t always the case with the offensive coordinator when the 2022 season started.
Hamdan, ultimately, believes that football comes down to relationships. He’ll be fantastic at that — and he’ll develop Green, a redshirt sophomore next season, and make the Broncos’ offense creative and compelling for at least the next season or two.
That, ultimately, will lead to a beautiful relationship with fans decked out in blue and orange.
I can’t speak for Hamdan’s relationship with the jolly, old fat man decked out in red.
Happy holidays, everybody!
Mike Prater is the Idaho Press sports columnist who co-hosts Idaho Sports Talk (KTIK 95.3 FM on Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m.) and the Boise State post-game show (KBOI 670 AM). He is on Twitter @MikeFPrater and can be reached at mikefprater@gmail.com