Boise State hoping to keep Bryan Harsin from Power 5 schools

Power 5 schools are sure to have interest in Bryan Harsin shortly, but Boise State is hoping to keep him around for a while longer.

As Boise State rose to prominence, Chris Petersen became a top candidate to jump to a Power 5 school. He finally did so after the 2013 season, taking the job at Washington with solid success there thus far. Bryan Harsin stepped in, and he has a 46-14 (4-2 this season) as Broncos’ head coach.

Harsin is under contract at Boise State through the 2022 season. That won’t stop bigger schools from wanting to hire him, but the buyout clause in his deal expired after last season. As could be expected, an effort is being made to change that.

According to B.J. Rains and John Wustrow of the Idaho Press-Tribune, Boise State athletic director Curtis Apsey confirmed the school is working on the details of a contract extension with Harsin.

"Bryan has done a heck of a job since he’s been here and I want to do what I can to show that I appreciate that effort and I want to do what we can to keep him at Boise State, “I think we’ve been going through this for the last 20 years because we’ve had great coaches here and Bryan is no exception. I’m hopeful we can get something done."

Boise State is banking on loyalty and comfort level keeping Harsin around. He got his start in coaching there as a grad assistant and worked as tight ends coach and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks under Dan Hawkins and Petersen. After two years at Texas (as co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach) and a one-year stint as head coach at Arkansas State (2013), Harsin came back to Boise to replace Petersen.

If a big school really wants Harsin, and he wants to leave for that greener pasture, a few more years on his contract and a related buyout won’t prevent it from happening. But Boise State is making an effort to make the move a little harder/more expensive for that potential new school, and that’s all they can do.