Boise Officials in Bozeman to Talk With Choate

The Boise State Broncos appear to be getting closer to deciding on who their new head coach will be. Montana State head coach Jeff Choate has been rumored to be one of the leading candidates for the job, and 406mtsports.com is reporting that Boise State officials were in Bozeman Thursday to talk with Choate.

According to 406mtsports.com, Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey and other Mustang staff, including senior associate athletic director Bob Carney were spotted at the Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport. The article stated that they met with Choate, but it wasn't clear if the meeting was at the airport.

Around 1 p.m., they reportedly were off to Eugene, Oregon, where the other leading candidate, Andy Avalos, is a defensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks.

News broke on Christmas Eve about Boise State being interested in Choate after losing their head coach, Bryan Harsin, to Auburn earlier that week.

Former Bronco quarterback and current Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore appeared to be at the top of Boise State's list. Many insiders had Moore headed back to Boise when on January 2, he signed a new three-year deal to remain with the Cowboys.

That left both Choate and Avalos still in the hunt.

Coach led the Bobcats to the FCS Semifinals in 2019, where they lost to the eventual FCS Champion North Dakota State, and he's never lost to cross-state rival Montana having beaten them in all four games that he's been the head coach of the Bobcats.

Montana State is scheduled to open up the 2021 Spring Football Season (moved after the fall schedule was canceled because of COVID-19) on February 27. Whether Coach will be the Bobcat's coach for that game remains to be seen.