Presented by ZAMZOWS.
This Day In Sports…January 15, 2016, 10 years ago yesterday:
(NOTE: I delayed this item from Thursday due to the Chris Petersen HOF announcement.)
The coaching odyssey that started at Highland High in Pocatello and wound through Boise State ends on top in Tampa Bay, as Dirk Koetter is introduced as the new head coach of the Buccaneers. The one-time Idaho State quarterback was promoted from his offensive coordinator’s post. Koetter was the Broncos’ head coach from 1998-2000, going 26-10 and kick-starting the program’s ascension into elite status in college football in the new century before leaving for Arizona State. He was the first native Idahoan to become an NFL head coach.
After his six years at ASU ended in 2006, Koetter embarked on his NFL journey, and his first stop was as offensive coordinator for Jacksonville. He had a lot of success with the Jaguars, as his offense rolled up the third-most rushing yards in the NFL over his five years there. Koetter then moved on to Atlanta, and the Falcons made the NFC Championship Game in his first season. Tampa Bay brought him aboard as O-coordinator in 2015, and he got the job as head coach a year later after Lovie Smith was fired.
The Buccaneers hired Koetter in part to keep anyone else from getting him—and in the hope that he could continue to develop quarterback Jameis Winston. In Koetter’s first season, it worked. Tampa Bay just missed the playoffs at 9-7, posting its first winning season in six years, and things seemed to be on the upswing. But a pair of 5-11 seasons followed. Koetter would be fired after three seasons at the helm with a record of 19-29.
Koetter was quickly scooped up by Atlanta, returning as the Falcons offensive coordinator. He announced his retirement from coaching at the end of the 2020 season and settled back in Boise. With his son Davis having transferred to Boise State from Portland State in 2022, Koetter agreed to become an offensive analyst for the team. And four games into that season he stepped up as the Broncos’ interim offensive coordinator when O.C. Tim Plough was fired following a 27-10 loss at UTEP. The Broncos recovered from their slow start and advanced to the Mountain West championship game.
In 2024, after new O-coordinator Bush Hamdan had left for Kentucky, coach Spencer Danielson convinced Koetter to make one final go-round as coordinator in 2024. It was hard to say no with Ashton Jeanty returning at running back, and the Broncos offense rolled on the way to a 12-2 season. Koetter declared himself definitively, unequivocally retired following Boise State’s CFP appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
