Latest / Scouting the League / The Truth in Love - The Boise State Way - with GM Brandon Jones
Transcript
- Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: The images of Jared Zebranski and Ian Johnson teaming up for the iconic 2007 Fiesta Bowl Statue of Liberty Play is still burned in my memory. A massive upset of Oklahoma put the Boise State Broncos prominently on the national stage. And no matter my personal feelings on the Smurf Turf, the Broncos have remained one of the premier group of five programs in college football. So, how have they done it? Today, my partner and co-host Neil Stratton sits down. with GM Brandon Jones of Boise State Football to talk just that from the faith that guides him and the principles of the program to how Boise has become among the best visits for NFL Scouts. You will not want to miss this one, so stick around. We will jump in shortly. First make sure you head over, like, subscribe, share this podcast wherever you are listening and watching, whether it's on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or that video portion over on YouTube, hit those buttons. That really helps us out. Comment, let us know what you want to hear about in the future. Head over and give me a follow at right step ADV is where you can find me. Roderick David, my website, rsafootball.com. The spot that is keeping me busy this time of year is right stepscouting.com. Quick video on all that right step scouting is here. Yes, rightstepscouting.com has been keeping me busy. I love doing the reports. I love helping agents, college programs help navigate what that evaluation process is. So go get your evaluations done today. If you're a scout or an aspiring scout, make sure you go check out thescoutingcommunity.com for resources, information that we have to help you out and help the scouting landscape out. Make sure you check out the best insoles on the marker market over at blue maca.com. Use code scouting20. while you were there to let them know we sent you and get a little discount on that order. Neil Stratton leads the conversation today. He is at Inside the League on Twitter. InsideThe League.com is his website. Make sure you check out his blog, succeed in football.com as well. Brandon Jones, not afraid to drop his contact today. He is at coach underscore B underscore Jones underscore on Twitter. He has said he's most active there. Also check the show notes for his email as well. So with that, let me kick it over to Neil. speaker-1: I met Brandon Jones in 2024 when Boise State was voted by NFL Scouts, is having the most improved scouting visit, and he has been nothing but impressive to me in the years since. Today we welcome the GM of the number twenty-five ranked Broncos. Brandon, thanks for joining me and come and come to the podcast, buddy. speaker-0: Neil, appreciate you having me, man. Thanks for everything. meeting you back in twenty four has been awesome and everything has been up and up since. And I I appreciate you for that and your transparency and it just helped me grow in this profession. speaker-1: I got you, brother. All right. So Brandon, everyone has a unique origin story. There are a lot of people that are trying to work in football right now. We like to ha let people tell their own story that way and just give them a little bit of idea on how everyone gets to this game in a different way. Tell us how you got to where you are today. speaker-0: it first started, playing ball. That's what it was. I played my undergrad. I was at Ohio University at the time. Chad Brinker, he was with he's he was with the Packers and was most recently with the Titans. He was an OU alum as well. And so when he would come back, we would always connect. We connected through FCA, we connected through athletes in action. And Jason Grooms was our director of football ops at the time, like handling all of that. Grooms was one of those guys and still pivotal in this point for me in my career of always connecting me with guys who he sees me being able to model after or just stay in touch with as we continue to grow. And that's what I did with Chad. And so I did not know or didn't think that personnel would even be in my my, my cards just because of playing and coaching. my dad was a coach, my mom was a teacher. So by trade, coaching just became second second hand to me. But I had an opportunity to talk with Chad af afterwards, and this was in 18. So we're just talking with him and he asked me, he was like, Have you ever done personnel? I said, No, sir, I have not. And he was like, Well, would you be interested in it? and at that point, like I was a little hesitant because I'm I'm coaching high school ball in Georgia, like we were a successful program. I'm training quarterbacks, I was successful at that. But I'm like, that's high school and college, like that's not the NFL, that's not the shield. But I think, people will invest in you in as much as you're willing to invest in yourself. And at that point I learned that everything that I needed was there, the resources was there. If I was willing to open myself and be honest and and stay curious about learning and growing, then I could take it as far as I wanna go. So I had that opportunity, was blessed with that opportunity to join the Packers there and in an internship role in personnel. And it was It was amazing. At the time, I still had my foot on the coaching side. And so Derek Mason was still at Vandy. And he called me and asked, he was like, Hey, I know you were doing the personnel side. do you still have an itch to coach? And I did. And so I came back to join Vandy in nineteen in a offensive QC role. and then our staff turned over there, and so when Clark's staff came in, It was he had his coaching staff side set and looking at the skill set, he was like, I know you did personnel. I'm looking to build it out from an NFL perspective here. Is that something you would look to pivot back to if you were looking to stay in the building? and and that was. So I think that everything, everything that I've gone through has created value points. And just having that opportunity and that introduction in Green Bay like opened my eyes to so much. And yes, it was hard because in Green Bay they do it a certain way. You walk into the facility and you look to the left and you see the Lombardi trophy sitting right there. it's it is what it is. And you know, hats off to that organization gave me, you know, the foundation of of what I do right now, in all honesty. learned it through them, learned it from And a lot of that what we implement right now is based off of them. So grateful for everybody that has a hand in in this. And I don't stand alone as I have great mentors in this. that have been NFL GMs and been NFL execs like who's just helped me to navigate the space and what curveball to it to anticipate and what corners to look around. So I've been truly blessed to be here. And the position I'm in, I'm trying to be that blessing to somebody. And that's the reason why coming on this and talking with you it has has been, I think it's just paying it forward for me. speaker-1: Now now Brandon, how did you get from Nashville to the northeast? Or I'm sorry, to the northwest? speaker-0: Yes. So when I was in Nashville, the chief of staff that was at Bandy working under Derek Mason, we worked together there. and then Charlotte Siegel, she came out to Boise a year before I got here. So I was still at Bandy. And she was talking to me about when, you know, Coach D, they named him head coach. He was like, Hey, he's looking to reorg some things and restructure some things. He's talking personnel. I think that's a conversation you all need to have. I don't know where it'll go. And so she made that that initial connection there. and then you know, talking with Coach D, meeting with him, great guy, great man, values, morals, moral compass, all of those things. it just felt like the right opportunity, not only from a professional standpoint, but from a passionslash life and growth and purpose. It all aligned and I just had to go as lead and I'm I'm grateful to be here and and building into something and be a part of something as special as what they've done here at Boise. speaker-1: No, probably a natural flow from that, but you are a young man with a wife and two young kids. Yes, sir. You have a very rigorous job that requires a lot of attention. How do you maintain balance? How do you rem you know, how do you again cultivate the relationship with your wife, which is your number one relationship, but also your kids? It can't be easy. How do you do that? speaker-0: for one, understanding there will never be a perfect balance. It will never be a 50-50. there are sliders though. Like so we're instead of working for that perfect 50-50 balance, you're always you're you're trying to stay in rhythm. Some days it might be 20%, some days it might be 80, right? And whatever that is, we're trying to equal the 100% as a whole, right? Now, the way I've done it is if I'm 20% today, right? I need to be a hundred percent. Of that 20%. I can't be 60% of that 20% because then I'm cheating my family. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: Right. Then that's where the disconnect and that's where the slow fade and the drift comes. Right. So again, whatever percentage that I can be there, absolutely, let's be 100% there. example there, one of my mentors always say, Brandon, whatever you can do to involve your family, do it. He said, Whether that's a road trip, you may have to go and you may have to recruit. How can you say, hey? And so this year I had that opportunity to look at it. Jackson was like, Dad, I want to go to, I want to go to Odson Stadium. I want to go to Oregon. So I'm looking at it and then, you know, looking at planes and everything else as far as do we have room and so on and so forth. And then so when we didn't have room on the plane, I was like, man, I'm gonna disappoint him because I tell him he can't go. And then in my head, I'm like, wait a minute. I can drive, we can make a road trip, we can, you know. So I'm starting to put it all together. And that was one of the funnest trips. The result of the game wasn't fun. Right. the trip up and trip back, having the family in the car. It was a longer drive back. The team got back before I did, but like that was a moment that they were able to experience. We were able to create while I'm still going about my business. Right. keeping the main thing the main thing. I think we're in this profession to provide for our families. And however we can provide that comfort for them, that's what we're gonna do. whether that is bringing them along for a game, might even just be as simple as sideline access. It might even be as simple as a pair of gloves or standing at the edge when the players are coming around giving fives. Always being alert how you can fold them into your daily processes because you can give yourself to an organization, but you got to be able to give yourself to family first. keeping your priorities in order. That's key. Again, be as present as you can and for me, just that simple reminder of look, if I'm 20% today, I got to be a hundred percent of that 20%. speaker-1: I remember when Mike Singletary got admitted elect to the hall, his wife presented him and I remember one of the things she said was when Mike was home, I had his full attention. And I think all of us in the game that are passionate about the business and about everything associated with it, it's easy to drift even when you're home, you know? And I think that's really good advice and something that I've I try to stay cognizant of as well, but I certainly fall short of the mark sometimes. Now, Coach D has made his faith a central part of who he is, and he's never been sh shy about sharing that. Does he does it lend itself a little bit better, maybe, to having that family life, given that's kind of his foundation? speaker-0: it does because it's checks and balances. when we talk, we always talk about how we lead, right? We lead with integrity of the heart and skillfulness of the hands, right? So as long as we keep our moral compass and as long as we continue to like purify the the heart and mind as we're making these decisions, we can go home and be fully present because that's not on our conscience. I didn't say that you're going home and you're not thinking about work. that's gonna happen, right? However, when you operate from a moral compass of, hey, I'm it wasn't the conversation they wanted to hear. It was the conversation, it was the truth spoken in love. So they know exactly where we stand. So we can put that conversation to bed and I can go home and be with my family and we'll pick it back up tomorrow if need be. So it's always about operating from a position of power, right? And that position of power is really just truth and clarity. Talking to guys in confidence, again, speaking truth into their lives and helping them to continue to grow. same thing with us in the building. Hey guys, you need to come in and do your job. Yes, we're gonna grind when we're in. However, I don't want you to be the best coach and then you be a terrible father or you be a terrible husband. Like that, that does me no good. It does you no good because you're not your best self. So it's always that balance and always those constant reminders, even on the Thursday. Hey, y'all get out of the building. Do what you need to do and go. don't be a desk weight. Don't hold down the fort just to be holding down the fort. No, go home, spend time with your families, refresh. That's what we call it. Go and refresh. So when you come back in, you can pour into that's that's why the connectivity of the players is so important to us because we go home and we refresh and we get that plug into our families. And we then we come in and we can plug into our players because again, we're not sliding the family. I can't pour more into my player than I pour into my son. The time differences or the time. that I have to a lot in a day may be different. But again, when I'm there, I gotta be a hundred percent there. I just do. speaker-1: Now me, you've got roots in the southeast. Unlike me, I'd never have had to go to Boise, Idaho. What was it like making that transition that is about as different as you can imag as I can imagine to to be than from being in Georgia? speaker-0: Yeah, it was different. I can say for me, the hardest part was really being away from the family while they finished school. I got here in late February, beginning to March. They had to finish school all the way through June slash July, get the house packed up, sold and all that. So we had that stint of time when I don't have my tribe with me. And I know I'm out here to work and you know, yes, I got time to be in the office, but that was the most difficult piece for me. it wasn't so much the decision because the decision was I just followed. That's all I did. I didn't necessarily lead it. I just followed, right? and therefore I I had to trust in my faith and in my belief that if I'm being led, then the provision will be there. And I in all honesty, I didn't I didn't fully understand it. And some things I'm st I'm still not fully understanding. However, I do know that I'm in the right place at the right time. for certain purposes like as as we talked earlier, instances yesterday. that's the reason I'm here. Right. so again, it's it's more purpose driven than anything. And the wins and losses will come, right? however, when we're building champions on and off the field, pouring into guys, they're better people than they are ball players. And we got some really good ball players. Like that's the that's full circle. It becomes ministry at that point. and it's not coaching or it's not GMing. No, it's it's ministry. It's a position that that has ministry and I want to leave it better than I found it. And I want to pour and invest into people I don't think is time spent. I think it's time invested. And so I just want to be a good steward over those things that I'm given, relationships and touch points and everything else. And really want to hear a job well done. That's it. speaker-1: Amen on that. Okay, let's dig a little bit more into your trip to where you are now. you you mentioned the fact that you played at Ohio and also co well, we're part of the administration at Vandy. That's two now, along with the coach you're working with right now, who's really developing a name in his own right, Coach Solich, who was at Ohio when you were there, Coach Lee, who was at Vandy, two two more very respected names. What did you take from working with them? And and more and even more so, how do they differ and how are they alike? they had to they had to have poured a lot into who you are right now. speaker-0: Yeah. I learned so much from from them all. I think the first thing that I respect most about Coach Solich, I was a part of his first signing class when he got to Ohio University. his reputation that he carried and still carries at Nebraska is one of the toughest college football players and coaches who have ever graced the field of college football. That's just his demeanor. You knew that when you were playing a Frank Solish team, they were gonna be tough. They play with a mentality. They play with a demeanor. he coached with an edge. He demanded a lot. He coached you hard, but he loved you harder. Like he held you to that expectation. Right. They weren't unrealistic expectations, but you step outside of that line and you felt, hey, look, that's we don't do that. Right. And so for me with Coach Solish, I think the thing that I took from him most was his grit and his toughness. Right. You look at him and you're like, there's no way that this man can get young men to run through a brick wall for him, but he could connect with all walks of life and players and sizes and positions and colors. It for me, like that's the reason I I got into coaching. Cause he asked me, like going into my senior year, hey, do you want to coach? And he introduced me to the AFCA. And I went down, my first convention was down in Orlando. that year after I graduated. And I was able to connect with James Franklin at that convention as well. So like if it were not for Coach Solich, I don't feel that I would be right here. Because for one, he took a chance on me in high school with his first class. Right. He poured into me. I had ups and downs throughout college as far as playing and being injured. He poured into me and made me grow as a young man. And then my senior year I'm I'm voted team captain. Not because of what I did on the field per se from productivity, but because the character and how he challenged me to make myself valuable to an organization somehow, somehow. so that's what I took from Coach Solage and so grateful to have that opportunity with him. and with Coach Lee, what I took from him is he is so cerebral, right? Coach Solage was an offensive-minded guy. Coach Lee by trade, defensive-minded guy. Nothing gets by him. He may not call it out on the on, initially, but he observes everything, sees everything. I one thing that does stick with me, he talked about, he made a a a comment about a departure is not an indictment, but an opportunity to strengthen, right? And so when you think about the landscape of college football, a lot of guys come and go, right? Or even transfer portal coaches and staff and everything else. If you continue to look at it like an indictment that I'm doing something wrong, you'll forever be trying to hang on to everybody around you and you're not moving forward. And so what I took from him is the fact that he had a vision, he can cast the vision, he can make it plain, he can double down on it, and he's consistent with every single day speaking to that vision until it comes to pass. Right. I think that's a skill for one that takes a confidence. Because everybody's not going to believe in your vision, but you got to have a conviction about yes, this is what, this is what I know can be done here. And so the success that you see there is not surprising to me. Only thing it takes is time, right? And that's exactly what he's done. So those guys have been pivotal for me looking at okay, how do I want to build a program? What do I want the build the program to look like? But how do I get it there? And so by taking Coach Solis' approach and then seeing how Coach Lee did it there at Bandy. And then taking all of those things again, that that stuck with me and it resonated with me because at the time I'm like, okay, is he talking about me? Like from however you step outside of that. And that's again, we talked about speaking the truth in love. That's truth. Simple as that. A departure is not an indictment, but an opportunity to strengthen, whether that's strengthening your staff with a replacement, whether that's strengthening your processes of double down and on it, understanding why did they leave. Why didn't we keep that talent in the door? Why didn't we develop that talent here and it went there and developed? It's an opportunity to strengthen at every turn. So if you continue to look at it like an indictment, you'll stay, you'll stay the victim and it'll be a woe is me mentality for the rest of every time you, every time somebody decides to say, hey, I want to go do this. Right. Instead, you know, you bless them out the door. Hey, listen, however I can help, let me know. And you know that that's an opportunity to look at your process and say, okay, what can we do to be better? speaker-1: Mm-hmm. Amen. Okay. All right. Can't let you get by here without talking about your two years in Green Bay. I I think of Green Bay as the cradle of scouting. I mean, you just look at the the people who have come out of that program, who've gone on to become GMs, who've gone on to become highly respected scouts and directors and everything else. How did those two seasons impact you? What did you learn most there? And Was it intimidating going there? I've heard about the process for going in and just getting the job. it can be it sounds like it'd be quite an experience. Ca what can you tell us about those two years there with the Packers? speaker-0: Yeah. for I think it's it's a top notch organization. That's the first thing. the ability to train both on the pro side and the scouting and and the college side was was instrumental, right? Because you see how it works on both sides. And then also just the mentorship and the fellowship that they create. Like even when they come in the building right today, like we still laugh and talk about things that happen in in camp in 19, right? And and and so It's the organization piece of it. I was blessed to have an opportunity to sit there and have a conversation and plug in a charger underneath the desk of Ted Thompson, right? and looking back on it, like you're in the presence of greatness. And so it's like, man, that's what it looks like. And again, like I said, you walk in the facility and the first thing you see is the three Lombardi trophies to the That's the expectation. everybody, that's the end goal for every single NFL team at the end of the year. And it's just so rich in tradition. however, there is a consistency of how they want it done. Right. And so, yes, it's difficult. It's hard. The writing styles, the verbiage, and all of those things were difficult because I had no background in personnel. So I'm learning it. I would get some papers back and they were bleeding and read and everything else. However, what I did learn was I could always walk in John Eric's office, we call him JE, and he would sit down and talk every report with me. I remember report specifically, we were talking about I believe it was Bryce Love, I want to say. We were talking about his, I wrote him up. He was like, Do you think he has value or not? Because he's a kit returner, he does these things, and he started running it down to me, just giving me that different perspective. So now when we have scout school here. I always encourage our group, hey, look, I want designated disagreeers. I want somebody to jump off in this room and say, hey, look, Jones, I know you're thinking about taking this kid, but I don't think he's good enough. And this is why he's not good enough. I'm perfectly fine with that because we need everybody's perspective in this room. We need all eyes and antennas up and alert because it's not about being right, but it's about getting it right. I may feel that I'm right on this, but hey, look, yeah, I think I might have pressed it because I started feeling the angst of having to fill that position. And now that conversation leads to getting it right. And then it makes me pull back and say, okay, well, why don't you like him? And then when you can go to it directly, well, look, his sixth game, he played this opponent, seventh game, that opponent, eighth game, that opponent. Those are the best three games of opponents that he's played against. And he didn't do anything. He was negated. So again, one thing that that Green Bay taught me was to be a thorough evaluator. That's the first thing. Don't write what you don't see. That's the second thing. And be concise with your reports. I don't want a thesis. we'll get to a full report, but give me what he is and what will he be for Green Bait in this moment? What is he? How does he insert on our roster right now? What will he be for us? So it challenged me to I like to write. My mom was a teacher. So I would pin a lot of things and write stories and journal and all of that. It made my writing style be condensed, precise. Let me see paint the picture of the player for me and put a bumper sticker on him. Tell me what he is for us. So it challenged me in that way. And I'm grateful for it. it was hard. I remember calling my dad at home, like that. I oof this is, hey man, this is hard, man. And and one thing he told me, we always hang on. He says, Tough times don't last, but tough people do. That's right. And so for me, I'm like, okay, all right, I'm up here in Green Bay at the time Jackson was three months old. And it's like, what am I doing? Right. And but again, the family environment there in Green Bay, Goody was was the GM there. Ted was cultivating him into that GM role. He had always been the GM there. But Ted was still there helping and assisting. And that's the biggest thing I took from Green Bay was the family/slash environment that they created there. a lot of guys are not leaving that organization. They're just not. As they do leave that organization, they're going to take level up type jobs. Not a lot of lateral movement there in Green Bay, just because and that shows. the consistency of an organization, how they build, develop, pour into, again, it's it's I don't think I could have been in any better spot. I haven't experienced anything else, but if I'm sitting there looking at it now from my scope, that's one of the best positions I could have been in. speaker-1: Having that courage to stand behind what you say and accept it when you're told you're wrong is one of the most valuable skills for a scout. I think. How long did it take you to have the courage of your convictions and be in the willingness to say, okay, maybe I am wrong about that? Because I mean, to me, that's probably the hardest part of being a scout. speaker-0: Yeah. I think for me in all honesty, it took me about a year, right? Because you're still learning all of the traits and characteristics and specifics and you're trying to build your Rolodex out, but you hadn't seen enough players. And so like over that year, as you start building that Rolodex and you're reading reports and you're seeing like you're starting to see players better and better, I think the conviction grows more and more and more. again, because you're not gonna not gonna sell a guy, you're just gonna write what you see. And now that's where the skill part comes in. Can you write him good enough to where it's like, yeah, that aligns with everything we want as a defensive back for the Green Bay Packers? Right. Whether it's the size, the length, the speed, the mirrorability, you know, the twitch or the, you know, stickiness and coverage, ball skills, ball production. Can you write it to where we're saying, hey, we have a need for productivity on the back end? That guy you just explained to me, we need okay, he goes up on the board or he goes to the top of my list for me to watch once I get back. so that's the skill piece in it. And again, the writing part, you're gonna continue to refine that process. Everybody has their well, I want a one liner here. I want listen, the keep writing, keep taking the reps, keep building the roll of the decks. Again, you got it in your toolbox if you need it. But again, it took me about a year, Neil. Mm-hmm. speaker-1: Okay. All right. So let's move to your job now, Brandon. I've talked to a lot of GMs and it seems like there are no two schools that do things exactly the same way and exact and ask for the exact same duties from their general manager in your capacity at at Boise State. Are you more oriented toward player evaluation? Is it more towards budget maintenance or maybe more towards the recruiting process? I know it's probably all three, but is there one where do you you spend most of your time? speaker-0: It fluctuates throughout the season, right? Just depending on what time of the year we're in. Certain times of the year, once we start to really lock in the budgets and project project to what it'll look like next season or, you know, coming on up, it changes. There are some seasons where my hands are more into the evaluation side, right? Because hey, we got to get it right on the quarterback position. So I need to put my hands on this a little bit more. I do say that there is and like you you hit it on the head, like. No one place does it the same. We don't do it the same. You just don't. So if somebody were to ask and they start comparing it, sizes of staff are different. say allocations are different, right? So everybody is searching for what works for them. but as for me, I I've learned to keep my knees flexed and and stay as versatile as possible. We said in the scouting world, versatility equals value. And I think that's the same thing as a coach, as a scout, as a GM. As a chief of staff, everybody on our staff, if you have versatility and you know how to operate and upload these games in exos, that's value. If you know how to tag, right, you can bounce over in a defensive meeting and you're watching, not only are you evaluating your own roster, but you're sitting there tagging with the defensive line coach. And now you've connected with him, knowing exactly how he sees and grades out hand strike. And now you're saying, okay, when I have to peel back, and I know when Frank says, hey, I need somebody who can strike. I know exactly what that is. So again, the biggest thing is versatility equals value. Continue to grab as much as you can. and major when when whatever you it is that you specialize in, be special in it. Right. When it comes time to be budget, Brandon, you gotta be dialed into budget. When it comes time for you to recruit, Brandon, you gotta be you gotta be dialed in recruiting. it's something that you continue to fluctuate through as far as skill set, but the more well rounded you are, I think the better you can be, the more you can serve your your team of whatever need that is. speaker-1: All right, so the Broncos have had have been immensely successful during your time there, but that's nothing new. I would say over the past three decades, you could argue they're bet they're the best G five program out there in college football. But you don't normally think of the Northwest as an area where there's just a player under every rock. So y'all are y'all are doing something different. What do you attribute your success to, especially over such a long period of time? speaker-0: hitting on the right guys, the character pieces was key. we have high character guys in this building. Didn't say that all 105, or if you go back and you push to those previous rosters, that every person on those rosters were model citizens. However, when you look at those teams, you look at the core of what they won with and their core players, like the core value hasn't changed. Like that OKG and like our kind of guys and like the football character piece of it continues to be like. the leading staple in everything that we do, everything that we have done and everything that we'll continue to do, because that's what's proven that when it does get hard and when we do roll into an an an environment that's hostile, again, we rally together and we're not distracted because the character is good. Your your character off the field, your football character then aligns with your skill set. That way that leads to your discipline. You can coach them hard. You can finish, you can execute, right? And as you're executing, that's that's playing football. Right. So the character piece will show you and tell you and give you insight on, hey, what's his level of execution? Right? Is he a good listener? Is he a detailed listener? Can he follow through? I can go down and look at his locker and pretty much tell, what his house look like. And if that's what his house looks like, then in the fourth quarter when we hit tempo, his footwork is not gonna be tight, coach, it's gonna unravel just like his locker is. So if we can clean up those things, let's start there first. Man, that's got nothing to do with me playing ball. It's got a lot to do with you playing ball because when you get put in a rush situation, coach, my locker like that because I was rushing. Take time to get it right. Show up a little earlier. again, might not be the best picture. Anticipate it, right? Play faster than that opponent, and you can make the play. It's the same thing and it correlates. So we spend a lot of time and we invest a lot into that character piece. Again, looking at what was, what is, and what is to come. I think that's one thing that you will continue to find staple. at Boise State is that character piece. It's a high emphasis on that. Yes, the skill set is a non-negotiable. It's 29 plus years of winning. It is what it is at that point. So you know that, hey, I'm not coming here just to have a walk in the park. Right. You're coming here to be a football player and a pretty good football player at that. Now, however, your character and your skill set have to align. We're not taking skill set over character because at that point, we'll we're going we're we'll be in trouble. Right. So the character piece continues to be big. It continues to be important for us. And just we we double down on that. And we make sure we turn over every rock before a guy commits to us and before we commit to taking him, it's gotta be right. That's even evaluating throughout your senior season. If you miss a couple games, I I wanna know why. Coach, why is he missing? Was he hurt? Was he injured? What was coach, he got a little got a little bit of trouble here, got so what happened? I need to know. Is this something we need to be concerned about? Is this a red flag? Is what is this? Instead of just man, we got a kid. No. we continue to evaluate that because again, we got to know who we have coming in our doors. That way it helps on the retention piece of it. speaker-1: Now, Brandon, that's I'm not gonna say easy to do, but easier to do on the high school side. How do you do that on the portal side when the bullets are flying, man, and you gotta make quick decisions? Is there a process there that y'all have had success with? speaker-0: Yeah, the biggest thing is we haven't taken a kid out of the portal that we hadn't had a a coach conversation about, right? we hadn't reached out to his previous school. We hadn't like we've got trusted peers that have had hands-on interaction. And again, we're big on hey, trust our evaluation, right? Evaluate with your eyes and not with your ears. So the ears will tell you certain things about him, but when we get him on campus, look, we got to get hands on this kid and see exactly who he is. We have to ask the hard questions. And the portal does hit fast. And that's the reason why our focus is more on high school and development, because we know as fast as the portal hit, you're going to be grabbing some trash. You really are. And so, the way the culture is set up here, we would much rather filter on the front end to keep 85, 90% clean instead of not filter on the front end and have a 45 or 40 to 60 mess and clean, because at that point. it can go one way or the other real quick. And then you're ending up with not a winning season. And then you're ending up starting over from scratch instead of being twenty nine years plus. Now, okay, we're just starting with year one of consecutive wins. speaker-1: Now you mentioned the last trip to Austin was or the trip with your son was not the result you wanted, but let's let's tell the truth. Your last two games against Oregon have been decided by ten points. Oregon is not a program to be trifled with. Do y'all think of yourself as a P four program in a G five conference? speaker-0: we think of ourselves as a really good football team, right? we train for the opportunity to go out and showcase our skill set and what we've been working towards, right? The the opportunity, we don't take games lightly. Whoever it is on the other side of the field doesn't matter for us, right? Again, it's a respect and appreciation for this game that knowing that if they weren't on the other sideline, we wouldn't be able to showcase our skills and our talent or be tested on where we can grow. So no matter who's over there on the other side of the field, we owe it to this game as a respect and appreciation to put our best foot forward and go out and dominate each snap. Right. And by to dominate each snap, there are going to be some plays that we get dominated. And at the end of the day, there's a respect for me coming to you, Nil, saying, hey man, listen, boy, you hit me in the mouth on play three. I appreciate you because you showed me something about myself that I I wouldn't have hit myself like that. Right. And so again, there's never there, there's a fine line of, Disrespect in this game, right? To where you start talking and giving your energy to the other sideline, it has nothing to do with the opposing sideline. It has everything to do with us. Can we execute? Can we do what we know to do? Can we play at the level of ball that we expect to play? Right. So again, the in this game, there is going to be an opponent. That is what it is. No matter who it is, respect and appreciation for this game to put our best foot forward. If the final slash score result. is in our favor or not in our favor. Did we put our best foot forward? Can we walk away with the spread route with respect and appreciation and say, hey, let's get right back to it. We've got something to improve on, whether we won by 56 or we lost by three. We've got something to improve on. So it's just the perspective of, hey, wherever the ball is put down, we got to show up and play our standard, our level of ball, no matter who's on the other side. speaker-1: Okay, as I mentioned at the top, y'all took from the Most Improved Visit Award as voted on by Scouts in 2024. And as I recall, that was an easy one because I had gotten so much positive feedback. And even though it's voted on, again, I was not at all surprised when y'all won it. What went into winning that? And did did y'all make hospitality for NFL scouts a priority? And and what kind of self-scouting do y'all do to even realize, hey, This is something we need to really put a focus on. speaker-0: I th it starts top down. I know that Coach D was very cognizant and aware of the feedback that he was getting from scouts, of them saying that they they hope that, you know, it's it's the boy seat that they remember. I don't know what the boy sees they remember was. I just know when he and I talked about it, he was like, Hey, we have to make sure that they understand who we are, right? and by understanding who we are is the consistency piece. So we're not closed off. We're not, they're professionals in doing their job. So for one, let them do their job. I do believe that it helped me being in Green Bay to understand exactly what they're doing coming in your building. They're coming to see your players. They're not coming in to scout your scheme to tell them who's playing and what you're running on third and ten. They're not looking at that. So if you are guarded that way, that's that's the wrong notion, right? Now again, you have to be aware, but not paranoid. Right. Be aware that, if you're going into a week and you're playing a Utah State, if the guy coming in your building is a Utah State alum, just be aware. Right. You may limit some access there in a sense of, hey, we'll just do pregame, pre-practice, let you get with the coaches, blah, blah, blah. Right. Just again, an awareness, but not paranoid. we don't operate in fear. We're not hiding anything. So for me and for us, it was more of hey, be open, be honest. We don't have to sell our players, present who they are and let them sell themselves. Because one thing scouts are gonna do, they're gonna turn over every rock and they're gonna cross-reference and they're gonna come in with multiple checks to see what's consistent. They're looking for trends. What is consistent about this kid? That's what I want to know. Is everybody saying that yes, he's a man of integrity? You can trust him, hard workers, all those things. And if that's what they're saying, I can only try I can only take that. And then if that's how I see him practicing, okay, I can verify that he is, he is those things. Giving them opportunities to do that. And again, not trying to sell them on anything. This is who our players are. you know, take it or leave it. This is who they are, and not trying to hide anything at all. I think the the scouts have done an amazing job of being in the building, communicating for one, not just popping up. So I think they earned it more than we earned it in a sense, because they were overly communicating. And it made it easy for us to transition and know how many we needed to have hands on deck, greeted at the door, parking passes and all those things for all the logistics that went into it. That was a full staff award there that was won by the entire Boise State organization within that year. And we had players that were in this building who had worked for those opportunities. So it it it's it's injustice to them for us to stay guarded. And tell guys they can't come at this time and make it hard for them when that's what our guys work for. Ultimately they say, Hey, I want to get to the NFL. Okay, well, this is NFL, this is NFL exposure. Right. You got 132 NFL scouts that come through your building within the span of three months. Like that's exposure. You I don't know what else you can get. Right. And that the rest of that, that opportunity is on you. So again, our guys have worked for that. And it's not on us to stay guarded and tell them what they can't be exposed to. I think that's That's not right. And again, we talk about operating with integrity. And that for us was a piece that we wanted to, make sure that was on point. We wanted to improve. And we're always looking for ways to improve. Always ask scouts when they come in the building, hey, what can we do better? Right? Simple. What can we do better? How can, how can I help assist you? Whether it's a different meeting room, whether it's your own individual, you know, time to watch film. You don't necessarily have to watch it together. How can we? And again, let's get out ahead of it. Is there anything that you need on this visit? What are you looking for? So it's a lot of communication there. However, we can meet those needs and help them to do their job better. I think it puts us in a better position for our guys to end up on a roster somehow, some way, just because the exposure and they feel good. They feel that conviction about I know exactly who that kid is. Yeah, we didn't draft him, but yes, that's the first one I'm calling to bring into Minicamp. speaker-1: Okay. Okay, I as I have and as Roderick has and and everyone has conversations with GMs on the G five level, it seems that their mindset every year is we're gonna probably have to turn over this roster by half every year. We're gonna probably fifty percent of the guys are gonna be out the door, we're gonna have to come have fifteen percent new places, new faces. I'm sorry. But Boise State's not like every other G five program. You've had a lot of success there. Is that the same situation that y'all face? Have y'all had success with retention? Is it or do you have strategies that have worked for you in that area? speaker-0: yeah, we we we have retention goals, right? We have a percentage that we want to retain each year. And we know that if we retain that many or that percentage each year, we have an opportunity with how many we've allotted to sign in the high school side. That keeps us very much in alignment with knowing that okay, I only have four portal spots that I can go to now based off of what we retained, how many we signed. We only got four portal spots. So we're able to be more efficient with our time. We're able be more efficient with going in the portal knowing exactly what we're looking for, right? and it just helps everyone to be aligned with what we're doing. Again, the retention piece is so key. We don't worry about losing guys. We know that's gonna happen naturally. It's attrition, but however, we make sure that we pour into the guys that are in our building, right? Continue to have those open and honest conversations with them, that open feedback loop where they know what they need to do to get better. what that looks like because each class we're trying to out recruit in a sense of raise the floor in each room. Has nothing to do with a rating, has everything to do with a play style and how he fits into what we're building here. From a position matrix, from a size, speed, however that is, did we raise the floor athletically in that room. So each year you're trying to outrecruit that class. Now and that that naturally is going to push some guys out because they might get overrecruited. They might get, you know, not as much playing time and I'm on special teams and I'm going into my junior year, I've got to find a way to get on the field. That's gonna happen. However, we're not pushing anybody out of the doors. We're making sure that we continue to invest and develop those guys that are in our building. And then the portal piece of it will take care of itself. Again, we're not paranoid about it. We're aware of it, but not paranoid. Once we get to it, if we have to cross that bridge, we'll be ready to cross that bridge because we know exactly what we're going in. speaker-1: Do you now you mentioned earlier that one of the reasons y'all prioritize characters is because it does maybe help with retention. But do you have a strategy? Okay, we're in week seven and this kid's getting a lot of playing time that he wasn't getting. Do you have a strategy for hey, maybe approaching that kid and saying, Listen, we have a plan for you. We want to keep you here. We we know you may be thinking, I mean, this is where we are in today's college football. Yep. Have a process for trying to reach out to those kids and say, listen, here's maybe a reason why you should stay at Boise and not look outside. Right. speaker-0: in season, we don't have a lot of the outlook type of conversations. again, we we tend to focus more on, hey, what can we do now? Where how can we improve where our feet are? Right. So if you don't like that you're on scout team, hey, this is the reason that you're on scout team, or this is the reason why, last week we wanted to get you in, but we couldn't get you in because you missed the call out. Right. So it's a continual feedback to where we challenge our coaches. I even challenge myself to make sure that, hey, do we have a touch point on this kid? Because he can be really good. If we continue to show and cast the vision on this is how. A lot of times during the season, coaches will get into game plan mode. I don't necessarily have time to talk to my guys because I'm in film and I'm game planning and all those things. So we just haven't we have to have an an an awareness, what we call an organizational awareness of where our guys are. Now that conversation can happen or can be sparked to happen, whether that's with mental performance, whether that's with myself, whether that's with Coach D. Whether that's what player in development, it is sparked, somebody has a touch point there, and then we'll bring it back and we'll dial it into the coach. We give the coaches like a segue to hey, look, need to have a conversation with him. This is what he's feeling. This is how we can now you do what you want to with it there. Right. And then we just follow up on it. But one thing I found that is most effective is the continual feedback loop of, hey man, keep doing what you're doing. Hey, I see you down there working on Scout. Yeah, you're doing a good job. Look, again, keep. It's a long season. Right now, the five for five has what it has done is you don't have to shelve a kid anymore. You don't have to say, hey, we can play him for four and then got to shut him down after this. If a kid were to get hot in game nine, based off of the touches that he gets, he can play for you for the rest of the season. If he sparks in game one and he shows consistency in week two and didn't play week three from game plan, you don't have to monitor that anymore. So The encouragement there is, hey, listen, guys, every week we have a meeting based off of who's traveling and who's playing. You can go from scout team down there playing as a third corner to hey, he was having a heck of a practice. Hey, let's put him on special teams and just see what he does. He runs down, make a play on special teams. Hey, tell you what, throw him in at the nickel and see what he does. So, next thing you started the season on scout, game six, you're in rotation and you're playing as a freshman. Right. So again, opportunities to evaluate, continue to evaluate your roster in year or during the season, because that's that's the plug and play piece now. And then that also lets you know who has a high a high care factor for football. No matter where I am on the field, am I competing? If we're going ones on ones, am I competing? If I'm going threes versus threes, am I competing? The competitiveness piece does not change regardless where I am on the depth chart. It does not the hunger to compete does not change because the great ones want to get better and those that need to get better want to get better as well. So if you have that nucleus enough on a team, you're gonna be a good team. We only have so many opportunities to field guys on put them on the field. You can only put 11 on the field at a time. That's right. So we have really we got 17 good players on defense. Hey guys, look, I can only put 11 of them out there. Simple. Now you other six, stay ready because we'll roll you when we can. But I can only field eleven. We can't play with 12 and we can't play with 15. That's the rules of the game. So if you don't like where you are and you're not in that 11, what are you doing to get in that 11? What edges are you trying to gain to get to the 11? That edge might be a special team. It just me. Right. But are you doing everything that you can do in order to stay competitive and to be a value add to this team? speaker-1: You mentioned how five for five has changed things. That's not the only change or potential change that's on the horizon. How much do you know about the Protect College Sports Act? And do you see it? And if you know anything about it, if you've studied it, do you see it as benefiting G five teams? speaker-0: one thing on this question, and I think it's very is it's forever changing. That's the first thing. it's a lot of moving parts in it. And that's one thing that I think, our our AD, Jeremiah Dickey and Coach D are very lockstep with. and in that the way we operate here is is it's one voice, one singular, one united type voice there. And JD always tells us, hey, let me handle that. And you all allow me to put you in positions to be successful. Having that that support from your AD and that alignment, I think that's why this place is so special. Because nobody gets their their feelings hurt or their toes stepped on or worry about did I say something right? It's clear, it's it's concise, and we know that we're unified with the vision. And whatever JD gets from the meetings and intel or what it is, he comes back and gives it directly. down the line. And he asks us, hey, what is it that I need to present to them when I go back? So we treat it as if, hey, look, that's JD's voice. we'll give input on it. We let him speak on that. Right. but again, there's so many moving parts to it. And he's still understanding, hey, what's it look like? I don't know if anyone knows the final picture of what it'll look like right now. I do know that there is effort, and that's what you can appreciate, of effort of trying to figure it out and just not it not let it run its course. there are a lot of hands that are on and and influencing and are giving feedback on that topic. And I'm grateful for where college football is right now. You just see the growth and the interest in it, right? And I think that's that's one of the best places to be. And nothing is gonna be perfect. That's what we have to understand. So we have to allow some grace there. We have to allow some grace and some growth, right? And some trial and some tribulation and some failure. Like that's a part of it, guys, as we're working to figure it out. But I do think that. those involved are trying to put their best foot forward to figure it out. speaker-1: I agree. All right, Brandon. It's as we wrap things up here, man. It's been obviously been a blast talking ball with you. But before we go, you've earned the respect of a lot of people so far, and I can't imagine that's going to change anytime soon. You're going to have opportunities, Brandon. Especially with the college and pro landscape changing the way it is. What are your long time girls? What are your long-term goals and where do you see yourself five, 10, 15 years, man? speaker-0: Yeah, that's that's a great question, Neil. and in all honesty, when I think about it, what comes to me is to be significant, right, wherever that is, right? The significance piece of it is key. success will follow the significance piece no matter where I find myself, where whatever landscape that is, whether it's up, down, lateral. I just want to make sure that I'm significant in my role. impactful in my role. I do know I present my my requests, you know, in my prayer time. And however I always end it with, but your will be done. So whatever it is, I I wish I had an answer for that one. I really do. At this point, I know I was led here. I wouldn't have told you five years ago, hey, I'm gonna be at Boise in 2024. I I wouldn't have said that, right? However he knew what it was going to be. So that that's that's the way I operate through it. I don't want to get too ahead of myself where I'm worrying about something or I I even press or force relationships that shouldn't be there. my biggest balance is I don't want to get outside of the wheel, right? I don't want to get outside of the wheel and I don't want to get ahead of it either. because outside of it and ahead, I'm unprotected. So I always want to stay in any position to where I am protected because there's provision, protection, and power in the will. And I know no matter if I'm in the will, I'll be fine no matter what. Wherever we're doing it. We're not doing it unto man, but we're doing it unto God. So for me, I wherever I find myself, that's that's what I'll do. I think that's the best way to serve my family. That's the best way to serve my organization. That's the best way to show, who's I am and and what I was made for. So just staying as as grounded in that and and knowing that everything I need will be provided, whatever that looks like. And that's that's what I trust in that process. speaker-1: Brandon, I can't imagine there wouldn't be people that would listen to this and not have questions for you, maybe about their situation or yours, or maybe a question I didn't have I didn't think to ask. If they wanted reach out via the socials, where are you on Twitter? Where are you on Insta? speaker-0: Yes, sir. So I am on Twitter. that is the underscore B underscore Jones underscore. All right. and then I I'm I'm not as active on the socials, but again, any email. my email is Brandon K Jones at Boise State.edu. That'll come directly to me. however I can be a resource, that's what I'm here for. I don't I don't own it. Again, I'm a steward over it and I want to make sure that I can set someone up for success. However, I can help. Always here to serve. I always ask myself, hey, whose feet have you washed? again, it's not about yours, but whose feet have you washed today? So however I can stay in a position of serving and an attitude of gratitude. That's how I'll continue to humble myself and posture so that we can help and move this thing forward. speaker-1: Brandon Jones, general manager of the number twenty five ranked Boise State Broncos. Thank you so much for your time today, brother. speaker-0: All right, Neil. Thank you, man. Have a great