Boise State coaching search: Bryan Harsin to replace Chris Petersen

Bryan Harsin is wasting no time putting together a staff of top-flight assistants and coordinators as the new head coach at Boise State. On Wednesday, it was reported Mike Sanford will be leaving Stanford to become the next offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Boise, while Texas A&M defensive coordinator will be leaving the Aggies to take the same position with the Broncos.

Sanford, 31, is regarded as a rising star on the coaching circuit. He’s also one of the better recruiters on the west coast. A former quarterback himself, he spent last season coaching the quarterbacks and wide receivers at Stanford while working as the recruiting coordinator in previous years. The Cardinal have ranked as one of the nation’s top rushing teams the last few years, and it will be interesting to see if Sanford implements a similar power run game in Boise.

Former Boise State assistant coach Bryan Harsin will leave Arkansas State to return to the Broncos, according to Coaching Search’s Pete Roussel and others, confirming a report that Harsin was on the way out. He’ll take over for Chris Petersen, who left for the Washington job.

This continues both ASU’s run of having its coached poached elsewhere and Boise State’s tradition of hiring from within (even if “within” means former assistants). Harsin’s 7-5 in one year as a head coach.

Here’s our early list of names to keep in mind as the Broncos begin their search to replace Chris Petersen:

A former Boise State quarterback, Harsin was an assistant coach with the Broncos from 2001-10, starting as a graduate assistant and working his way up to offensive coordinator when Petersen was hired as the Broncos’ head coach.