Boise State football offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, a 42-year coaching veteran, announced he’s stepping away from the game on Thursday night via Facebook.
Koetter will be replaced by Broncos co-offensive coordinator Nate Potter, according to multiple reports.
The longtime college football and NFL coach cited numerous reasons as to why he might be leaving his position, although he didn’t explicitly state a specific cause. Koetter, 65, was in his first season as Boise State’s offensive coordinator and helped lead the Broncos to a No. 3 seed and CFP quarterfinals appearance before falling to Penn State.
Koetter previously served as the head coach at Boise State from 1998-2000 and Arizona State from 2001-06 before making the jump to the NFL as an offensive coordinator. He called plays for the Jaguars, Falcons and Buccaneers before being named Tampa Bay’s head coach in 2016, a position he held until 2018.
Koetter was then the Falcons’ offensive coordinator from 2019-20 before originally retiring from coaching and returning as an offensive analyst for the Broncos in 2022.
Here’s why Koetter is stepping down:
Why is Dirk Koetter retiring?
Koetter, upon announcing he’s stepping away from coaching, cited numerous concerns with the current age of college football, despite not explicitly stating the reasoning for his decision.
In a post to his Facebook page, Koetter noted realignment, name, image and likeness, the transfer portal and lack of a college football governing body as things changing in the sport he disagrees with.
‘College football is changing rapidly and maybe not for the better,’ Koetter wrote. ‘Conference realignment, roster limitations, transfer portal, NIL, lack of a governing body with any power are all issues that have to be dealt with.’
Koetter also asked for Boise State fans to donate to ‘The Horseshoe Collective,’ so it can have a better chance at retaining players who he said are getting offered huge NIL deals to transfer to another school.
‘We are behind right now in the NIL game,’ he wrote. ‘Our best players are getting offered between 2 and 10 times what we can offer. We are losing recruits in the portal to schools that are just flat outbidding us. … Money is an issue.’
Koetter is expected to stay on the staff in a different role, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.