How Do You Actually Change Conferences?
Boise State Sports Communication Staff
On Sept. 12, 2024, Boise State announced that it accepted an invitation to join the Pac-12 Conference. Fast forward almost two years later and the Broncos are officially full members of the league.
For 21 months, the Boise State athletic department prepared for its future in the Pac-12 while simultaneously competing as members of the Mountain West Conference. Doing so took an immense focus, making sure coaches, players and support staff members were focused on winning while preparing for a new-look league.
Changing conferences isn’t easy, and in this summer edition of a B:1 Feature, we’ll take a look at what exactly goes into changing conferences.
“Always A Part Of Our History”
Director of Athletics Jeramiah Dickey was well aware of the success of Boise State when he accepted the role of running the Broncos’ athletic department on Jan. 2, 2021.
Having grown up in El Paso, Texas, and later starting his employment with UTEP in 2003, Dickey was extremely familiar with the Mountain West. As he continued to climb the ladder in the collegiate athletics industry, he became more accustomed with the league, and by nature, Boise State’s place in it.
“When I took the job, I knew we had a ton of success in the conference,” Dickey said. “I knew we were the best in the conference. That was the expectation.”
He also realized he had special people that would now be working for him. Several administrators, support staff and members of coaching staff had been tenured at Boise State for several years, showcasing a special desire to stay in the community.
Currently, six head coaches have served at the helm of their programs for 10+ years: Gordy Presnell (women’s basketball; 21 years), Tina Bird (gymnastics, 19 years), Leon Rice (men’s basketball; 16 years), Beck Roghaar (women’s tennis, 16 years), Shawn Garus (volleyball; 15 years) and Jim Thomas (soccer; 13 years). Spencer Danielson, whom Dickey hired in 2023, is entering his 10th season total with the program.
“First and foremost, you have to want to be a Bronco,” Dickey said. “I guarantee you all of those head coaches have turned down opportunities over the course of time that has led to them doubling down on what they want out of this. Not everyone can be a Bronco. There is a different level of grit that's required, especially with the expectations that we have.”
When he got into the weeds of his new role, he became impressed with what these head coaches had accomplished. Based on the numbers, he believed that most coaches were outperforming their budgets.
“Before I got here, as the outsider, I had this perception that Boise State had everything,” Dickey said. “I thought they just threw money at problems. When I got here, I learned it was the exact opposite. We don’t have what everybody else has. We haven’t had the resources, and we still found a way to compete. That says something. That’s what it means to be a Bronco. That’s something worth fighting for.”
Dickey rolled up sleeves and promised to do more. With a goal of improving all 18 sport program’s chances of winning championships, Dickey got started.
“That was the driving force and how we invested over the course of the first three years,” Dickey said. “We tried to elevate the operation budgets, improve the facilities and create a better fan experience for all of our programs.”
One advantage he had? Bronco Nation. With no professional sports teams in the state, the fanhood supports the program in a way that seldom other FBS programs could hope for.
“Bronco Nation is a big part of the success we have here. They stepped up and supported us at a completely different level. People here care, and it matters. We mean something to this community. We represent something bigger than ourselves. The people that work here understand that and live it out in action.”Director of Athletics, Jeramiah Dickey
The fruits of that labor have been evident. This past season, the football team reached 14 consecutive sellouts. On the hardwood, men’s basketball recorded its third season averaging over 10,000 fans a game while the women’s program notched its highest single-season attendance in 15 years. The gymnastics, soccer, softball and volleyball programs set attendance records last season, while soccer has sold out 30 of its last 31 matches. Off the field, the Lyle Smith Society grew to 333 members and has raised over $80 million since Dec. 2020.
In the end, Dickey felt it wasn’t enough. A national brand in its own right, Boise State was yearning to compete at the highest level, an opportunity that the reinvented Pac-12 perfectly aligned with.
“The goal is always to be elite,” Dickey said. “That’s the why behind making this move. I felt like we had done everything we possibly could within the Mountain West. It was a great spot for us at the time and will forever be part of our history. The goal was to monetize our operations differently and think more creatively and innovatively in terms of what was next for our industry and that’s what led to the Pac-12.”
What followed was almost a two-year period where Boise State was still officially a member of the Mountain West, but had to transition and plan for a move to the Pac-12. All operations for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons had to remain in place from a MW standpoint, but for Boise State, the athletics staff had to also plan for the transition.
“It’s challenging,” Dickey said. “I have a lot of appreciation for the Mountain West and their staff. They continued to serve in the relationships we have, and that is hard. I’m grateful for how our team stepped up in those moments. The situation taught us a lot about empathy, grace and patience. It still takes a team to be able to do some of the things we were able to do together. It’s a testament to the people in the foxhole that we were able to continue to move forward. We very proudly represented the Mountain West until July 1. Change is inevitable and our team really embraced What’s Next, but at the same time they stayed in the moment and continued to lead and be a part of those processes. It was not comfortable by any means, but it allowed us to have a stronger strength in confidence about navigating uncomfortable situations. I’m very grateful for Gloria and the Mountain West leadership, because they still made me feel part of the process knowing that we were leaving, and I know that was very hard.”
The Unsung Crew
Unsung and unheralded, an athletic equipment staff is an essential piece to the overall success and operation of the team(s) they serve. Working tirelessly to add value to a program is normal, but public recognition is minimal.
So, why do they do it? They do it for the love of the game and internal gratification.
“I’m not here for a thank you or for glory,” said Matt Sterling, Boise State’s assistant athletic director for merchandising and brand operations. “My first boss told me you have to have a servant’s heart and attitude to do this job because no one knows you exist until something goes wrong. I do my job as well as I can to make sure people don’t know I exist.”
If you don’t believe Sterling, Blake Schulte, who serves as assistant director of athletic equipment operations and works exclusively with football, echoed a similar sentiment.
“In general, I think every team needs a group of individuals who exist behind the scenes to help others adequately do their jobs,” Schulte said. “We are the offensive line. Similar to the o-line, we don’t get a whole lot of praise, but people know when there is a false start or a holding call. You have to get comfortable living in that space to be successful in this industry.”
Staffed with five full timers and a plethora of graduate assistants and student workers, Boise State’s athletic equipment staff is among the best in college athletics. No one associated with Boise State questions their hard work and contributions, but their value was on full display during the school's transition from the Mountain West to the Pac-12.
Supporting 17 sport programs who made the recent transition, the equipment staff is tasked with rebranding every piece of athletic apparel that’s distributed to student-athletes, coaches and support staff. From uniforms to travel suits to luggage tags—it all falls on the shoulders of the equipment staff.
It’s a heavy lift, and that fact can’t be disputed. So, what exactly does that lift look like, and how much work is involved?
“When changing over 2,000 uniform tops alone, the undertaking is massive,” Sterling said. “Every uniform has a different type of material, and features the Mountain West logo in a different place. Since the Pac-12 brand standards dictate the size of the patch and where on the uniform it needs to be, the hardest part is removing the Mountain West logo from a different place on the uniform, and adding the Pac-12 logo in the correct spot.”
With the amount of work, forethought and planning involved, naturally, the process didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it began when Boise State officially announced its impending transition to the Pac-12 nearly two years ago.
While the planning and strategy began in the fall of 2024, the Pac-12 released its official logo and brand guidelines earlier this year. With the NCAA’s fall sports ramping up next month, the Boise State equipment staff had its work cut out to ensure football, volleyball and soccer uniforms are ready for the respective 2026-27 seasons.
“Speaking specifically for Olympic sports, Nike’s lead time for uniforms is 4-5 months, so for soccer and volleyball, which start in August, we had to order their uniforms in February and March without the conference logo on there,” Sterling said. “With the timing, we had to manually place the Pac-12 logo on each uniform and do so in a professional manner that satisfies all rules, guidelines and standards.”
For football, which also begins in the fall, Schulte and Co. had a sizable task in front of them. Between jersey patches, helmet decals, game day coaches’ attire and the 60+ support staff who travel, the newly-designed Pac-12 shield had to be sown and placed on over 1,000 total pieces, a number that is extremely conservative.
Though a lot of work is involved, Schulte only cares about two things: adding value and having the opportunity to be part of something that doesn’t happen every year.
“It’s an honor to be in the new Pac-12,” Schulte said. “We get to be part of the visual and branding that our fanbase sees on game day—jersey patches, helmet decals and everything in between. It’s been an awesome experience to be included in conversations and meetings with the Pac-12’s branding committee.”
While casual fans and observers get to enjoy game day for their favorite sport(s), rarely do they get a behind-the-scenes look at how it all comes together. There’s a team behind the team, and the appreciation Boise State shows its team is a direct reflection of the quality work and excellence that’s on full display in various areas.
“I know this isn’t the case across the country for a lot of support staff, but this place is different with the amount of appreciation,” Schulte said. “We might be one of the most empowered equipment staffs in the country. Boise State Athletics sees the value we bring, and there’s no greater feeling than that.”
The Treasure Hunt
Jersey patches and helmet decals weren’t the only pieces that needed updated before the transition to the Pac-12. The Mountain West logo was also featured on countless banners and posters, as well as the playing surfaces for many Bronco teams. The massive overhaul of the logo replacement was led by Jordan Feeney, the Assistant AD for Operations and Capital Projects, who said it was “a lot of work in a short amount of time.”
Feeney and the operations staff had to work on a short timeline while remaining cognizant of the impact facility updates would have on the various teams using them for practices and events.
“We had to coordinate around team practices and events to get those swapped out, which was challenging at times. We had to be very intentional on timing with getting things done,” he said. “I’m glad we have coaches and staff that worked with us throughout the process, even though it may have been an inconvenience to their teams.”
The planning began in January, with the first focus being the auxiliary gym at ExtraMile Arena. That project finished in March, shortly after the end of basketball season, then was followed by a similar upgrade in Bronco Gym, home of the Boise State volleyball team. That project was particularly stressful for Feeney, because the team did not receive the latest Pac-12 logo until a week before the work began. With the work finished in Bronco Gym, the staff is focused on the main arena court at ExtraMile Arena, which will host Boise State volleyball matches for the first time since 2002.
Another challenge for Feeney was finding every logo that needed to be replaced. He refers to it as a “treasure hunt,” admitting there were times he missed a logo on his first walk-through before finding it when he circled back. The latest challenge is finishing the major infrastructure projects at Albertsons Stadium, which will host Banana Ball, July 31-Aug. 1. The North End Zone project is expected to be done in time for Boise State’s first home football game on Sept. 12, as is the ribbon board update on the east side. The stadium will also have new turf, which is currently being installed.
There are also several infrastructure projects planned for the future that have been expedited because of the Pac-12 transition. These include additional fiber and JBT boxes on the sidelines, fiber pathways at the Boas Athletic Complex and fiber terminations that will connect ExtraMile Arena and Albertsons Stadium. These projects will allow for additional shooting locations during football games, providing viewers with new angles for games broadcast on various networks. It also benefits the live production staff at Boise State.
“While they have had some financial impacts, they will improve the experience for our Pac-12 and external TV partners, as well as making it easier on our in-house crews,” explained Feeney. “These were some things we planned on doing eventually, but this transition sped up the process and required us to get them done sooner. Howie Chung and Mario Johnson from the Pac-12 have been great to work with.”
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The future remains unknown, but Boise State is positioning itself to capitalize on its Pac-12 membership. On May 21, the department announced the creation of Boise State Sports & Entertainment Group, a full-service department that books and supports Boise State Athletics and non-Boise State Athletics sports and entertainment events at Albertsons Stadium and ExtraMile Arena, allowing the venues to host unique events year-round. Both venues have been home to several concerts and Albertsons Stadium recently hosted Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live, setting the organization’s single-day attendance record at 30,002. The historic event is one of what Feeney hopes to be many, all of which will benefit the department and community.
We hope to continue growing our relationships with promoters of all types of events, like concerts, rodeos and dirt events. We want to be a place where everyone considers Boise the place to be because of their planning, venue and staff. As the Sports & Entertainment Group grows, we can generate more revenue that feeds back into facility upgrades, student-athlete experience, fan experience and more. Not only does it help Boise State, it has a direct impact on the Treasure Valley and state of Idaho.Jordan Feeney, Assistant Athletic Director for Operations and Capital Projects
Shaping the Future of Student-Athlete Health and Safety
When Boise State accepted its invitation to join the Pac-12, the conversation centered on competition, opportunity, and the future of college athletics. Behind the scenes, another important effort began to take shape, how will the conference approach student-athlete health, safety and performance.
Rather than simply adopt existing governance models, Boise State is helping lead the creation of a new structure designed to support student-athletes across the reimagined Pac-12.
"It's a rare opportunity," said Boise State's Associate Athletic Director, Sports Performance, Health/Wellness Marc Paul. "We do not often get the chance to start from the ground up and ask, 'What should this look like?' That's what makes this exciting."
Drawing on relationships established across the former Mountain West Conference, the previous Pac-12, and other national conferences, Boise State has been instrumental in bringing the athletic trainers and mental health professionals together to create a collaborative framework that reflects the unique makeup of the new league.
Those relationships have proven invaluable.
Jim Spooner, a Boise State graduate, who worked in the athletic department as an assistant athletic trainer from 2011-18, now serves in a similar capacity as Paul at Washington State. Additionally, two of Boise State’s most tenured athletic training staff, Keita Shimada and Brandon Voigt, attended Oregon State and remain connected to the Beavers staff.
Leaders from Boise State, Washington State, Oregon State and other member institutions have worked collectively to review previous conference governance models, determine what should remain, what should evolve, and what new opportunities exist based on the new structure of the Pac-12 as a whole. The result is a structure built with flexibility, collaboration, and development at its core.
Boise State’s Assistant AD for Football Sports Medicine, Jeremy Busch, was appointed as the chair of the student-athlete health, safety and performance committee, leveraging his previous experience in a similar governance model, and Spooner was named as the vice chair.
“We looked at the entire structure including bylaws, NCAA requirements, reporting, etc., and pared it down,” said Paul. “We also drew from our shared experiences and best practices to create a model that will work and position the conference for success.”
Instead of unbending policies that fail to account for the unique needs of individual campuses and student-athletes, the innovative approach emphasizes guiding principles that allow the athletic trainers to make the best decisions for their student-athletes while maintaining conference-wide standards.
"We all share the same goal," said Paul. "Every campus may operate a little differently, but we're all committed to providing outstanding health care for our student-athletes."
That collaborative mindset extends well beyond conference and committee meetings.
From sharing emergency action plans and medical policies to discussing best practices for everything from environmental conditions to injury response, conference health professionals have embraced an uncommon level of transparency.
We are transparent to the point of making some people uncomfortable. College athletics is competitive in many areas, but student-athlete health isn't one of them. We are not trying to keep secrets. If another school has a policy that works well, we want to learn from it. If we have something that can help someone else, we're happy to share it.Marc Paul, Associate Athletic Director, Sports Performance, Health and Wellness
That openness reflects a philosophy Boise State Athletics has championed for years through initiatives such as BroncoBOLD, the department's nationally recognized mental health program, and its willingness to collaborate with peers across the country.
Stephanie Donaldson, Boise State’s Assistant AD for Athletic Counseling and Mental Performance and BroncoBOLD advisor, has been leading discussions with other mental health professionals from member schools which has resulted in the sharing of ideas and policies.
As the new Pac-12 continues to take shape, sports performance, sports nutrition, mental health/wellness remain priorities and the Broncos see tremendous opportunity to establish a solid foundation that can evolve over time.
"We're building something that can grow," said Paul. "The first priority is creating a structure that serves our schools and our student-athletes well today while allowing us to adapt as the landscape changes."
As the conference prepares for its fall sports season, Boise State is helping shape how the Pac-12 will care for, support, and advance the student-athlete experience for years to come.
What's Next?
For Jeramiah Dickey, joining the Pac-12 has never been about reliving the conference’s past. It’s about raising the bar for Boise State.
On July 1, 2026, Boise State officially began a new chapter alongside Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Texas State, San Diego State, Utah State and Washington State in a reimagined Pac-12. One Dickey believes is built for where college athletics is headed.
“We're approaching it very differently than an established conference,” Dickey said. “Yes, the Pac-12 has this brand with a strong history and tradition that’s very similar to ours, but that means nothing. I don't want us to live in the past. We want to elevate that and use that as a foundation to build off of.”
For Boise State, the move represents far more than a change in logos. It is an opportunity to expand the university’s national visibility, elevate its competitive profile and position itself at the forefront of innovation in college athletics.
The rebuilt Pac-12 is proving its place in the modern landscape of college athletics through initiatives such as Pac-12 Enterprises, Pac-12 Ventures and football’s flexible scheduling model. All of which are designed to create new revenue streams and maximize exposure.
“The reality is our goal was to put us in the best possible position as the industry changes,” Dickey said. “And second was to create more assets and more opportunities to monetize our operations, because every dollar counts.”
The benefits extend beyond athletics, as it aims to create an even deeper connection with the surrounding community.
The move comes at a unique moment for Boise and the state of Idaho. As thousands of new residents continue to arrive from the Pacific Coast and beyond, Dickey sees an opportunity to bring new fan bases, rivalries and energy to Boise State Athletics.
“A lot of people are moving in from the West Coast, and so you have a lot of fan bases represented that live in this community,” Dickey said. “Seeing new competition and having those fan bases here becomes a new pipeline for us and for them to be a part of this process.”
Still, when Dickey talks about the Pac-12’s future, his focus inevitably returns to competition.
The new league is filled with universities making significant investments in facilities, infrastructure and athletic programs. Dickey believes that collective commitment will challenge Boise State to continue raising its own standards.
“All the schools that we have in the Pac-12 are investing at a similar, if not more, level than we are,” Dickey said. “That raises the bar for everyone.”
Whether it’s earning more NCAA Tournament bids in sports that have traditionally received only one automatic berth, or competing against nationally-recognized brands, Dickey sees a conference capable of elevating every Bronco program.
“Epic is the goal,” he said. “I want us to continue to compete for championships, and I want us to win championships, and I want to do it in every sport.”
The competition will be tougher. The margin for error will be smaller. Expectations will be higher.
But that, Dickey says, is exactly the point.
It’s not going to be easy. It is an elevated competitive schedule, but that’s what it means to be a bar raiser. We’re Broncos. We never want to settle — we’re not about sustaining, it’s about elevating.Jeramiah Dickey
Even as Boise State enters a new chapter, Dickey insists the program’s mission remains unchanged.
“Our goals and our why doesn’t change,” he said. “We’re here to prepare student-athletes for life and compete for championships.”
As the Broncos take their place in the new Pac-12, Dickey believes the foundation for success is already in place. Now, with a bigger stage and heightened competition ahead, Boise State is focused on #WhatsNext.