There’s something about the Dallas Cowboys and the erstwhile Boise State Broncos.
Late last week, the Cowboys announced the hire of Klayton Adams as offensive coordinator under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Adams started at centre at Boise State for two seasons, helping the Broncos win the Fort Worth Bowl in 2003 and receiving Western Athletic Conference second-team honours in 2004.
Adams took over as Dallas’ offensive coordinator three years after Boise State legend Kellen Moore left the role. Moore has spent eight years with the Cowboys as a player and coach. Now the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, he will aim to win a Super Bowl this weekend against Kansas City.
Other Boise State standouts, including as Pro Bowl linebacker Leighton Vander Esch and four-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, have made an impact in Dallas in recent years.
Adams has had an active couple of decades after leaving Boise State.
After two seasons as a graduate assistant for the Broncos, he spent 13 years coaching in college, including stints at San Jose State and Colorado. He debuted in the NFL in 2019 as the Indianapolis Colts’ assistant offensive line coach. He most recently served as the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive line coach.
In 2024, the Cardinals’ offence averaged the second-best yards per rush (5.3), while their offensive line allowed the fifth-fewest sacks (30).
There could be another reason the Cowboys pursued Adams, and they weren’t hesitant about it. It involves a running back who was runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting. Dallas put this on their website after introducing Adams as the new OC:
“The hope is that Adams can do for the Cowboys what he did for the Cardinals, though Dallas will now have to figure out their running back situation after releasing Ezekiel Elliott and as Rico Dowdle approaches free agency, but it should be noted that he hails from Boise State, where a certain record-breaking running back prospect hails from as well ahead of this year’s NFL Draft; and that the Cowboys have a longstanding pipeline to the school even prior to Adam’s arrival.
The “certain record-setting running back prospect” is, of course, Ashton Jeanty, who dominated college football in 2024.
Jeanty declared for the draft last month and previously said the Cowboys would be his ideal landing spot. He was born in Florida and traveled extensively in his youth as part of a military family, including a stint in Naples, Italy. His family moved to Frisco, Texas, ahead of Jeanty’s freshman year of high school so he could gain more exposure as a football player. Frisco is about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas. The Cowboys have the 12th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and some mock draft boards predict they will draft Jeanty, who led the nation in rushing last season (2,601 yards) and nearly broke Barry Sanders’ single-season record.