To understand the story of Ashton Jeanty, some things need to be clear. Jeanty having this historic season at Boise State is a miracle, or maybe written in the stars. There’s no reason that a kid who was born in Jacksonville, Florida, raised in Italy and developed in Texas should reside in Boise, Idaho. There’s no reason that such a player should stay at a moment when transferring is instantaneous and NIL deals could double and triple.
This is a running back putting together one of the great seasons in the history of the sport. Through six games, he already has 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns, which gives him a serious chance to challenge Barry Sanders‘ all-time rushing and touchdown records. Had Jeanty transferred, 247Sports would have named him the top overall transfer in the portal.
His game is stuff of legend. Jeanty’s menacing upright stance in the backfield has drawn comparisons to horror villain Michael Myers. His cuts and explosion compare to Sanders and Reggie Bush. He’s comfortable running zone or gap schemes. Jeanty has forced 56 tackles, the most in college football. There are no holes.
“He’s difficult to defend in the fact that he’s versatile,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel said. “He can catch the ball, you can put him in motion, take him out of the backfield and throw it to him, that’s the schematic thing. The next part is he’s just a really good player, and you have to tackle the guy. You can scheme something up all you want, then they throw the ball. Now you’ve got to tackle him.”
Plenty of schools were happy to lure Jeanty with dollar signs. Others may have given him national exposure not promised at Boise State. Ultimately, Boise State threaded a needle at the perfect moment in college football history to create a once-in-a-lifetime perfect storm. With any luck, Jeanty hopes it will become an avalanche.
“I hope that my decision sheds a light to college football players at a bunch of different schools,” Jeanty told CBS Sports. “That’s what I wanted was to set an example and show people that you can be different. You don’t have to do what everybody else is doing.”
From Italy with love
For a child who was a citizen of the world, Boise, Idaho, didn’t register much on his radar. Jeanty played football on an Italian military base in middle school before moving to football hungry Frisco, Texas, ahead of his sophomore year of high school. On a stacked high school team, he played running back, receiver, defensive end, outside linebacker and safety to get on the field.
Jeanty earned all-district honors as a junior … at wide receiver. He was tasked with replacing Denver Broncos receiver Marvin Mims and was nudged out of primary running back snaps by now-Western Michigan running back Jaden Nixon.
“If you’re not a big-time guy by your sophomore year, especially at that position, the big-time schools already have their guys locked in,” Lone Star High School coach Jeff Rayburn told 247Sports. “They’ve been recruiting those guys for a while, and I don’t think Ashton was necessarily a late bloomer. He just wasn’t recruited super heavily early on.”
Despite the mix of tape, Boise State offered before Jeanty’s senior year at Frisco (Texas) Lone Star, prior to him taking over as full-time running back. It was by far his biggest offer, though ones from Kansas and California came later. He knew a little bit about Kellen Moore and the blue turf from watching highlights, but certainly didn’t know much about the location.
“If you would have asked me when I was younger where Idaho was, I couldn’t even tell you,” Jeanty said. “I’ve been all around the world with my dad being in the military, so I feel like I definitely never saw myself being in Idaho.”
It was the consistency during the recruiting process that won Jeanty over. Remember, this is a military brat. Loyalty and reliability are key virtues. Plus, Boise State has a way with running backs. Since 2012, four running backs were drafted into the NFL from the program, including Frisco native Jay Ajayi.
247Sports later was the lone recruiting service to elevate him after Jeanty posted 2,653 all-purpose yards and 41 touchdowns, but few others got into the mix.
For Danielson, it was a specific moment when he realized what Boise State had. Danielson was working as defensive coordinator during the Broncos’ second spring scrimmage, when Jeanty was still 17 going against the first-team defense. Danielson was in the coaches box and called a short-yardage defense for a staff. Jeanty, as he oft does, made one cut, spun a linebacker and took the ball 70 yards to the house.
“I remember on the headset being like, ‘oh boy, watch out for Deuce, he’s going to be big time,'” Danielson said. “Everyone else was like, ‘Yeah, we’ve seen that for a while. You’re just seeing his ceiling, the guy is going to be big time.'”
Getting Jeanty out there
After two seasons, Jeanty was the biggest star in the Mountain West. He won Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 and posted more than 2,100 yards and 21 touchdowns in two seasons. As a sophomore, he exploded as a pass-catcher, reeling in 43 passes for 569 yards and five additional touchdowns.
“Not to beat a dead horse, but there are a lot of things going on in college football with tampering and different things out there,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “But Ashton wanted to be at Boise State. He wanted to be here.”
From a pure monetary perspective, Boise State couldn’t compete. Boise State’s Horseshoe Collective is incredibly competitive, especially at the Group of Five level, but major SEC and Big Ten schools got in the mix, too.
“He was honest with us,” Boise State athletic director Jeremiah Dickey told CBS Sports. “He was transparent that first and foremost, he wanted to be a Bronco. We’ve got a ton of student-athletes that we were able to hold onto. But it’s not just us throwing money at a problem, it’s also getting creative in how we approach it.”
The Horseshoe Collective was able to reach a competitive number to at least set a baseline. Jeanty has augmented that with branded apparel, endorsements and plenty of other opportunities. Boise State has also aggressively marketed him at every opportunity.
When the Mountain West decided to hold conference media days in Las Vegas this July, the league chose the Circa Resort near downtown. Only one problem: It’s a 21-and-over facility. Jeanty is 20 until December. It didn’t matter that he was the biggest star in the conference, Boise State was out of luck.
Instead of sitting back while several national journalists flew into Las Vegas for Big 12 and Mountain West events, Boise State acted. The athletic staff contacted the Bellagio and rented a small room at the back, far away from the glitz and glamor of the strip. After having several conversations with reporters for nearly 90 minutes, Jeanty was whisked away downtown to the Golden Gate Hotel, one building over from Circa. There, in a random hotel room, Jeanty did more interviews. At a time when many athletic departments are hiding their star players from interviews, Boise State zagged.
“If they’re not going to come to us,” Dickey said, “we’ll go to them.”
Ironically, the hallways at the Bellagio were packed with sports fans clamoring for autographs. Jeanty’s media session was right as USA Basketball left for a pre-Olympic exhibition in Las Vegas. Spectators lined the halls hoping to see star athletes walk past. They didn’t think much of the diminutive, stocky 20-year-old in a backwards hat heading for the exits.
If only they knew.
Taking Boise State to new heights
Jeanty may not have known anything about Boise, Idaho, when he committed to play for the Broncos, but it has since changed his life. He lives with close friends from the football team and got a dog. For Halloween, he embraced the Michael Myers comparison and dressed up the villain. In so many ways, Boise State is the stability that Jeanty never fully had as a transient military brat.
Still, there’s one more star that had to align to keep Jeanty in Boise: The College Football Playoff. In 2024, the CFP expands to 12 teams and guarantees a slot for a Group of Five team for the first time ever.
“It definitely made it a lot easier just knowing that I had a chance to play in the College Football Playoff,” Jeanty said. “It’s not just at the prestigious so-called power schools. And even then, our path might not be as hard as it is at those other schools. To have that chance is tremendous.”
Quietly, a handful of key players at other top contenders from the Group of Five stayed put. UNLV wide receiver Ricky White III had options. So did Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter. Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi and Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan wanted their shot. A good season could end with a serious national championship shot without having to risk changing situations and having to start over.
“You see the level of hope, it’s contagious,” Dickey said. “It’s creating momentum for the rest of the department, and that’s powerful. All of a sudden, you can be included in something that you know has tremendous value from a brand and department standpoint, from an institution standpoint. There’s a lot riding on the Group of Five having that seat. I’m sure every AD in the Group of Five is feeling the same way, it allows you to tell a different story, to garner that level of support that will take you to the next level.”
On Friday night, Boise State travels to play UNLV in a battle with serious College Football Playoff implications. The Broncos are viewed as the consensus favorite to meet the field. Their only loss was a squeaker against No. 1 Oregon, and they’ve won every other game by double-digits. UNLV is perhaps Boise State’s top challenger in the entire Group of Five.
But for Jeanty, this moment is a best-case scenario. The junior is right in the midst of the Heisman Trophy race, competing at the top with Colorado athlete Travis Hunter. Boise State is having its best team success in more than a decade. Everything is going to plan.
“I think for sure that will change the trajectory of college football,” Jeanty said in July, before taking a single snap or breaking a tackle. “Guys will understand, ‘Hey, I’m at a winning program. I have just as good a chance here as I do at Alabama or LSU. I definitely think it’ll change things big time.'”
There are other schools where Jeanty could have competed for the Heisman Trophy and a trip to the College Football Playoff. At Boise State, though, it means just a little bit more. The program is back on the national stage for the first time in more than a decade. Ultimately, Boise State could offer Jeanty something that no one else could: the chance to make a legacy. The chance to have a home.
“He chose to stay at Boise State because it’s different,” Danielson said. “He knows long term, Ashton Jeanty is going to have a place in Boise, Idaho as long as he wants. This is a place that loves Ashton.”
