COUNTDOWN TO CAMP: What value does Dan Hawkins bring to the Idaho State coaching staff?

The Idaho State football team begins fall camp on Aug. 1. To get you ready, we’re counting down with a question every day until camp begins.

Today’s question: What value does Dan Hawkins bring to the Idaho State coaching staff?

Hawkins, father of Idaho State head coach Cody Hawkins, joined the Bengal staff earlier this month as the director of player and staff development. The elder Hawkins has a long and decorated history as a football coach, including head coaching stints at Boise State, Colorado and UC-Davis. He is most known as an offensive mastermind, but probably the biggest asset he will bring to the ISU coaching staff is his mentorship of assistant coaches.

Idaho State is near the bottom of the Big Sky Conference coaching rung, both in pay and prestige, so keeping assistant coaches is always a challenge. ISU has already gone through five assistant coaches in the year-and-a-half since Hawkins took over the program, including three — Korey Rush, Lon Fangupo and Jesse Thompson — who got significant pay raises to move on.

Dan Hawkins knows all about replacing assistant coaches. When Cody left his staff to come to Idaho State, he was the 28th assistant to depart the UC-Davis staff under Dan’s leadership.

“I’m in the coach development business,” Dan Hawkins told the Journal shortly after Cody took the Idaho State job. “We get a lot of young guys here and I teach them how to coach. Our O-line coach, who probably will be our O coordinator, came here as a volunteer. Our special teams coach came as a volunteer. I take a lot of pride in developing coaches.”

After stepping down as head coach at UC-Davis following last season, Hawkins expanded his “coaching coaches” portfolio, reaching out to help teach coaches in a wide range of sports other than football.

In addition to his mentoring experience, Dan Hawkins also brings insight into the kind of program Cody wants to develop at Idaho State.

“My (dad) brings a plethora of experience and wisdom, positive energy and also an understanding of the level of detail I want and expect (a trait I learned from him), while being able to coach and connect with our guys on an authentic level,” Cody said. “He’s got great perspective, too, in a variety of situations and circumstances.”

Dan Hawkins also brings value to the position. At $19,000 a year, the three-time former national coach of the year, will be the lowest paid coach on the staff.