Cody Hawkins was already bouncing ideas off of his legendary father.
Now the Idaho State head football coach gets to do so in an official capacity.
Former Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins was announced Wednesday as the newest addition to the staff. He will serve as the Director of Player and Staff Development with a salary of $19,000 − the lowest on staff.
“I don’t think people necessarily understand how tight knit our family is anyways,” Cody said. “My brother doesn’t work for the Bengals, but I talk to him about the Bengals every day. He’s got marketing ideas and football ideas and he wants to know what’s going on. And my dad’s very similar. You talk about a guy that you love as a person and who’s been such a massive influence on your life as a person and in my chosen profession.
“So to have someone who is the type of person that my dad is and has that type of experience just to be an extra mentor for our staff and the guys on our team, is going to pay huge dividends.”
Dan stepped down at UC Davis after seven seasons last November to spend more time with his family. He was both the Big Sky Coach of the Year and the Eddie Robinson Award recipient, which is given to the top FCS coach in the country, in just his second year at the helm in 2018. The Aggies made the playoffs and won a playoff game for the first time in 16 years that season. They were also ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation.
He ended up going 44-31, finishing with six consecutive winning seasons. Cody was his offensive coordinator, quarterback and wide receivers coach for six season (2017-2022).
The two met up in the dubbed “Hawkins Bowl” on Nov. 11, 2023. UC Davis edged Idaho State 21-14 en route to a 7-4 season.
“The reason the Davis game was hard is because you’re actively rooting against guys who you loved and recruited and spent a lot of time with,” Cody said. “My dad and I weren’t playing the game. I said that over and over again. The people who think you’re playing that person have a misguided conception of the investment that coaches have in the lives of their players.
“It should have been about the players and having to fend off the misconceptions about what the game was just as tiresome as the emotional toll of playing guys that you really love.”
The process of bringing Dan on board really began in May with the departure of Jesse Thompson.
The former Director of Football Operations and Special Teams left to take a job on the other side of the world in Japan. So Cody elected to split the position between Scott Thiessen and Nick Alaimalo. Thiessen will be running the punting game and Alaimalo the kicking. But with the NCAA now not putting a cap on coaching staffs, he thought this would be the perfect opportunity to bring his father in.
“I wanted it to be his decision because he’s done so much for me in my life,” said Cody who also played quarterback for him at the University of Colorado (2006-09). “I don’t want to constrain him because this is a guy who’s hiked Everest, ran with the bulls and walked the Camino (de Santiago). Free time for him is a premium and he usually makes the most of it.
”So I didn’t want to make him stay in Pocatello if he wants to go fly a plane or go see the silverback gorillas on Mount Kilimanjaro or whatever. Whatever he wants to do I want him to be able to do it because he’s always been very supportive of me. So the fact that he felt being in an official capacity in the fall would be in his best interest and ours, was kind of a stroke of luck for us.”
Dan will help Thiessen and Alaimalo with special teams.
“He’s kind of been a special teams guru. He’s had a bunch of specialists play in the NFL and done a lot of stuff at NFL camps for special team folks,” Cody said. “But his responsibilities are not going to be confined to overseeing one group. He’ll be on the field working with different position groups. He’ll help us in recruiting. He’ll be a really good voice and extra brain for us to bounce ideas off of as we look to elevate the program.”
The Bengals went 3-8 in year one under Cody last season. But they did have the top passing attack (330.09 yards per game) in all of FCS.
However, with Dan, who has more than 40 years of coaching experience, ISU should be better.
“We have been fortunate to learn many valuable lessons over the years and it is rewarding to be able to share my experience to staff and players alike,” said Dan in a press release. “I am looking forward to helping Cody and (athletic director) Pauline (Thiros) continue to build a program Idaho State is proud of.”
Dan was a two-time WAC Coach of the Year at Boise State. He went 53-11 (.828), including 37-3 in WAC play, won four straight league titles and guided the Broncos to their first-ever undefeated regular season (2004) in his five years at the helm before leaving for the University of Colorado.
He was also the head man at Willamette − leading the program to its first and only national championship game appearance in 1997. Dan coached in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes and internationally in Sweden and Austria, as well.
“There’s just a proven history there. That brings a lot of credibility in terms of the kids,” Thiros said. “But also these two coaches, let alone the fact that their father and son, there’s a great history of working well together and being good partners. We already know that they can work together in a really positive way because they’ve done it for years.”
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