Bryan Harsin has Boise State racing ahead

— -- BOISE, Idaho - If Bryan Harsin weren't coaching football, he'd be racing cars at speeds well over 200 mph.

His father, Dale, was one of the pioneers of Funny Car racing, and Harsin was tagging along to the track as far back as he can remember and even drove his father's car when he first broke into the coaching ranks.

"Had I not become a coordinator, that was the path I was going," Harsin said. "My goal was to get a sponsor, go be a driver on the NHRA circuit in the Top Fuel Funny Car division and try to live that lifestyle ... and then things changed."

Not that Harsin, or Boise State, is complaining.

Dan Hawkins left Boise State following the 2005 season to become the Colorado coach. Chris Petersen went from offensive coordinator to head coach at Boise State, and Petersen promoted Harsin from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The Broncos went 13-0 that next season, averaging 39.7 points per game along the way and capping the season with the epic 43-42 overtime win against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, an ending with back-to-back trick plays that will live forever in college football lore.

"The car was running better than it had run when the coordinator job came open," Harsin recalled. "I felt like I was getting into a groove, and then coach Hawkins took the Colorado job. Life's a funny thing, funny how it all works out."

Indeed it is, and Harsin has traded funny cars for a chance to keep his alma mater among the country's most respected football programs. Boise State may not recruit or spend money like some of the football juggernauts out there, but the Broncos sure play like a program with money to burn, which is precisely the blueprint going forward under Harsin, who's in his second season as Boise State's head coach.

"The way I've always looked at Boise State, especially when I left, is that it's a power program," Harsin said. "To me, that means it's a program that's going to be in a position to help with decisions. Boise State's earned the opportunity to do that over the years of winning, not just with us, but over the years."

What we know unequivocally about Harsin, other than that he's one of more respected offensive minds in the game, is that he knows what a high-performance car looks like -- how to prep it, how to steer it and how to get every ounce of speed out of it.

There obviously are some parallels to coaching a football team, so it's not surprising Harsin is keeping the Broncos among the elite by adding his own touches to the finely tuned program that Petersen built before his departure for the University of Washington.