BOISE, Idaho — The search to find Boise State's next head football coach took flight on Thursday.
New director of athletics Jeramiah Dickey canvased the Pacific Northwest and Big Sky Country with senior associate athletic director Bob Carney in order to interview Montana State head coach Jeff Choate and Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos, two confirmed candidates for the vacancy at Boise State.
Scroll down to use KTVB's interactive map/timeline below to see Dickey and Carney's eventful Thursday, flying across the Pacific Northwest and Big Sky Country.
According to FlightAware.com, both Dickey and Carney boarded a private jet bound for Bozeman, MT, just after 7:30 a.m. MST. A source confirmed that Choate did meet with Boise State officials on Thursday.
In addition, Bozeman Daily Chronicle reporter Colton Pool saw Dickey at the Bozeman Airport. Pool requested a comment, but Dickey declined to elaborate on the circumstances.
Just after 1:00 p.m. MST, both Dickey and Carney were back in the air, this time heading toward Eugene to meet with Avalos, according to another source.
Dickey and Carney were on the ground for approximately six hours, according to FlightAware.com, before completing their day with a flight back to Boise, which landed just after 9:45 p.m. MST. Both Dickey and Carney were seen leaving the airport parking lot alone in separate vehicles.
So Day 16 of the search to find Bryan Harsin's replacement has officially expired. A source with knowledge of the situation told KTVB they strongly believe the search will conclude by the end of the week.
Back on Monday, at Dickey's introductory press conference, he shared his thoughts on why he didn’t want to establish a timeline for announcing a hire.
"We'd like to hire a coach as soon as possible. Is that three days, a week, two weeks, I can't speak to that right now," said Dickey. "This is maybe the most important decision that I'll make as an athletic director and I'm 48 hours in. So I would prefer not putting a timeline [on it]. There is a very specific process that I believe in and that I trust, and that those that are around me now also believe and trust in."
"I am looking forward to digging in and getting this thing done," added Dickey, "hopefully sooner than later."
Boise State’s search is not necessarily limited to just Choate and Avalos, but those are the two candidates that KTVB has confirmed.
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