Little Rock, Ark.----- San Jose State University assistant football coach Ryan Gunderson is one of 41 nominees for the 2019 Broyles Award according to an announcement from the Frank & Barbara Broyles Foundation.
Presented by Riceland Foods, the award honors the top assistant coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Gunderson is in his third season as the Spartans quarterbacks coach and his second as passing game coordinator. This season, San Jose State has one of the most prolific passing offenses in college football. The Spartans are averaging 330.1 yards per game passing with only four interceptions in 408 passing attempts.
In the national rankings in games played through November 9, San Jose State ranks sixth in passing offense and tied for sixth in fewest quarterback sacks allowed. The Spartans are the only FBS team with at least 350 pass attempts and have less than five pass interceptions with their season total of four in 408 attempts. Five times this season, at least nine different players had a pass reception in a game.
Among Gunderson's six quarterbacks are senior Josh Love, a Burlsworth Trophy semifinalist for the top player who began his career as a walk-on, four freshmen and one sophomore. As a group, they have completed 60.0 percent of their passes for 21 touchdowns in 10 games – the most passing touchdowns for a San Jose State team since the 2015 season when the Spartans threw 24 scoring strikes in a 13-game season.
Gunderson came to San Jose State from the University of Nebraska where he was the director of player personnel for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He had a similar position at Oregon State in 2014 after two seasons as the assistant director.
The 2007 Oregon State graduate was a quarterback and the Beavers' team captain his senior season.
From the 41 nominees, 15 semifinalists will be named on November 26. Five finalists will be announced on December 2 and invited to participate on the awards ceremony on December 10 at the Marriott Hotel in Little Rock. Gunderson is the only nominee from a Mountain West school this year.
About the Broyles Award
The Broyles Award was created in 1996 recognizing Coach Frank Broyles' legacy of selecting and developing great assistants during his hall of fame career as a head coach at the University of Arkansas.