BOISE — Tim Keane likens his job to that of the coach in The Boys in the Boat.

Like the legendary coach Al Ulbrickson, portrayed by Joel Edgerton in the 2023 film about the University of Washington rowing team trying to make the 1936 Olympics, the Boise State offensive line coach is always trying to mix and match differing player combinations to find the best five that work together.

“When he has the chalkboard and he has the configuration of the guys in the boat to find the master team that can go win the Olympics, that’s a little bit of it,” Keane said. “Every day trying to figure out your individual attributes and how do you contribute to the collective group. Do you make the collective group better? That’s always the fun thing, trying to figure out, even though this guy may be better at his technique and getting bigger, stronger and faster, when he actually gets in there, is the group performing better?”

For Keane, and the Boise State offensive line as a whole, that challenge to find the right combination has been amplified even more this spring. With four starters from 2025 either gone from the program or out this spring due to injury, the Broncos have needed several new faces to step up and take reps this spring.

But new opportunity breeds competition, and for Keane, the first three weeks of spring practice have been productive.

“This year there’s a lot more competition, so it’s fun to see those guys know that every single day they have to show up and bring it in practice, be ready to go in meetings, be ready to go in walk-throughs,” Keane said. “That competition is neck-and-neck, those guys are going from blue to orange day by day, so it makes it fun to see those guys just compete and show up every day.”

Boise State already knew it was going to have to partially rebuild its offensive line this season with center Mason Randolph graduating and left tackle Kage Casey entering the NFL Draft following his junior season. Additionally, Zach Holmes, who started six games at center when Randolph moved to left guard to fill some injury holes, also graduated.

But the Broncos were hit with four other linemen out this spring recovering from injury, including Roger Carreon, a three-year starter at right guard, and Daylon Metoyer, who started 13 games at right tackle. Backup tackles Jake Steele and Kyle Cox are both also out this spring. All four are expected to return in the fall.

But for Keane, that comes with the territory of football, especially along the line, where players are taking hits every single play. And if he can get more players game-ready for the fall, he’s not going to complain.

“The starting five has never been a huge thing for me,” Keane said. “As soon as you get the starting five that you love and are working with, one of those guys gets injured. That’s how it’s always been here for the last five years because it’s kind of the nature of what we do. We run the ball and we’re a very physical operation, so those guys over the course of the season wear down and miss a game or two. So, we’re always trying to develop really competitive depth, guys that can step in.”

Even for the one returning starter participating in spring, Jason Steele, it’s still unclear where he may line up this fall. Steele had all nine starts and every single snap he took in 2025 at left guard. But in 2024, when Randolph and Holmes were both out with injury, Steele got three starts at center.

With Randolph and Holmes both graduated, Boise State loses 1,059 of the 1,066 snaps taken at center last year. Redshirt freshman Stewart Taufa, who took the remaining seven snaps over the course of three games, is also in the running be the guy who gets the ball to quarterback Maddux Madsen when the season opens at Oregon in September.

Keane also pointed to redshirt sophomore Parker Perkins, who has yet to see the field for the Broncos, as another candidate and added that if needed, Carreon can be moved over from guard to fill the role.

“We’ll find the best five,” Keane said. “Stu’s done a really good job of just operating those things. I’m super impressed with him, but Jason can snap and Roger, someone else like Carson Rasmussen, someone else we’re going to have to get in the mix snapping.”