Chris Johnson knew Boise State coach Spencer Danielson would help keep the Broncos’ College Football Playoff hopes alive, even as they faced a late-season crossroads.

Johnson, Danielson’s football coach at Horizon Christian Academy in Clairemont, saw a familiar positive energy in Danielson even as Boise State trailed Mountain West counterpart San Jose State by two touchdowns in their Nov. 16 game.

“When they were down early and everyone was fired up, (Danielson) came up the field clapping. He was inspired,” Johnson said. “And I had no doubt that they were going to come back and win that game.”

Boise State dominated the second half en route to a 42-21 victory. Running back Ashton Jeanty scored his second and third rushing touchdowns of the night, adding to a résumé that made him the Heisman Trophy runner-up.

The Broncos’ comeback extended a winning streak that now sits at 11 games ahead of Tuesday’s Fiesta Bowl matchup with Penn State.

The Phoenix-area bowl game is one of four College Football Playoff quarterfinals. It’s the closest the long-successful but often overlooked Boise State program has come to college football’s national championship.

The Broncos’ historic campaign under Danielson, a 36-year-old in his first full season as head coach, is rooted in San Diego.

“I was homeschooled up until high school,” said Danielson, a Solana Beach native. “At Horizon, my first time going to school, I was just impacted by the teachers there, with No. 1 being Chris Johnson … If it wasn’t for him and my time at Horizon, I don’t know if I’d be coaching now.”

The qualities that have made Danielson a winning coach were evident decades ago. Danielson took at over quarterback for the Panthers despite having never played the position. (He was mostly a defensive back and wide receiver.)

At first, he couldn’t throw the ball more than 15 or 20 yards.

“He worked with the coaches every day on exploring motion and how to recover — everything that goes into being a starting quarterback,” Johnson said. “And you could see his leadership come out during that time.”

Danielson continued to blossom after high school. He played first at the University of San Diego and later at Azusa Pacific. Danielson flourished at linebacker under APU coach Victor Santa Cruz, himself a former San Diego-area high school star.

“When you spend time with him, within the first 15 minutes you realize this is a focused, all-in individual,” said Santa Cruz, a Rancho Buena Vista High School grad who is now the coach at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano. “It’s his deep convictions, his deep passion and his authenticity that says, ‘Man, he loves the game, but he loves his teammates and wants to go all-out for them.’ That’s what makes him such a great coach.”

Santa Cruz offered Danielson his first coaching position as a graduate assistant at APU. That role eventually led to Danielson overseeing the Cougars’ linebackers.

“That’s where I went from being intrigued about coaching to saying, ‘I want to coach, and I want to have an impact,’” Danielson said of his time at APU. “Not because I love football so much, but because I truly want to impact these young men’s lives on and off the football field.”

Danielson left Azusa Pacific for Boise State in 2017. In seven seasons, he climbed from graduate assistant (2017) to defensive ends coach (2018) to defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator (2019-20) to defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach (2021-23). Boise State fired coach Andy Avalos with the Broncos sitting at 5-5 last November, and gave Danielson the job on an interim basis.

Danielson’s Broncos won their first three games, beating UNLV in the Mountain West title game, before falling to UCLA in the L.A. Bowl. Between the conference championship game and bowl game, Danielson was awarded the full-time job and given a five-year, $6.5 million contract.

Danielson’s guiding principles come from his religious faith, which he said grew as he played for Johnson and Santa Cruz.

Danielson describes his core beliefs as: “No. 1, love Jesus. No. 2, work hard. No. 3, treat people right.”

“I’m not saying I do those things all the time,” he said, “but that’s the foundation of my life.”

It also provides the foundation for Boise State’s success. Danielson joined the Broncos’ staff the same year that Horizon Christian closed its doors. High Tech High took over the space near Balboa Avenue three years after purchasing the campus from Horizon.

The physical church and school may be gone, but the platform Danielson has — and uses — keeps Horizon’s impact alive.

Just ask his former coach.

“They can take down the walls, but they can’t take the spirit of Horizon away,” Johnson said. “That is always going to connect us together…The vision of Horizon was very simple: Train them up and then send them out into the world to do the same thing.

“It’s a blessing to see it happen, but it was expected.”