‘Walking out of there, it was a weight lifted off

• Paolo Uggetti, ESPNAug 13, 2024, 07:00 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — Malachi Nelson is back home for only a few days, but it doesn’t take long for him to get comfortable.

It’s an idyllic weekday in July on the westside of Los Angeles where the weather can only be described as perfect. Nelson is decked out in designer garb while taking a break from packing for his flight that night. In the short span of time he has spent in L.A. on this particular trip, the self-described foodie has already made sure to hit his favorite burger spot and Italian restaurant. It will be months before he’s able to do that again.

“L.A. has always just been home,” Nelson said. “It’s always had everything I’ve ever needed.”

All Nelson has ever known is Southern California. The former five-star prospect and No. 1 player in his recruiting class was born and raised in the region. When he was committed to Lincoln Riley — then Oklahoma’s coach — there was an acknowledgment that he’d have to leave for Norman eventually. But once Riley took the job at USC, there was no hesitation from Nelson and the rest of his family. He would now get to play for his ideal coach in his hometown for the program he grew up rooting for. It was almost too perfect.

But Boise, Idaho? That was never in the plan he and his father, Eric, had been crafting since before he was a teenager. And yet that’s where Nelson’s flight is headed in a few hours.

“I didn’t want to leave,” Nelson said. “USC was my dream school. Coach Riley was the coach I wanted to play for. I never dreamt in a million years that I would leave.”

It has been eight months since Nelson committed to Boise State out of the transfer portal following a year at USC that was hampered by injury and dramatically changed Nelson’s perspective on what he expected his college career to look like. The process — from one decision to another — was far from easy, but to hear Nelson and those closest to him talk about it, it was necessary.

“It’s been a year of transition, a year of growth. There’s been a lot of lessons learned this past year,” Eric said. “You think you have a plan, whether it was Oklahoma or USC, and then it changes and you have to adapt.”

A combination of familiarity, opportunity and boldness allowed Malachi and those closest to him to embrace Boise, not as a divergence from the plan, but as a new route toward the same goal.

“It’s cool to see him, a guy that probably didn’t even know where Boise was on the map in high school, here,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “He’s now a guy that’s living here and thriving here, it’s been really great to see him evolve.”

Malachi Nelson assumed after Caleb Williams’ tenure at USC, he would be next in line. Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

ERIC SAYS MALACHI could have been an elite baseball player. Or a prolific 3-point shooter. He had the height and the athleticism, but most importantly, the hand-eye coordination. But once Malachi — who played tight end on his youth football team — got under center on a day the team quarterback was hurt, everything changed.

“He was like, ‘I know what to do. I know all the plays,” Eric, who coached the team, said. “The pressure, the weightiness of that position, I think he just fell in love with it because it fits him, because it’s intellectual. He just thrived in it. And after that moment, nothing else mattered.”

Eric’s response to his son’s newfound north star was to immediately get him involved in quarterback training in an attempt to catch up with kids his age who were already on a path to play high school and college quarterback. He also began to prepare him for being the face of a team, as Malachi recalled, by putting him through mock interviews in the car after games.

“I would go, ‘Hey, Malachi Nelson, you got the ball back with 46 seconds. You took your team down to win the game. What were you thinking at that moment when you knew you had no time out until 46 seconds?'” Eric recalled with a laugh. “Just possible situations that he might find himself in and questions he would be asked.”

“I used to hate it, but I knew it would be beneficial,” Malachi said. “I think having him always kind of helped me in a sense to be more outgoing, outspoken when I have to.”

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Over time, the plan evolved and Eric, though heavily involved in Malachi’s success, wanted to ensure his son would enjoy the journey, too. Instead of going to a high school football powerhouse, they chose Los Alamitos for the proximity to home and familiarity with Malachi’s friend group. There, he thrived and became the top recruit in his class. Once Malachi committed to Riley at USC and Caleb Williams transferred from Oklahoma, the next stage of the plan seemed to crystallize in everyone’s mind.

“It was supposed to be Caleb and then [me], that was the whole thing,” Malachi said. “It was supposed to happen at Oklahoma, and then it was supposed to happen at USC. I think that goes back to a part of why it was so difficult for me to leave. This was supposed to happen.”

The detour began his junior year at Los Alamitos when Malachi suffered a torn labrum after taking a sack on his non-throwing arm. At the time, his separated shoulder was able to be put back into place and he didn’t want to miss out on playing his senior year, so he did not opt for surgery. But by the time he was USC bound in January of 2023 after graduating early, his body had been overcompensating and Riley told Eric to get on campus early and have the surgery. It was a necessary evil.

“He didn’t have the ability to train during the recovery process,” Eric said. “He didn’t have the ability to work out, to eat, to lift and to do the things that he needed to do. So it really kind of set us back.”

Malachi was cleared to suit up come fall, but the setbacks made it difficult for him to feel like he was putting out the best version of himself during practice. Even while he was able to throw, Malachi would tell Eric he felt like he couldn’t “rip” the ball like he used to without some discomfort. He needed more time.

With Williams coming off a Heisman Trophy-winning season, Malachi knew the first season would be about positioning himself well into the future. But when his only snaps of the season in the opening game against San José State came and went, it was still a new, unfamiliar reality.

“I was sitting there thinking after the Nevada game, it was the first game in my entire life I had suited up and not played at least one snap,” Malachi said. “So it was going through that whole season, not playing football. It was really, really, really difficult for me to not have that.”

While Malachi didn’t have expectations for playing time in his first season, he tried to embrace the role of watching and learning from Williams, who took Malachi under his wing. Eric, for his part, was glad that Riley didn’t burn Malachi’s redshirt and quickly realized how much more his son had to grow to play at this level.

“There’s still growth and development that he needs,” Eric said. “We knew that there was a big jump, and so as a dad, as hard as it may be because I know how much he loves the game and loves to play and loves to compete, it was good. I think he grew a lot that year and it was needed for his body to get healthy.”

When USC’s regular season ended, Eric asked Malachi if he was “all-in” to sticking it out at USC. Malachi said yes. There were no plans to enter the transfer portal, but once it opened, the calls from teams began to come in. At USC, Williams had yet to declare for the draft and even with backup Miller Moss ready to play, there was an expectation that Riley would dip into the portal himself for an experienced quarterback.

“It was more of the uncertainty,” Eric, who said Riley was as forthright as he could be throughout the process, said. “Malachi thrives well in structure, with expectations and not from [uncertainty] and it was just the nature of the beast. Obviously, Malachi has his own goals and Coach Riley has his own goals, and that’s where maybe those goals didn’t necessarily align at that particular time.”

Eric laid out the pros and cons and stressed the urgency of entering the portal sooner if it was going to happen. With the help of his manager, Justin Giangrande, and NIL agent Nicole Lynn, Malachi said he was able to accept that this was the best path forward for him.

“I’m a very competitive person. I don’t like to lose in anything,” Malachi said. “I knew it was going to be like all this talk about how he was scared of this guy or that guy and he didn’t want to compete and all these things. So that was really what was holding me back, but I knew it was the right decision to leave.”

There was still one thing to do: talk to Riley.

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t probably the most difficult conversation I ever had to have in my entire life,” Malachi said. “I broke down … obviously he wasn’t happy for me to go, but he cares about me and there was no hard feelings. It was something I didn’t think I would ever have to do, but walking out of there, it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. Deep down, I knew it was the right thing.”

Riley, at the time, told media that Malachi’s transfer was “unexpected” and that quick departures from players due to the option of the portal is “part of it.” He later went out of his way to add that he still supported Malachi, something both Malachi and Eric have reiterated they felt at the time.

“Malachi was fantastic here,” Riley said “I will root for him forever and ever. He’s gonna go make somebody a heck of a player.”

Malachi Nelson was looking for a fair shot to compete when he entered the portal. Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire

MALACHI HAD NEVER seen snow fall from the sky.

And so, of course, it was only fitting that as his plane from Los Angeles to Boise in January landed, the city was being blanketed by snow. It was quite the introduction to the place that he was moving to, one that hadn’t initially been seen as a possible destination upon entering the transfer portal. And yet there Malachi was, getting off the plane and going into a snowstorm cautiously confident that this was the place for him.

“That culture shock and that homesickness that immediately kicked in,” Malachi said. “But at the same time, I think the people on the team welcoming me helped, meeting them and being around them immediately made me feel more comfortable.”

The Nelsons had known then-Broncos offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan from the high school recruiting days and had developed a relationship with him. It was the only connection point that Malachi had to Boise. That is until Spencer Danielson called.

Danielson had told his assistants to “turn every rock” when it came to quarterback transfers. The Broncos needed to find someone who fit their team and was ready to compete for the starting job. When Malachi’s name was first brought up by Hamdan, Danielson was skeptical that a former five-star recruit would consider Boise — or that he would even be a fit.

But once Danielson and Eric got on the phone, they connected over their faith (Eric is a pastor at a church in Garden Grove) and found themselves on the same page.

“I fell in love with their family,” Danielson said. “I believe it was a God thing from what they were looking for and what we were looking for.”

Both parties wasted no time in scheduling a visit. Once Malachi initially touched down in Boise, he was able to witness how passionate the Broncos’ fan base was — some of them, including local media, even came out to take in his arrival around midnight.

“It was like ‘Wow, these people really care about football here,'” Eric said of his and Malachi’s reaction. “This is a cool culture they got here. The fact that they were there and that this is a big deal, it’s a cool little community.”

Beyond the fanbase and the synergy they felt with Danielson — even after Hamdan left to take the offensive coordinator job at Kentucky — there was plenty of appeal in Boise as a team with plenty of returning starters on offense, including a strong offensive line and one of the best running backs in the nation in Ashton Jeanty. Put all of those ingredients together alongside a talented quarterback and what you get is a Group of 5 team ready to make a run at a College Football Playoff bid.

Add the fact that Danielson hired former NFL coach and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to replace Hamdan, and his NFL experience was the cherry on top of the sundae for the Nelsons, who knew, like Danielson, that Malachi needed to grow and develop.

“I told them, ‘I want to make your world small. I want you to be able to focus on getting stronger, protecting your body so you don’t get injured, you’re going to be in a scheme that you can grow and thrive in,'” Danielson said. “So I just hit completely on development. All these things that I thought was talking him out of it, but it was exactly what they were kind of looking for.”

Before Malachi even got on the plane back to Los Angeles after his first visit, he had committed.

Danielson and the Nelsons are clear on one thing: The Broncos’ coach didn’t promise anything but a chance to compete for the starting quarterback job alongside sophomore Maddux Madsen, who threw for 1,191 yards and nine touchdowns last season. Yet after a year of not being able to compete or play at all, the message was music to Malachi’s ears.

“All I wanted was a fair shot to compete,” Malachi said. “[They] told me, the best guy is going to play. That’s all I wanted to hear, and I’ll let my play speak for itself.”

Malachi Nelson knew he made the right call when he decided to leave USC. Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire

ONE DAY THIS summer, Danielson got a call from Malachi.

“He said, ‘Coach, can I borrow some tables and chairs from the facility?'” Danielson said. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah, what do you need?’ He’s like, ‘I’m having a bunch of the offensive line over and I’m going to order the UFC fight tonight and order some pizza and have them all over.”

Malachi may live 30 minutes from campus, a purposeful choice to try and limit distractions and give himself an ideal space to feel comfortable in a new city, but he is well aware — from players like Williams and C.J. Stroud who have mentored him — of the importance of gaining respect from his teammates and creating chemistry.

“There’s no pro team in Idaho. The pro football team is Boise State football, and so there was a ton of buzz with Malachi,” Danielson said. “I was very intentional, telling him that connecting with your teammates and being someone who’s humble and hungry and shows up to work is going to be huge because before these guys even meet you, they are going to judge you off all the attention.”

Since committing to Boise and moving there, Malachi’s comfortability has only grown on and off the field. Danielson points out how much work he has put in to not just learn the complex playbook of a pro-style offense but also work on strengthening his frame and physicality in order to ensure he can handle anything defenses throw at him. Though he and Eric both describe him as an “introverted extrovert” his work and approach has struck a chord with teammates.

“Seeing him grow in his connecting with his teammates and then seeing him grow in his complete and total understanding of our offense has been great,” Danielson said. “So then now he can go let the skill set that God gave him and that he’s developed over the years continue to grow.”

While Malachi competes for the starting job 900 miles away from where he thought he would be, he still seeks out glimmers of his L.A. life wherever he can. He has already found a few food spots in his new city to his liking, including a restaurant that, in his words, has an L.A. vibe and features some of the best pasta he’s had. In fact, he has frequented the locale so much that his favorite dish is an off-menu pasta dish that the restaurant staff knows he’ll want every time he shows up.

Southern California will always be home for Malachi. He will go back any chance he gets and relish the time he can step back into his comfort zone. But even though the steps might look different now than they did just a year ago, his goals remain. And for the foreseeable future the road to success for Malachi now runs through Boise.