Northwest Notes June 20, 2025

Special Olympics Idaho benefit golf tourney set for July 25 at The Links 

POST FALLS — Entries are being accepted for a golf tournament to benefit Special Olympics Idaho scheduled for July 25 at The Links Golf Club.  

The tournament, a four-person scramble, is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start, following check-in at 8. 

Cost is $125 per person, or $500 per team. 

Registration and other tournament information can be found at specialolympicsidaho.org 

Sponsors are also being sought. 

Information: Pancho Edler, [email protected]

Boise State football mourns assistant coach Collins

BOISE — Boise State Athletics announced Ron Collins, a defensive senior analyst on the Boise State football coaching staff, passed away Tuesday morning. He was 61.

A veteran defensive coach of 38 years, Collins spent eight total seasons in two stints on the Boise State coaching staff throughout his career. He rejoined the Broncos in 2022 as a defensive senior analyst, was elevated to an assistant coach when current head coach Spencer Danielson took over as the interim head coach to close out the 2023 season, and spent the last year-plus as a defensive senior analyst. He had been away from the team for most of the 2024 season battling his illness.

Collins was in his second stint on the Boise State coaching staff, with his first being under former head coach Dan Hawkins from 2001-05. 

Collins left Boise State in 2006 to join Hawkins at Colorado, where he spent five seasons as the Buffaloes’ defensive coordinator. From 2011 to 2021, Collins coached at Ohio and was the Bobcats’ linebackers coach for seven seasons before being promoted to defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the final four campaigns. 

After beginning his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Washington State in the spring of 1987, Collins served as a graduate assistant at Iowa State for the 1987 season. He earned his first full-time coaching job at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., in 1988 as the secondary coach. He was elevated to defensive coordinator in 1989, a position he held through the 2000 season. He was also the special teams co-coordinator in 1999 and 2000 and worked as the school’s strength and conditioning coach for his entire 13-year stay.

Collins played at Washington State, finishing his career as a team captain in his senior year in 1987. The three-year starter at safety once had three interceptions in a game, against Stanford as a sophomore in 1984.

A native of Wenatchee, Wash., Collins graduated from Cashmere High, where he earned a total of 10 letters in football, wrestling and track. 

He is survived by his wife, Sharon, and their two daughters, Taylor Rae and Alexandra.