Unless you’ve been trapped under a college football rock for the past 12 months, you can’t help but have been swept along by a Boise State Broncos wave of national excitement. The Group of Five College Football Playoff combatant captured the imagination of many last fall, with linebacker Marco Notarainni central to creating something special on and off the field at the program.
Multi-Award Nominated Boise State LB Marco Notarainni Is A Positive Influence On and Off the Field
“I definitely crave human connection, human relationships,” Notarainni begins to explain his personality, which has helped unite the Boise State football program and the community, during a PFSN exclusive interview ahead of the 2025 college football campaign.
“Just building those connections and creating a family, that atmosphere that we’re building here is definitely what drives me,” the Boise State linebacker continues. “I’ve been blessed to be in an amazing family back home, and to build something like that out here, within the football program, is super cool.”
Notarainni’s influence on the football field is easy to see. A vocal leader at linebacker whose intensity in all aspects of his playing career led to a breakout season, he earned All-Mountain West First Team honors from a career-high campaign with 60 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and three pass breakups, per Sports Reference College Football.
Alongside teammates and the coaching staff, he helped solidify the Broncos’ defense, gaining 21 places in national rankings for scoring defense after allowing three fewer points than in the 2023 campaign. In turn, that unit helped power consecutive Mountain West Championships and a seat at the top table of the sport: the expanded College Football Playoff.
On the football field, Notarainni’s influence is not only plain to see, but his leadership from the heart of the defense has been vocally verified by those around him. During Mountain West media days, head coach Spencer Danielson called him “one of the top leaders on our entire team,” while Jayden Virgin-Morgan described him as “one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever seen.”
“I mean, I wish they would tell me that face-to-face because this is news to me,” the Boise State linebacker laughs when I ask him what that praise means. As intense as the Notarainni is on the football field, he’s also a passionate human. He’s equal parts humorous, self-effacing, curious, and engaging, a potent mix that combines to make a man creating something special.
Notarainni’s influence on the football field is easy to see. Yet, this offseason, the real power behind the person is peeking out from beneath the pads. The Boise State linebacker was nominated for the 2025 AllState AFCA Good Works Team and landed on the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List, two of the most prestigious honors available for excellence in more than sports.
During his time with Boise State, Notarainni has been involved with multiple initiatives in the local community, using his platform as a student athlete to help bring the football program closer to the people who support the team on a Saturday. He’s worked alongside the Idaho Food Bank, the Boise Rescue Mission, and spent time with children in elementary schools.
“Honestly, that’s one of the more fun events that I’ll go do,” Notarainni explains his passion for impacting the next generation. “They admire us so much, and it can be something as simple as just hanging out with them at recess or talking about our life and speaking into their lives in the classroom about our experiences.”
“Being able to pour into that is super cool. Definitely gives myself, and I know a lot of other guys, a heightened sense of purpose. I would say there’s been a lot of times where I don’t really realize that we have that much influence. Stepping into those communities, getting some volunteer work in, seeing how much our actions add value to people’s lives is really special.”
Notarainni is at the epicenter of something special, a connection between community and college football that goes deep beyond cheering success and jeering defeat. Reflecting on the nomination for the AllState Good Works Team, the Boise State linebacker drills down into the root of the relationship between the ones that pack Albertsons Stadium, and those who play in it.
“Definitely the culture that we have here, just diving deep with the fans and community as much as possible,” he says. “My parents have always emphasized volunteer work, community engagement. We’re very fortunate to be in the position that we’re in and to be able to give back, as well as connect with people and gain new perspectives on life; it’s very important.”
New Perspectives, Traditional Values Define Marco Notarainni
“I have a lot of family in Argentina, and being connected with them, connecting with the Argentine culture, is really special and something I’ve carried with me here is just that environment of family and everybody takes care of each other out there.”
While gaining new perspectives on life guides his quest for connections and cultivating a close-knit community at Boise, Notarainni also leans on traditional values. His mom is Argentinian, and his childhood experiences of that culture, summers spent in South America, have been the foundation of everything he’s done since arriving in the state of Idaho.
His San Diego roots also contributed.
“San Diego felt like a very close-knit community. Growing up with all the same people, going to the same sports teams, sporting events, high schools, that kind of thing. So growing up with that was really special and being able to build those relationships. San Diego’s such a beautiful place. I love that place so much, a lot of similarities with here.”
Yet, one difference helped Notarainni know that he was in the right place, that he’d be able to help build something at Boise State, with the Boise community.
“Here, you get a lot of people smiling at you and really just asking you about your day, and that came as a little bit of a culture shock to me,” he continues. “But, it was also the biggest selling point for me to come here. I know people care, and they treat you really well. Not that they don’t in San Diego, but it’s different, and you kind of feel that.”
Notarainni felt it during recruiting. He felt it upon arrival in Boise. He feels it now, perhaps greater than ever, as he heads into his fifth season with the Broncos. The opportunity to create connections has been there at every turn. It’s there in the community, but it’s also there within the four walls of Albertsons Stadium, where brotherly bonds have withstood multiple tests.
The Boise State linebacker was recruited by Bryan Harsin. He played under Andy Avalos. His major successes have come under Spencer Danielson. When coaching staffs change, locker rooms can fall apart, especially with the transfer portal regulations allowing players an easy out following a head coach departure. On the whole, that didn’t happen with the Broncos.
“The older guys stayed. The younger guys stayed, for the most part. We really stuck together,” Notarainni reflects on the impact of coaching changes during his college career. “I think that made the biggest difference. We rallied behind each other, connected with each other more. That’s one of the cooler things I’ve been a part of, seeing how everybody really comes together.”
The role of a head coach is to deliver wins to a program. Yet, there is much more to it than that. The 136 leaders of FBS programs, and hundreds more beyond that level, carry a weight of responsibility.
They develop and mold, they instill principles, and they form the minds of young men, pitching them on a trajectory of success not just on the football field, but away from it, and long after the cleats have been hung up for the final time. In his quest for connection, Notarainni found a conductor in Coach Danielson.
Spent some time with Boise State’s Marco Notarainni ahead of the 2025 season 💥
We talked about his recent @WeAreAFCA Good Works nomination, the importance of being a role model, the 2024 Broncos’ season, and went in-depth on the influence of Spencer Danielson… pic.twitter.com/KTW3w7FdhS
— Oliver Hodgkinson (@hodgkinsonsport) July 23, 2025
“We’ve developed a really good relationship, which I’m very grateful for. He’s poured into me a lot, the way I live my life outside of football, the way I trust people, and he speaks that into me but also shows that for me and a lot of the guys on the team. The way he interacts with everybody in the facility really trickles down.”
“This is such a loving, caring environment, which is super awesome,” Noatarainni continues. “You love coming into work every day, and he’s really developed that love for each other, for yourself, and for the community of Boise.”
For four years, “coming into work every day” has meant being a Boise State football player (and being a multiple Mountain West Scholar Athlete). Choosing the Broncos over the San Diego State Aztecs, a Power Five offer from the Oregon State Beavers, and an opportunity at a prestigious institution like Princeton was an easy decision, but one that has seen a slow on-field evolution.
Notarainni made just one appearance in 2021, his freshman year. After appearing in the first two games of the 2022 season, an injury cut his campaign short. The Boise State linebacker really began to make an impression in 2023, making five starts and putting up some decent production on his way to an All-Mountain West Honorable Mention campaign.
Then came 2024. A career year. A program in the national spotlight. A place in the College Football Playoff. A litany of awards. For some, that would be the pinnacle of their career, the crowning glory, the defining moment.
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Notarainni is focused on pushing Boise State to a whole new level in 2025, but his thoughts on last season are a reflection of the man behind the blue and orange helmet and pads.
“That takes a lot of different people. That takes the strength staff, that takes the nutrition staff, the athletic trainers, operations, coaching staff, obviously the players. So, just being around such a great atmosphere and environment, wanting to go to work every day, makes achieving something like that easier.”
The final quote here is pure Notarainni. Everything he does is done to connect. His work in the community brings the residents of Boise closer to the football team. His work on the football field brings everything and everyone that led him to this platform together. The Broncos’ 2024 playoff run was the perfect storm connecting Boise to San Diego, Argentina, and beyond.
“I would say being able to share that work and accomplishments and hardships with my family back home, all across the country, and being able to bring them together and watch what we were doing, is something I’ll never forget.”
