By Chadd Cripe
ccripe@idahostatesman.com

Boise State juniors Byron Hout and Hunter White will have new positions when spring ball begins Monday.

Hout will move to middle linebacker — the position he was expected to play when he was recruited.

He moved to defensive end in 2008 to address a need but received limited playing time in 2009.

“We’d like to get him on the field a little more,” new defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said. “… I think he’s fired up for it. He’s in the middle of the defense now and he can do what he does best.”

Hout will compete with senior Derrell Acrey and, eventually, senior Daron Mackey. Mackey is out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

White, meanwhile, moves from linebacker to nickel, where he can take advantage of his skills playing in space.

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New defensive assistant Bob Gregory, the former defensive coordinator at California, will coach nickels at Boise State. He also will work with the “studs” — defensive ends like Shea McClellin who play like outside linebackers when the Broncos use a three-man front.

Former defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox coached the nickels.

Kwiatkowski will remain the defensive line coach, the job he has held since 2006. He wanted it that way.

“I’m close to those guys,” Kwiatkowski said. “It would be tough to turn them over to somebody else.”

Said senior defensive end Ryan Winterswyk: “I was real relieved. … I don’t think anybody probably teaches D-line better than him.”

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Even without running, former Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson impressed this week at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Wilson did 25 bench-press repetitions at 225 pounds — five more than any other cornerback and second-most of any defensive back, according to NFL.com. In fact, many are making a big deal of the fact that Wilson did more reps than Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who is considered a potential top-five pick.

Wilson is not running at the combine because of a hamstring injury. He'll do that March 26 in Boise at a pro day that could draw a big crowd of NFL personnel.

The fastest time in the 40-yard dash by a cornerback was 4.45, according to NFL.com. Wilson expects to run in the 4.3s.

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The WAC hopes to release its football schedule this week.

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Virginia Tech already excited about the opener against the Broncos.

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