BYU football: New coaching hires prove Cougars want experience
The first time, BYU football opted for less-experienced coaches. The second time around, things are certainly changing in Provo.
BYU football’s recent coaching hires prove that Kalani Sitake is coaching for his job. And he wants experienced people around him.
It’s something that reminds me of LaVell Edwards. Edwards wasn’t always a legend, but he was often credited with surrounding himself with great coaches. Granted, LaVell had a way of developing coaches, too – just look at his coaching tree – but it all starts with who you hire.
Unfortunately, Sitake found that out the hard way.
After a two-year run with his original staff, Sitake had some moves to make. He relieved a BYU football legend of his OC duties, inspired BYU’s board of trustees to invest more into the program, then targeted a coach with more than 20 years of experience.
With Jeff Grimes aboard, Sitake had his man. But where BYU football typically has some structure in terms of who you can hire and fire, Grimes was given autonomy to fill out his staff.
And the first-time offensive coordinator did what a 20+ year coach would do. He filled his staff with experienced coaches.
Grimes retained Steve Clark, who coached Matt Bushman to the USA Today SPORTS Freshman All-America team and has play-calling experience.
Then Grimes hired a trio of coaches: Aaron Roderick, Fesi Sitake and Ryan Pugh.
Roderick has 18 years of coaching experience, including a stint as offensive coordinator with Utah in the Pac-12. Sitake has seven years of experience and two seasons of being an offensive coordinator. Pugh was an All-American center under Grimes at Auburn, then coached with Grimes at Auburn, Virginia Tech and LSU. He’s a guy that’s clearly trusted by the Cougars’ new OC.
It goes to show you what happens when your back is against the wall. When rubber meets the road, you turn to guys who have been there before. Who have been around longer than you.
My guess? It’s going to work out well for BYU football.