Shuffling the Deck: Coaching Staff Overhaul

 BYU has finished the absolute overhauling of its coaching staff with the heavy focus on the defensive side. The cougars have announced the staff and their roles heading into the inaugural season with the Big 12 as follows:

Jay Hill: Defensive Coordinator, Safeties & Assoc Head Coach

Justin Ena: Linebackers

Kelly Poppinga:Special Teams Coordinator, Defensive Ends

Jernaro Gilford: Cornerbacks

Sione Po'uha: Defensive Tackles

Hill arrives at BYU with 22 years of coaching experience. Jay transformed Weber State into a perennial FCS Power. Weber has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the country and has gone to dix of the last seven FCS playoffs. The wildcats have won four Big Sky titles. His defenses were among the best in the country in addition to being a proven recruiter. Coach Hill is inheriting a defense that was clearly the worst in Sitake's tenure by a wide margin (ranked 93rd). He is also making the jump from FCS to the Power Five. When Jay was at Utah they made the same type of jump to the Power Five who understand what it takes. Hill hopes to take that experience and mold the defense worthy to compete in the Big 12.

Ena comes back home to BYU where he played from 1997-2001 including four seasons in the NFL bringing 16 years of coaching experience. Justin has coached at Southern Utah, Weber State, Utah State, Utah Tech, Utah and most recently San Diego State. His defensive staff ranked 4th nationally in red zone defense, 21st in rushing defense, 21st in tackles for loss, 24th for sacks, and 25th in scoring defense. He has stated "I am beyond blessed to be able to come back home to BYU and win conference championships in the Big 12".

Poppinga has coached at BYU, Virginia and Boise State. He played in the NFL in 2008 including going to the Super Bowl XLIII with the Arizona Cardinals. Kelly has coached Kyle Van Noy (two time Superbowl Champion), Fred Warner (now widely considered one of the best MLB in today's game), Alani Fua and Spencer Hadley. Not bad for a guy from Evanston Wyoming. 

Coach Gilford was the lone defensive assistant retained on Sitake's staff. Previously he was the secondary coach for Southern Utah. SUU's defense racked up 20 interceptions good for No. 3 in the FCS in 2015, limited opposing teams to just a 102.5 pass efficiency rating, ranking No. 9 an improvement from the previous year at 111th. During his BYU tenure Jernaro has turned the cornerbacks into a position of strength exceling in recruiting a position group historically difficult at BYU. Coach G is real, honest, upfront, brings out the potential of his players and is such an important piece of this staff with what they are going to do in the coming years. 

Sione has been to the highest levels and is an absolute home run hire for the Cougars. He played 8 years in the NFL. While on the Utah staff team North in 2019 ranked No. 2 in the FBS in total defense that season also held 6 opponents to 7 points or less. If there is anyone that can help restructure and fix the current state of the DL Po'uha sure can. He is that man. 

Absolutely love this staff put together this offseason. If there was a defensive staff I'd follow into battle this is the crew. Can they revitalize, revamp and find the defensive depth necessary to compete weekly in the Big 12 time will tell but I absolutely love our odds.