Ena, who has served as the linebackers coach the past three seasons since joining Sitake’s staff, is a 19-year coaching veteran with 13 seasons of experience as a coordinator, including five years coordinating or co-coordinating the special teams unit. Kauha’aha’a, who has been at BYU since 2024 as a senior analyst, has more than 18 years of college coaching experience, while Walker comes to BYU with 11 seasons of college coaching experience in the secondary and two years as a defensive coordinator.

“I’m excited to have Justin Ena and Chad Kauha’aha’a stepping into these roles and to announce that Lewis Walker is joining our staff,” Sitake said. “Before we undertook the recent changes to our defensive staff, I intended to emphasize special teams even more within our staff structure heading into 2026. I’m pleased to announce that Justin will be our new special teams coordinator with the responsibility of putting his entire focus into coordinating this important phase of our program. Chad has been a valuable contributor to our defense the past two seasons as a senior analyst, and I’m blessed to be able to promote him into a position coaching role with our edge rushers at outside linebacker, an area where he has exceptional experience and expertise. Lewis has spent more than a decade coaching defensive backs and will be a great addition to strengthen our secondary in the cornerbacks room with Demario Warren overseeing our safeties.”

Sitake previously announced the elevations of Kelly Poppinga to defense coordinator and defensive line coach Sione Po’uha to associate head coach as well as the hiring of Warren, an 18-year coaching veteran, as BYU’s new defensive pass game coordinator. With the hiring of Walker to coach cornerbacks, Warren will coach safeties on the staff, and Poppinga will coach inside linebackers with Ena moving from linebackers to exclusively oversee special teams.

“I’ve known Lewis for a long time, ever since he was a player for me at Utah,” Sitake said. “He has a strong expertise teaching cornerbacks and defensive backs and has also been a coordinator overseeing the entire defense for two years. He knows the small details matter and truly cares about the development of the players he coaches. He is from Utah, so he knows our state well. I’m excited to welcome Lewis to BYU.”

A native of Salt Lake City, Walker comes to BYU after working the past 11 seasons in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, including multiple stops at Monmouth University and FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. He served as defensive coordinator at Monmouth in New Jersey the past two years, where the Hawks improved from a 6-6 season in 2024 to earn a 9-3 record in 2025 as members of the Coastal Athletic Association.

Lewis officially comes to BYU from North Dakota State, where he had rejoined the Bison’s staff on Dec. 31 after having previously coached cornerbacks in Fargo for two seasons from 2022-23. Walker helped the Bison achieve an overall record of 23-7 and challenge for the national title both seasons. In 2022 the team advanced to the FCS National Championship Game before finishing as the national runner-up with an overall record of 12-3. In 2023, the Bison achieved an 11-4 record while advancing to the FCS National Semifinals.

Before going to NDSU, Walker served five seasons as the defensive backs coach during his first stint at Monmouth from 2017-21. Monmouth made three FCS playoff appearances during Walker’s time coaching defensive backs and contributed to two Big South Conference titles. He coached three FCS All-Americans while overseeing the defensive secondary and return specialists for the Hawks. During each of his five seasons, the players he mentored went on to earn at least two All-Big South honors for their play, including at least one first-team selection every year.

Walker served as the secondary coach and special teams coordinator at Copper Hills High School in West Jordan, Utah, in 2014 before going to Columbia University in New York City for the 2015 and 2016 seasons as a defensive quality control, defensive backs and returners coach.

As a player, Walker was a defensive back at the University of Hawaii (2008-10) before transferring to complete the final two years of his college career at Utah (2011-12). He prepped in Salt Lake City at Judge Memorial High School where he was a team captain the team’s Most Inspirational Player.

“I am excited for the opportunity to join this BYU program,” Walker said. “I’m really looking forward to being with a lot of familiar people at this elite level and a chance to learn and grow from a great administration and staff here. I can’t wait to get in and develop our cornerbacks and build relationships with all of them.”