Well, I’m on it a lot, and probably too much. Even so, the forum does allow some interesting and sometimes instructive fan interactions such as one I had just recently.

In the wake of BYU Defensive Coordinator Jay Hill moving on to join Kyle Whittingham’s staff at Michigan, the imperative for Cougar Head Coach Kalani Sitake is to bring in a qualified and effective defensive coordinator to replace the former Weber State Head Coach. So I ran a poll, and suggested names such as BYU Special Teams Coordinator Kelly Poppinga, BYU Cornerbacks Coach Jenaro Gilford, who hadn’t yet accepted a post at Michigan, and outside hires such as former Cal Coach Justin Wilcox and Florida State Defensive Coordinator Tony White.

I thought it was a solid poll, but the response I heard from several fans was, “What about Gary Andersen?”, or more overtly, “I can’t believe you didn’t even mention Gary Andersen, Gurney!”

Well, what about Gary Andersen, and why didn’t I mention him as a potential Defensive Coordinator replacement?

Well, Andersen simply doesn’t want the gig.

But why?

Well, to answer that question effectively it seems appropriate to go over Andersen’s somewhat unusual collegiate coaching duty and what led him to his current behind-the-scenes post in Provo.

Before there was Kalani Sitake, Morgan Scalley or even Jay Hill, there was Gary Andersen as Kyle Whittingham’s most trusted and top assistant coach. The former Rick’s College center joined Utah’s staff in 1997, left to coach at Southern Utah one year, and then returned to coach as Utah’s Defensive line coach in 2004 before being named as Kyle Whittingham’s first defensive coordinator in 2005 before leaving to become the head coach for Utah State in 2009.

Andersen became one of the hottest coaching candidates in the country after coaching the Aggies to new heights, including a 2012 season which saw the program win 11 games with the only blemishes being tight losses to Wisconsin and BYU. Unironically it was Wisconsin that moved to hire Andersen as its head coach in 2013, which was undoubtedly a huge promotion at the time.

Andersen did well at Wisconsin, but for somewhat undisclosed reasons opted out of Madison after guiding the Badgers to a 19-6 overall record from 2013-2014. Andersen then headed back west to become the head coach at Oregon State where he coached three seasons before returning to Utah as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2018 and then as Utah State’s head coach a year after. Andersen’s second stint in Logan proved unsuccessful with Andersen being fired in 2020 after an 0-3 start to the season.

Weird, huh?

Well, it perhaps gets even a bit weirder from there.

Rather than jump back into the coaching ranks, Andersen next showed up as an analyst for Jay Hill at Weber State for the 2021 and 2022 seasons before returning to become one of Hill’s analysts at BYU for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

What’s notable is how much Jay Hill’s defenses improved with Gary Andersen on staff. From 2016 to 2020 Weber State defenses yielded 353.3 yards of total offense per game. In 2021, the year when Andersen joined Hill’s staff, the Wildcats gave up just 282.7 yards per game and then 325.2 yards in 2022.

At BYU opposing offenses torched BYU in 2023 for an average of 417.7 yards per game before the Cougar defense showed dramatic improvements in 2024, the year Andersen arrived in Provo, yielding just 308.8 yards per game and then this past season where teams gained an average of 332.4 yards.

Of course not all of this is due to Andersen, and Andersen himself would likely be the first to admit as much. But few, if any, would argue that Andersen is still an exceptional defensive coach and rightly defined as one of the top defensive minds in the country.

It was assumed by some, including myself, that Andersen was tied to Hill and would join his close friend in Ann Arbor, although Andersen himself went to the radio waves several days ago to assert his intention to stay in Provo and resume his same position at BYU.

So what exactly does Andersen do at BYU?

According to sources, he has been granted a lot of autonomy and basically just coaches while the players are on the practice field and during games, and then leaves. No recruiting, probably some type of work in the film room, but none of the extra stuff that could be well-assumed to have burned him out over the years.

And Andersen feels very content to do as much, as he himself has stated.

So whomever BYU does name as its new defensive coordinator will be afforded a tremendous asset in Andersen, who intends to stay in Provo for the near future. His coaching resume, while unusual, is extremely accomplished and defenses largely benefit greatly when he’s coaching in any capacity.

Perhaps no one understands how valuable Andersen is than Sitake, who is now in the process of hiring a new defensive coordinator with Poppinga thought to be the top candidate currently. Given Poppinga’s familiarity with Andersen, with both coach’s direct responsibilities involve coaching BYU’s defensive front over the past two seasons, it seems like a strong possbility.

But again, whether it be Poppinga or an outside hire, Cougar fans can rest assured that their team’s yet unnamed defensive coordinator will be afforded one of the top assets there is in Gary Andersen.