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BYU graduate assistant Kyle Griffitts (in blue) sings the country song "Wagon Wheel" along with his teammates in the Maverik Stadium locker room after a 34-20 win at Utah State on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

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Former Cougar fullback and tight end Kyle Griffitts, now a graduate assistant, poses for a photo in August of 2021. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

Ryan Campbell

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BYU's Kyle Griffitts works on special teams during a game against UTSA at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

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BYU's Kyle Griffitts and Blake Freeland walk through the tunnel to LaVell Edwards Stadium before a football game against UTSA on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

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BYU's Kyle Griffitts (foreground) warms up with his teammates before a college football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

Jaren Wilkey/BYU

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BYU's Kyle Griffitts runs with the ball during a game against Troy at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (BYU Courtesy Photo)

Jaren Wilkey/BYU

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When Kyle Griffitts accepted one of the BYU football graduate assistant jobs in the winter of 2021, he had a message for Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake: “I’m coming for your job in 10 years.”

Griffitts, a former walk-on from Florida who played for Sitake from 2016 to 2020, was joking with his mentor.

Or was he?

“I want to be the head football coach at BYU one day,” Griffitts said. “I told Kalani that and he said, ‘Hey, I want you to come and take my job in 10 years.’ Really, my end goal is that I want to be a head football coach at a Division I school. But my dream would be the head coaching job at BYU.”

The coaching journey for Griffitts begins very simply as one of four graduate assistants for the Cougars, along with Gavin Fowler, Jordan Howard and Spencer Patterson. According to Glassdoor, the average graduate assistant salary is around $23,000 a year. It’s an entry level job with entry level duties. The NCAA allows a graduate assistant two years before they have to head off into the world to find a full-time gig.

Griffitts, who played fullback and tight end for BYU, is working with defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki and defensive ends coach Preston Hadley in his first season as a GA.

Griffitts served a church mission to Argentina and made the Cougar roster as a walk-on in 2016. His plan was to earn a psychology degree and go into marriage and family therapy. After two years, he decided he wasn’t cut out to be a therapist. The BYU staff encouraged Griffitts to look into a career in coaching and told him they would love to have him on board when his playing career was over.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder played in 33 games during his four seasons in Provo, mainly on special teams, but earned a scholarship in 2020. He logged one reception (for 29 yards against Troy last year), one punt return and one kickoff return. He considered the opportunity to come back and play an additional year for the Cougars but one of the graduate assistant jobs opened up for 2021.

Griffitts said he wasn’t sure why the coaching staff wanted him to go into coaching.

“I’m just a normal dude,” Griffitts said. “But I enjoy talking to people and I’ve made relationships my No. 1 priority. I’m good with coaches and players and I get along well with them. I’m a team guy. I mean, there’s nothing special about me as a d-line grad assistant but I do love people.”

Griffitts also has special teams responsibilities with the punt and kickoff teams.

What else?

“Shoot, a lot of things,” Griffitts said. “I’m responsible for lots and lots of reports. We’re watching and tagging film for personnel, down and distance, what hash mark the other team is on, formations, watching for tendencies and then getting the film cut up, just a million different things. We prepare and organize for the other coaches.”

Another one of Griffitts’ responsibilities takes him into the coaches box on game day, where he passes along the opponent’s personnel information and formations as Tuiaki makes the defensive calls.

Griffitts said as a senior he had an opportunity to wear a headset and help signal in plays during a game. He assumed his current duties during scrimmages in fall camp. But the first time he got into the coaches box in a real game – the season opener against Arizona at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas – was a shocker.

“It was horrible,” Griffitts said. “I was so stoked to be in a stadium with fans again but it was such a new experience. My elbows were shaking and I couldn’t get the binoculars to focus. I was so nervous. I would forget what order I needed to tell Coach E things in. I thought for sure I would be fired after the game. But the coaches were so patient with me.”

The speed of the college football presents unique challenges for the coaches in the box. Most teams don’t use all of the 40-second play clock in favor of a faster pace to keep the opponent off balance. Griffitts has to provide the correct information to the coaches as many as 80 times in a single game and within just a few seconds.

“I have three sheets of notes that I’m writing down information on ever single play,” Griffitts said. “I’m so locked in and I have to be really efficient.”

With nine coaches and several grad assistants on the headsets, things can get a little crazy during games.

“It can be chaotic,” Griffitts admitted. “The offense is on one channel and the defense is on another and sometimes we’re all trying to talk at once. Coach (Kevin) Clune, he’s really good on getting us to focus and move on to the next play. So everyone just stops talking and moves on.”

Griffitts has a nervous habit of chewing on his tongue. After the first game, he said his tongue was raw and sore. He’s taken to bringing gum (Five Gum or any polar ice flavor, to be specific) with him to the booth. He averages about 15-20 pieces of gum per game.

Tuiaki said Sitake and assistant head coach Ed Lamb do some channel hopping to monitor both sides of the ball. Tuiaki sits with offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick on one side and the excitable Griffitts on the other.

“Sometimes I pass messages from Kalani on to ARod,” Tuiaki said on this week’s Coordinator’s Corner show. “When good plays happen we high five each other or after a big completion I’m pounding on his chest. It’s supposed to be calm in the box but I sit next to Kyle and he’s always punching me in the arm. There’s a lot going on but it’s usually clean and smooth.”

Griffitts obviously doesn’t hide his feeling in the booth.

“I’m an emotional dude,” he said. “My team, my buddies, girls, they all say so. I wear my heart on my sleeve. If something good happens during the game I get to my feet. I’ve got to cheer on my boys. I want to go crazy. I’m always punching Coach E’s right arm when something good happens or I jump on his back. He’s telling me we’ve got to focus but I’m always giving him hugs and first bumps. He loves it.”

After BYU’s 34-20 victory at Utah State, Griffitts helped continue a tradition that began after the 2019 victory in Logan – the playing of the country song, “Wagon Wheel” in the locker room to honor the traveling trophy between the two schools.

Griffitts took the speaker and climbed on top of a locker to sing along with his teammates.

“The coaches make fun of me for all I know about country music,” he said. “If the boys ever need a play list, I’m the guy. Joe Tukuafu, Uriah Leiataua, Alden Tofa, Lopini Katoa, Lorenzo Fauatea – we just went out there and did our thing. When the music cut out we knew the words and kept singing anyway.”

Griffitts said he’s very appreciative of the opportunity to learn and grow as a coach.

“What I love most is that football is just a massive game of chess,” he said. “Being up in the booth with Coach E, the way he reads the field, he just takes the information I give him and in a split second makes his call to put our guys in the best position for success.

“I’m really grateful for my job as a GA. There are so many people out there who want this job and I’m blessed enough to have it. Kalani is a great father figure and Coach (Steve) Clark is a big reason why I stayed in football. All of the coaches are big mentors to me. I’d follow them anywhere. They’re the type of men and this is the type of culture I want to be around. I’ve learned more about football this season then I have my entire life.”

BYU football players sing “Wagon Wheel” after beating Utah State.

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