As part of the transition process for the upcoming move to the Big 12 conference, the BYU football program was authorized to add more support staff.

But, as he said during a teleconference on Monday, Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake wasn’t going add people just to add people.

The teleconference came after Sitake officially named eight people to positions on his football support staff, including three current staff members taking on new roles.

The support staff will be led by newly appointed chief of staff, Jon Swift, who has served the past four seasons as the director of football operations for Sitake. Billy Nixon, who has been overseeing the program’s player experience and equipment operations, will be the new director of football operations, while Jack Damuni, the on-campus recruiting and community/player relations coordinator, will serve as the director of football relations.

Sitake also announced the additions of Justin Anderson as the director of player personnel, Mike Hall as the director of player development, Brandon Bradley as the director of campus experience and Josh Hewitt as the director of equipment operations for football. Meanwhile, Dan Wilcox, who has been providing nutrition services for the team, has been hired as the director of football sports performance nutrition.

“I’m just really excited to announce some new family members on our staff,” Sitake said. “I’m really excited about the opportunities that we have to grow and to work more efficiently as a football program with the new hires. I’ve been really excited to getting to know them throughout the interview process. I’ve known a number of them for a lot of years and so being able to have them and their expertise and their background here with us is going to be really important. More importantly, it’s going to be a huge opportunity for them to mentor the young men in our program.”

Swift said that these latest steps are part of an emphasis to meet the needs of being a Big 12 program.

“When we made the Big 12 announcement, one of the first things Kalani and I did was was get together and evaluate our current organization and how it compared to those who we will be competing against,” Swift said. “We saw that there was a big gap there. So we’ve put our minds together and really started drawing up our idea of what the appropriate organization looks like to be able to be competitive in the Big 12 and moving forward.”

The BYU head coach explained that the goal of the expansion process is to enable staff to excel in their various roles more instead of being spread too thin.

“The work is there,” Sitake said. “This allows our guys to maybe focus on something a little bit unique and master their craft but also find ways to really improve our program altogether. I felt like the guys were spread too thin, and now this gives us a chance for them to really do well and magnify their jobs.”

He explained that the most important aspect to him is elevating the attention that can be given through program in all aspects of their mission, especially since they are being entrusted with more funds.

“The money helps out but it’s about where we can utilize it to help our program become even better,” Sitake said. “For me, it was finding the right people who can connect with our players who will work really well with our staff. They will also work well with the fans and the faculty and staff on campus and the students on campus. I’m really proud of these new hires. These men have done a great job in their lives and I appreciate the people that they are, their family life as well as what they can do professionally.”

Sitake also acknowledged that BYU isn’t done adding new positions.

“I want to hire as many as possible,” Sitake said. “I’ll take as much help as we can get. I’ll probably ask for way more than they are going to give us but that’s OK. I love being the head coach but I can work a lot better when I have a bunch of bright minds in the building. It helps up to be able to collaborate with so many people, where we can get new ideas and then be innovative, find new ways to do something.”

Check Wednesday’s Daily Herald sports section for more details about some of the new positions and additions to the Cougar football staff.

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