Cougars’ coaches keeping emotions in check ahead of return to Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium

Perhaps it is because BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill played for and coached at Utah and BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick only coached at Utah after playing for BYU, but Kalani Sitake’s top assistants are approaching Saturday’s rivalry game with slightly different emotions and perspectives.
For Hill, the long-awaited Big 12 matchup at Rice-Eccles Stadium (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN) brings a sense of excitement and anticipation that reminds him of his playing days.
“I love this game,” he said Tuesday. “I love what it represents for the state. I love what it represents for the players and the coaches. I think rivalries are fun.”
For Roderick, who played for BYU under legendary coach LaVell Edwards from 1996-98 and was a receivers coach, quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator from 2005-16 under Kyle Whittingham, it is no more important, or less important, than any other.
“When you do this for a living, every game feels like life and death. It really does,” Roderick said Wednesday. “And so yeah, it is a big game. No matter what team I have been on, I have always wanted my team to win.”
Of course, Sitake also played at BYU (1994, 1997-2000) and coached at Utah (2005-14) before becoming Oregon State’s defensive coordinator in 2015 and BYU’s head coach in 2016. He’s spent the last two weeks since No. 9 BYU improved to 8-0 with a 37-24 win over UCF extolling the virtues of the rivalry that was ultra-bitter when Whittingham and his predecessor, Bronco Mendenhall, butted heads but has seemingly cooled off a bit because the in-state rivals haven’t met since 2021 and also because he and Whittingham are the closest of friends.
“I have a lot of love for that (Utah) program and a lot of love for the people there. I hope the fans can enjoy the game and keep it at that. Just remember we are all closely related and we are all connected,” Sitake said. “So I think we can have this game and it can be a rivalry on the field, but show a little bit more appreciation for each other as we go through this game.”
Of course, Whittingham, Hill and Roderick aren’t the only coaches on the staff with Utah ties. Defensive line coach Sione Po’uha, volunteer consultant Gary Andersen, senior analyst Chad Kauha’aha’a, linebackers coach Justin Ena and offensive analyst Raelon Singleton all played for, or coached at, Utah. Many did both.
Whittingham has noticed, obviously.
“I think it works both ways because a lot of what they’re doing is stuff that we do. I don’t know how many guys, I was trying to count ‘em up the other day, I think I counted eight, nine or 10 guys that are on their staff in some capacity that were on our staff previously, and so I guess we trained them well,” Whittingham said.
On Utah’s staff, Whittingham and his brother, tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Freddie Whittingham, played for BYU.
“There is nothing wrong with me being appreciative of them and appreciate what they do as a program and as a university, and the people who have graduated from there and people I got to know,” Sitake said. “I enjoyed my time there. It was awesome. Because of that I was able to get this opportunity that is here with me right now.”
Hill went from being Utah’s tight ends and special teams coach in 2013 to Weber State’s head coach in 2014, and stayed in Ogden until Sitake lured him to Provo in 2023 to revive a foundering defense. He’s pretty much done just that in BYU’s second season in the Big 12.
Hill said making the move was “awkward at first” but he’s adjusted nicely and loves where he’s at now.
“When you put your heart and soul into a job, and these players, and the administration and everything that goes on here, then it is another game (emotionally) to us right now,” he said. “It is a job that we have to do. I am excited for the matchup and I am excited for the familiarity that there is to this game. I think it all adds to the excitement and fun of it.”
Hill coached against Utah twice when he was at Weber State, losing to the Utes 41-10 in 2018 and 40-17 in 2021. He said the Utah program “is super special to me,” but that doesn’t mean he will have mixed emotions, or allegiances, on Saturday night.
“I am at BYU and I love this program and I love this institution and I love what these players represent,” he said. “I think it is OK to have (good) feelings that way for both sides.”
Hill, 49, who suffered a heart attack two days before BYU’s opener but hasn’t missed a game all season, said he owes Whittingham a lot for his career as a player and a coach.
“I was a player in his defensive system. When I was a young coach, I learned so much of the game from him. I got nothing but love and respect for that guy. He taught me so much,” Hill said. “He is like a brother/father figure to me in coaching. It is a close relationship and I will cherish it forever because I owe him so much.”
Hill said the programs’ familiarity with each other won’t matter much once the ball is kicked off Saturday.
“They understand us and we understand them,” he said. “I think that adds to the game and makes it more fun. It is still going to come down to whoever plays the best and executes the best. That team is going to have the best chance to win the game.”
Having studied BYU’s defense the past two weeks, Whittingham said Hill “has evolved” as a defensive coordinator, but still uses a lot of the basics that he learned at Utah.
“Jay has done a terrific job putting his own stamp on it, just like Morgan (Scalley) has done a terrific job of putting his own stamp on the defense here,” Whittingham said. “But the building blocks are the same, and that’s really what wins games — blocking, tackling, how you defeat blocks, all that stuff is what wins and loses games. It’s not plays, it’s players and how they fundamentally operate. And he’s got those guys doing a great job.”
Not a lot of people know that Roderick joined Mendenhall’s staff at BYU in 2013, then changed his mind and returned to Utah. He returned to BYU in 2017 as an offensive consultant, then became a full-time staffer in 2018 when BYU hired Jeff Grimes to replace Ty Detmer as offensive coordinator.
Roderick still lives in Salt Lake City at a home not far from the University of Utah, and maintains many close friendships he established at the university. When he says the “bragging rights among neighbors” is one of the many aspects that make the rivalry tick, he knows what he is talking about.
“I have just learned over the years that it is a big game, and it is a lot of fun. I think this is why you play this game, why you want to be a part of (college football), is games like this,” he said.
It was obvious to everyone that Whittingham and Mendenhall never really bonded — perhaps because Mendenhall got the BYU job after Whittingham turned it down after the Utes’ Fiesta Bowl run in 2004 and the comparisons lingered.
However, Roderick said ill feelings between staffs “has never been a problem,” from his perspective.
“I mean, there has always been a healthy respect, I mean, forever. When I coached up there, I respected these guys (in Provo). They were good coaches,” he said. “And now, it is the same thing. We know they are really good coaches, and I think they have respect for us, and so yeah, I think that has always been there for the coaches.”