Kalani Sitake Has a Great Track Record Replacing Coordinators

History suggests Sitake will find the right replacement for Jay Hill

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake at BYU Football Fall Camp | BYU Photo

Kalani Sitake has been the head coach at BYU since 2016. In Sitake's tenure, he has replaced coordinators on both sides of the ball. Sitake has a perfect track record replacing coordinators in his time at BYU, and he will need to make the right hire once again.

On Thursday, it became official that Jay Hill will leave BYU for Michigan. Hill will follow his mentor to Ann Arbor where he will lead the Michigan defense. Hill certainly leaves the BYU defense much better than he found it. He took over one of the worst defenses in the entire country and he left after leading back-to-back top 25 scoring defenses.

Losing Hill is certainly a loss for BYU. However, BYU still has a chance to build on the momentum they've built as a program if they make the right hire. History suggests Kalani Sitake will make the right choice whether he goes with an internal promotion or an external candidate.

In this article, we'll look back at Sitake's track record backfilling coordinators.

From Ty Detmer to Jeff Grimes

BYU legend Ty Detmer was not a good fit as an offensive coordinator at BYU. Sitake made the difficult decision to let go of the BYU legend after BYU finished 123rd in scoring offense.

A change was necessary and Sitake has limited resources to work with. At that point, BYU was wandering in the wilderness of independence and there was no P5 invite on the horizon. Sitake went with then LSU offensive line coach Jeff Grimes to lead the BYU offense.

Grimes had never been an offensive coordinator before and he had never called plays. However, Sitake saw the potential in Grimes and offered him the job. Grimes jumped at the chance to become a coordinator and spending years as an offensive line coach.

BYU's offense immediately improved under Grimes. The Cougars improved to 78th in scoring in 2018, then 67th in 2019. The staff had a breakthrough in 2020 when Zach Wilson became an upperclassman. BYU ranked third nationally in scoring offense and Zach Wilson was selected second overall in the NFL Draft.

BYU's success led to Jeff Grimes leaving for Baylor. Remember, BYU still didn't have a P5 invite at the time. Grimes left to coach in a power league and BYU had to find a replacement for Jeff Grimes.

Aaron Roderick Gets Promoted After Jeff Grimes Leaves

After making an external hire following the 2017 season, Sitake made an internal hire by promoting passing game coordinator Aaron Roderick. Roderick had taken on a larger role in BYU's play-calling even before Jeff Grimes left for Baylor. Roderick was also responsible for developing Zach Wilson into one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

Hiring Roderick paid off immediately. The Cougars were able to maintain the positive momentum of the offense and won 10 games in 2021 behind one of the nation's most efficient offenses in college football. BYU ranked fourth nationally in offensive efficiency in 2021 behind only Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia.

Besides a setback in 2023, BYU's offenses have been very good under Aaron Roderick. BYU has ranked in the top 25 in offensive efficiency in three of his five years as an OC and they ranked 40th in 2024.

By every measure, promoting Aaron Roderick was the right move and Sitake made that call. It's also worth noting that BYU moved very quickly. Jeff Grimes was hired by Baylor on January 4th and Aaron Roderick was promoted the same day.

BYU Moves On From Iliasia Tuiaki

After a long run as BYU's defensive coordinator, it was time for Sitake to move on after the 2022 season. BYU had one of the worst defenses in college football that year, ranking 104th in defensive efficiency. The recruiting was so poor on that side of the ball that there were no signs of a turnaround.

That's when BYU hired Jay Hill away from Weber State. Hill had turned down many offers during his time at Weber State, but Sitake was able to attract him to Provo.

It took a year for Hill to really make a difference since BYU was so talent deficienct. By 2024, BYU was a top 25 scoring defense which allowed the Cougars to finish 11-2 and the top defense in the Big 12. The success on defense continued in 2025.

History suggests that Sitake will identify the right coordinator whether it's someone in the building already or an external hire. However, time is of the essence. The transfer portal will open for all college football players on January 2nd.