Utah reportedly making surprise coaching hire to round out defensive staff

It doesn't appear the Utes will be bringing in an alumnus many expected would be hired as part of Morgan Scalley's first-year staff

Utah Utes head coach Morgan Scalley has made six adjustments/hires to his first-year staff since the 2025 season ended. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Turns out, Inoke Breckterfield won't be joining Oregon State's coaching staff for the 2026 season.

Roughly two weeks after Breckterfield was named the defensive line coach at his alma mater, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Utah was set to hire the veteran coach to be part of Morgan Scalley's first-year staff.

According to Thamel, the Utes are set to bring Breckterfield on as the team's next defensive ends coach, filling the vacancy created by Lewis Powell's decision to join Kyle Whittingham and Michigan in a similar role.

Breckterfield was hired by first-year Beavers head coach JaMarcus Shephard about a week before Christmas. Breckterfield, an all-conference player for the Beavers in the late 1990s, spent the past two seasons as Baylor's defensive line coach.

In addition to unusual timeline Breckterfield followed to get to Salt Lake City, the hire came as a surprise to many fans considering the buzz around Jason Kaufusi's potential return to his alma mater.

Kaufusi, currently the defensive run game coordinator and defensive line coach at Washington, is a Salt Lake City native who played for the Utes from 2000-03 and was a member of Utah's coaching staff as the team's cornerbacks coach in 2009. He gained experienced coaching defensive line players during his time at Weber State (2010-11 and 2014-16) and Nevada (2017-18).

It was expected by many that the 46-year-old would be targeted by Utah as a candidate to coach the defensive ends in 2026, though a deal between the two sides never came to fruition.

Regardless, Utah managed to fill out its defensive coaching staff by hiring someone who's been tutoring defensive linemen for the past 16 years, including future NFL Hall-of-Fame inductee, Aaron Donald, during his time as Pitt's defensive tackles coach.

Breckterfield also brings a winning pedigree with him to Utah. In his two seasons at Washington, Breckterfield helped the Huskies achieve a 25-3 record, highlighted by a 14-1 campaign that culminated in a College Football Playoff National Championship game appearance in 2023.

During his time in Seattle, Breckterfield helped improve Washington from the No. 108-ranked run defense in 2021 to No. 25 in 2022. The Huskies also jumped from the No. 98-ranked team in sacks in 2021 to No. 20 following Breckterfield's arrival.

Breckterfield's hire was the sixth coaching move Utah made since the end of the 2025 season. The Utes lost several coaches to Whittingham's Wolverines following Utah's win over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl, including including offensive coordinator Jason Beck; tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham; quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr.; wide receivers coach Micah Simon; offensive line coach Jim Harding and Powell.

Breckterfield will join a defensive coaching staff that features defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, Colton Swan; defensive tackles coach Luther Elliss; cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah and safeties coach Derrick Odum.

Sources: Utah is set to hire Inoke Breckterfield as the school’s new defensive ends coach. He’d just got to Oregon State and has a long history coaching defensive line, including at places like UCLA, Washington and Pitt. pic.twitter.com/H8h3DzUfqb

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 4, 2026