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Whittingham Hires Three Football Assistants
12/10/2004 12:00 AM | Football
Dec. 10, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY -
Kyle Whittingham went for youth in his first hires as the head football coach at the University of Utah. He will wait to solidify their coaching positions once he fills the remaining assistant openings. Already in place is 2004 Ute defensive line coach Gary Andersen, who replaces Whittingham as Utah's defensive coordinator on the new staff.
Whittingham stayed in-house with Jay Hill, a 1999 Utah graduate who has spent this season as an administrative assistant after three years as a Ute graduate assistant. Hill will likely coach the cornerbacks or the entire secondary.
Whittingham lured two assistants from Southern Utah in Aaron Roderick and Kalani Sitake. Andersen coached with the pair in 2003 when he was the head coach at SUU and gave a glowing recommendation to Whittingham. "Gary couldn't say enough about these guys," said Whittingham. Roderick is projected to coach either the running backs or the receivers and Sitake will coach some phase of the defensive line.
Roderick, a 1998 Brigham Young graduate, spent the last two seasons as the Thunderbirds' offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and receivers coach. Sitake, a 2000 BYU graduate, has spent most of his brief coaching career on the defensive side of the ball, but was an offensive assistant at SUU--coaching the running backs and tight ends in 2003 and the offensive line in 2004.
"All three of these guys are bright, young coaches and tireless workers," said Whittingham. "Jay Hill is a rising star in this profession. He is very knowledgeable of our system and understands the secondary inside and out. Aaron Roderick is a cerebral guy with a great offensive mind. He is a young, energetic recruiter. Kalani has coached a lot of positions on both the offense and defense, but we like him as a defensive assistant--probably for the defensive line."
Hill, a starting cornerback for Utah from 1998-99, served as a U. graduate assistant from 2001-03. He assisted with the receivers his first year, the defensive line his second and the cornerbacks in 2003. Among the notable players he coached were receiver Cliff Russell, a 2002 third round draft pick of the Washington Redskins, and first-team all-Mountain West Conference linemen Jason Kaufusi and Garrett Smith. Hill also helped coach lineman Lauvale Sape, a draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, and honorable mention all-conference cornerback Arnold Parker.
Hill led the league in interceptions as a senior and made the all-MWC second team. He played for Ricks Junior College from 1996-97 and was a second-team juco All-American. A native of Lehi, Utah, Hill, 29, graduated from the U. in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in Spanish. He is married to the former Sara Kern.
Roderick played many roles in Southern Utah's best offense season in years. The Thunderbirds averaged 412.0 yards of total offense per game this past season, which ranked No. 20 in NCAA I-AA. Southern Utah set a new school passing record under Roderick, passing for 2975 yards and averaging 270.5 yards per game, which ranked 14th in the nation. He coached a first-team all-conference wide receiver in Jerome Eason, and two second-team all-league picks: quarterback Casey Rehrer and receiver A.J. Smith.
Roderick spent the 2003 season at Snow College, coaching the running backs and special teams. Prior to that, he spent three seasons as a BYU graduate assistant. During that time, he helped with the special teams, linebackers and receivers. A receiver, he started for two years at BYU after earning All-America honors at Ricks College as a receiver/punt returner. He is married to Utah soccer assistant coach Laurel Simpson-Roderick, a former all-conference soccer player for BYU.
Sitake coached the T-Birds' running backs and tight ends in 2003 before moving over to the offensive line in 2004. He coached second-team all-conference lineman Iosefa Robins and honorable mention all-leaguer Lee Chart. Prior to SUU, he coached on the staffs of Eastern Arizona (2001) and BYU (2002). He coached the defensive backs and was the special teams coordinator at Eastern Arizona and was a defensive graduate assistant at BYU.
He was a four-year starting fullback for the Cougars from 1994-2000, with his playing broken up by a two-year LDS church mission. He won BYU's Outstanding Back and Impact Player of the Year awards and was the team captain his senior year. A native of Tonga, Sitake is married to the former Timberly Skye Friddle.
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