Is Jay Hill a candidate to coach Utah State? BYU defensive coordinator 'focused' on Houston

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

PROVO — There's little (if any) argument that Jay Hill's time as defensive coordinator at BYU has been anything but a success.

The 49-year-old former Weber State head coach currently leads the No. 27-rated defense with the Cougars, who are ranked No. 19 nationally with a 9-2 record and 6-2 mark in Big 12 play ahead of the regular-season finale Saturday against Houston (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN).

The Cougars need a few breaks, but a win over the visiting Cougars could potentially vault BYU into the Big 12 championship game Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas — if either Arizona State or Iowa State lose to Arizona or Kansas State, respectively.

But with breakout seasons come other worries, including off-the-field coaching carousel rumors.

Hill has recently been linked by a handful of media outlets to a potential opening at Utah State, where interim head coach Nate Dreiling has led the Aggies to a 4-7 record ahead of Saturday's finale against Colorado State.

And when Hill, a former Utah cornerback who spent nearly a decade on Kyle Whittingham's staff on the Hill before moving to Ogden and eventually returning to his native Utah County as associate head coach of the Cougars, was asked about his potential involvement with Utah State, he didn't exactly eliminate the speculation.

"There's always so many rumors about that kind of stuff," Hill said after practice Tuesday. "Right now, I'm focused on BYU and what we've got to get done here. At this time of year, there's always those rumors."

Hill admitted the timing of coaching searches, when many of them play at during the regular season and as teams are preparing for bowl games or potential College Football Playoff appearances, "isn't necessarily ideal."

"But there's always going to be rumors surrounding that stuff, and it's always going to be happy at the end of the year," he added. "That's just part of the timing of those things."

Hill added that he "absolutely" has loved his job in Provo, where he took over a struggling defense to become one of the top units in the Big 12 as the Cougars entered their new conference. He has a strong relationship with head coach Kalani Sitake, who worked with Hill under Whittingham before Hill went on to be a wildly successful FCS head coach of 68 wins, six playoff appearances and foru Big Sky championships, while Sitake followed Gary Andersen to Oregon State as defensive coordinator before returning to his own alma mater.

The duo "speak the same language," Sitake has often said of the two defensive-minded coaches, and Hill isn't afraid to ask for help and collaboration from the rest of the coaching staff.

And when it comes to moving on and becoming a head coach at another program, Sitake admits he won't necessarily stand in the way of his assistant coaches' ambitions — while noting that his primary job is to retain the coaching talent he's assembled in Provo, including Hill, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, and the roster of position coaches that may attract interest from the outside.

"Reports of Jay Hill as a possible head coach have been around since before he's shown up here, on day one," Sitake said. "I'm going to do everything I can to keep him here, because I love having him around. He's a great advisor to me and a great coach.

"But it makes sense," he ninth-year head coach added. "We have a lot of candidates to be head coaches on our staff. That means we are doing something right."

From an outside perspective, the pair's relationship has gone beyond co-workers or even employer-employee relationship. Hill and Sitake have become close friends in their time working together in college football, with Sitake even calling him "part of the family."

Will it keep the two together permanently? That's yet to be seen, and Hill will undoubtedly want to run his own program again some day like he did at Weber State.

But Hill, who was named one of 65 nominees for the 2024 Broyles Award that honors college football's top assistant coaches, may have a decision to make in the future, perhaps even as recently as the end of the season.

Whatever that decision is, it will come after Hill tries to take BYU to its second double-digit win season in the past four years while keeping alive the Cougars' hopes of a Big 12 title berth. Whatever it is, he'll have the support of his current head coach, too.

"Kalani is phenomenal to work for, and the program's super special (at BYU)," said Hill, who grew up in Lehi. "I love the administration, and BYU is a phenomenal place."

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Sean Walker

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KSL.com BYU and college sports reporter