Bronco Mendenhall Finalizes Coaching Staff For First Year At Utah State

LOGAN, Utah- There has been a buzz around Maverik Stadium in Logan since the hiring of new head coach Bronco Mendenhall in early December. While early reports and the words out of Mendenhall’s mouth indicated that a large portion of his staff would be following him from New Mexico, there were still a few pieces to fill.

As of January 15, Bronco Mendenhall has hired the final pieces, solidifying his coaching and support staff for the 2025 season, so let’s take a look at the resumes of some of the new additions.

Utah State’s new head coach announced 22 members of his staff, 16 of which were with Mendenhall last year in Albuquerque, with a handful of others coming from his staffs at BYU and Virginia.

One of his coordinators who will not be coming from New Mexico to Utah State is the former Lobos Offensive Coordinator Jason Beck, who took the OC job down I-15 on Kyle Whittingham’s staff at Utah

RELATED: Utah Utes Football Name Jason Beck New Offensive Coordinator

We are just getting started!! 😤💪#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/XVDaMVqonU

— USU Football (@USUFootball) January 11, 2025

Offense

Offensive Coordinator – Kevin McGiven

The 2025 season under Bronco Mendenhall will not be McGiven’s first stint with the Aggies. In fact, has made two previous appearances on the Utah State coaching staff.

For two seasons in 2013 and 2014, McGiven was the offensive coordinator in Logan under Matt Wells. In those two years, Utah State won 19 games. Before that, Kevin was an assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach in 2009 under Gary Andersen.

Kevin McGiven has spent the last seven years as the offensive coordinator of the San Jose State Spartans, winning the Mountain West Conference and a appeared in four bowl games during his tenure.

McGivens other stops include Oregon State, Montana State, Memphis, Weber State, Southern Utah, Louisiana Tech, and BYU.

Wide Receivers/Passing Game Coordinator – DeNarius McGhee

DeNarius McGhee brings experience from the professional ranks as he has spent the last five years on two different NFL coaching staffs.

Last year, McGhee was an assistant wide receivers coach for the New Orleans Saints, spending time with some of the league’s premiere talent, including Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Rashid Shaheed.

For four years before that, McGhee was an offensive assistant on the Houston Texans coaching staff. He also spent time at Montana State, North Carolina State, and Florida Atlantic.

Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator – Mario Acitelli

Acitelli comes over from Williamsburg, Virginia after two seasons at William & Mary, including one as offensive coordinator of the Tribe.

During his time, William & Mary ranked first in the CAA in all but two offensive line categories and was near the top in FCS rankings, even coming in at No. 1 in the nation when it came to average time to throw a pass, showing his line’s ability to give the quarterback ample time and protection.

Acitelli has coached 12 NFL players, bringing a pedigree for coaching professionals to Logan.

Besides William & Mary, Mario has also spent time at LSU, Elon, North Carolina, Texas, and Appalachian State.

Running Backs Coach – Kirk Garner

Kirk Garner is a member of Mendenhall’s staff who he has taken from school to school. Most recently, Garner was with Bronco in Albuquerque as the running backs coach of the New Mexico Lobos, and before that, he was on his staff at Virginia.

Last year, New Mexico led the conference in rushing yards per game and rushing yards per attempt, and his guys got into the end zone 37 times.

Kirk also has coaching experience at East Tennessee State and Vanderbilt.

Other Offensive Hires

Quarterbacks Coach – Matt Johns – Johns has been with Mendenhall at both Virginia and New Mexico, with a stop at William & Mary in between.

Senior Analyst/Tight Ends – Ali’i Niumatalolo: Ali’i is no stranger to the Beehive State. He spent last year as the outside linebackers coach for the Trailblazers of Utah Tech and was on the Utah Ute’s coaching staff in 2022.

RELATED: Bronco Mendenhall Will Look To Blend Influence And Results At Utah State

Defense

Defensive Coordinator – Nick Howell

On a staff of young, up-and-coming coaches, Nick Howell brings an extensive and impressive resume to Logan. Howell has 18 years of coaching experience dating back to 2007 when he was on the staff at BYU.

He spent eight years with the Cougars before heading east with Coach Mendenhall to Virginia and then out west again to New Mexico. Overall, Howell and Mendenhall have worked together for 16 years and Nick has been a defensive coordinator for 12 of them.

For the two years he wasn’t with Bronco, Howell was the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt, putting his skills up against the best offenses in the nation in the SEC.

Linebackers Coach – Shane Hunter

Shane Hunter also brings more than a decade of college football coaching experience to the table.

Hunter has coached every defensive position during his 14 years, 10 of them with Bronco Mendenhall, including last year at New Mexico.

Coach Hunter is another member of the staff who has made the rounds here in Utah with coaching stops at Utah Tech, Snow College, and BYU, making Utah State his fourth school in the state.

Shane will also be the special teams coordinator.

Outside Linebackers Coach – Jan Jorgensen

Of Jorgensen’s 10 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, he has spent five of them on a Bronco Mendenhall-led staff, both at BYU and New Mexico.

Jorgensen also spent three years as the defensive coordinator down in Ephraim at Snow College

Jan spent his player career in Provo as a BYU Cougar where he wracked up 101 solo tackles and 26 sacks over his four seasons.

Other Defensive Hires

Defensive Line Coach – Donte Wilkins: Has coached under Bronco Mendenhall for four of his eight years of experience. Spent time at UCLA before joining Mendenhall’s staff in Virginia and then following him to New Mexico.

Cornerbacks Coach – Charles Mack: Charles was with Bronco in Virginia from 2019 to 2022. After his stint at UVS, he was the Director of Player Personnel and safties coach at the Virginia Military Institute before rejoining Mendenhall at New Mexico.

Other Support Staff Hires

Senior Defensive Analyst – Austin Gatewood

Special Teams Analyst – Brett Arkelian

Junior Analyst/Skills Assistant- Josh Clifford

Junior Defensive Analyst- Nick Grant

Chief of Staff – Pat Hickman

Director of Football Operations – Joe Spaziani

Director of Player Personnel – Evan Butts

Defensive Recruiting Analyst – Jordan Pulou

Offensive Recruiting Analyst – Ben Hogg

Head Coach Assistant – Summer Tujague

Tanner Tripp is a sports writer for KSL Sports covering all teams across the state of Utah. Follow him on X @tanner_tripp and Instagram @tanner.tripp here.

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