BYU Football Coaches Mentioned As Potential Candidates For Nevada Vacancy
Dec 6, 2021, 12:06 PM | Updated: 12:13 pm
Ed Lamb, assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and safeties coach, talks to media during BYU football media day at the BYU Broadcasting Building in Provo on Thursday, June 17, 2021. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – Two BYU football coordinators have been mentioned as potential candidates for the latest vacancy in the coaching carousel.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg mentioned offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick and associate head coach Ed Lamb as coaches that could see some interest for the Nevada Wolfpack vacancy.
Could certainly see #Nevada show some interest in #BYU's staff to replace Jay Norvell. Cougars offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has done an excellent job, as has assistant head coach Ed Lamb, the former HC at Southern Utah.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 6, 2021
University of Nevada Reno’s head coach position came open after Jay Norvell reportedly was hired to be the next coach at Colorado State. Norvell replaces Steve Addazio, who was fired by Colorado State last week.
“Could certainly see Nevada show some interest in BYU’s staff to replace Jay Norvell. Cougars offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has done an excellent job, as has assistant head coach Ed Lamb, the former HC at Southern Utah,” tweeted Rittenberg.
In his first full year with the offensive coordinator title (it’s believed he took over play-calling duties midway through the 2019 season), Roderick has never been a head coach. A BYU alum, Roderick has been the mastermind behind BYU’s revival of the high play at the quarterback position.
Roderick has a long history with Kalani Sitake that dates back to their playing days and the two have worked together for many years at Southern Utah, Utah, and now at BYU.
Ed Lamb has been on Kalani Sitake’s BYU staff since the beginning of 2016. Before joining the staff at his alma mater, he was the head coach at Southern Utah for eight years, posting a 45-47 record and making the FCS Playoffs twice.
HECKUVA STAFF‼️🤙 pic.twitter.com/9i6My9KWeE
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) July 28, 2021
Lamb wears a lot of hats on BYU’s staff. He has a prominent voice on the defensive staff while coaching the safeties and he also is the special team’s coordinator.
The Nevada head coach position is one of the lowest-paying in the Mountain West Conference. Norvell was making an annual salary of $620,000. Instead, he’s jumping to a Colorado State program that was paying Steve Addazio $1.5 million annually.
Kalani Sitake has never had a coach leave his staff for a head coach position. Last year, former offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and offensive line coach Eric Mateos left for the same job titles at Baylor, who defeated BYU this season.
BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki had his name linked to a head coach search this past winter with FCS Montana State; Tuiaki returned to BYU to lead the Cougars defense for a sixth season.
The 2021 Coaching Carousel continues to produce wild results. A total of 25 head coach positions have come open since September.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
