Kyle Whittingham’s news to Michigan brings questions about the BYU football staff

Will top assistants like defensive coordinator Jay Hill stay at BYU?

Orlando • BYU head coach Kalani Sitake has been around long enough to know an upset is always in the offing.

Former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is now the focus of Michigan’s job search, ESPN reported Friday. And if he ends up in Ann Arbor, Whittingham will inevitably bring some assistants from his Utah days with him.

The Utes leader has deep ties to several BYU coaches on Sitake’s staff, including BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill.

So what does Sitake think about retaining its own employees amid this potential threat?

“I can’t predict the future,” Sitake said Friday morning. “I know I have coaches on my team who want to be head coaches, and most of those opportunities will come up. So I want them to be as transparent about it as possible. But it’s going to be really tough.”

Hill went to Utah and played for Whittingham. He also coached under his mentor for eight seasons before becoming the head coach at Weber State.

Hill has said he wants to be a head coach again, and his path to that at BYU just got a lot more complicated after Sitake signed a long-term contract extension.

But a key part of this expansion was the addition of resources for Sitake staff and senior coordinators. Will that be enough to keep Michigan away?

Sitake isn’t sure.

But he believes the extension will give him better contingency plans if the likes of Hill leave. BYU has several position coaches who learned under Hill and others.

“When we’re going through this, I just need to know how to hold on [winning]“We were given the opportunity to have more than one coach at the position. So you’ve got a bunch of guys who already know what we’re doing.”

Losing a playcaller, especially someone as valuable as Hill, can be more difficult to replace. But Sitake, who has experience as a defensive coordinator, said his program has to be ready for anything.

“You have it in place, these are the calls you make in that certain situation. You allow the caller to have a little bit of instinct to make that call. But as head coaches, we’re the ones to suppress all of that,” Sitake said.

He later joked, “I can be a jerk and say I call all three phases. I got it, leave me alone. But I trust the guys that are there.”

No matter what happens, Sitake thinks BYU will be competitive enough to retain coaches in the coming weeks. He believes it’s a good sign for the program that Hill and others will be sought out.

BYU has won 22 games the past two years, tops in the College Football Playoff.

“I’m really happy with the long-term deal to be able to establish a foundation and make sure it’s sustainable and that we can overcome anything,” Sitake said. “Whether it’s losing coaches to opportunities. I mean, giving them opportunities. It’s great for them and their families. That’s a good sign that people want our coaches to be leaders and coordinators and be part of programs as well.”