Will Jay Hill choose Michigan over BYU? Kyle Whittingham over Kalani Sitake?

Yeah, as goofy as it sounds, there was supposed to be a Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday, a pretty good matchup with BYU vs. Georgia Tech. Two of the Cougars’ top players were unable to participate due to injuries — running back LJ Martin and linebacker Jack Kelly — and that not only changed the way the game was played, but also somewhat dampened the competitive action.

But there was a dark cloud hanging over the whole event, casting a shadow on and around celebrated Cougar assistant coach Jay Hill, and who knows? – maybe others too. Everyone was anxious – or is anxious the right word? — find the answer to the question: Will he — they — stay or will he — they — leave?

Kyle Whittingham was, after all, in Orlando to meet with his new Michigan team, a group that will play its own bowl game in the same stadium on New Year’s Eve. And Hill certainly looked like a prime candidate to be lured away as the Wolverines’ next defensive coordinator.

While Hill, before and after, didn’t say anything about his condition, there were signs to be revealed during the game itself, a game that BYU came back in quite dramatic fashion to win, 25-21.

Afterward, Kalani Sitake didn’t come out and say it, but it sounded like Hill was as good as gone, getting on the road by saying, “When [Whittingham takes a job]he has a network that he goes to to get a crew together. That’s how football works. I feel really good about what we have here with the players and the coaches. We’ll go with what we have. They started a foundation and Jay was a big part of that on the defensive end.”

You read that right, he said wasas in the past tense.

“Jay will make his own statements,” Sitake continued. “I just recognize that Kyle is at Michigan and guys have to make a decision.

As for the signs mentioned above, in the first half the play of the Cougars’ defense showed that Hill was either leaving or had as many left. His players were uncharacteristically listless and lifeless, lacking tackles, putting no pressure on Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King, leaving receivers exposed, giving up big chunks of yardage to each side and, worst of all, playing soft. BYU lost, 21-10.

Hill went, went, went.

In the second half, however, that defense came alive, shutting out the Ramblin’ Wreck, tackling with ferocity and strength, playing mentally sharp, physically strong and straight. The biggest set of those came at the end, after the Cougars took the lead in the closing minutes and left Georgia Tech with the final possession to either win or suffer defeat.

The slamming of the door was left to the BYU resistance. That door was all but closed when GT had a fourth-and-15 deep in their own territory, but a 68-yard drive bounced them back to the Cougars’ 18-yard line. From there, though, Hill’s players stopped Tech on four straight plays, the last of which ended with an interception by cornerback Evan Johnson (who also gave up a bomb seconds earlier) to safely hand BYU the win.

I know, that was it. Fitting that the result was ultimately left to the device of the defense, which has largely been a strength of Cougar football for two seasons now.

Sitake said and shook his head like this: “These players just kept believing.

As the architect and leader of the Big Ten-rushing defense, Hill’s potential departure to Michigan would simultaneously seem like an easy decision, an enticing deal for an ambitious defensive coordinator, and then a complicated one for BYU.

Financial backing aside — which would likely be enough — there’s something more important in the mix for Hill. The man doesn’t just want to be a head coach again, but he intends to make it happen. He told me right out of his mouth.

“Do I want to be offered a job?” he said not so long ago. “I’m an arrogant, confident guy. I’ve wanted to be a head coach before and I want to do it again.”

Two things about that statement: 1) Given his acumen and ability, in addition to his previous head coaching stint at Weber State, it’s only a matter of time before someone hires Hill to lead a major program, and 2) that path is wider and smoother from Michigan than from BYU.

Direct and far-reaching circumstances at these two schools are related to all of the above. Interestingly, if Sitake had left the helm at BYU to take over at Penn State, the Cougars would have hired Hill as their head coach. This did not happen as Sitake decided to stay in Provo with a very significant raise. With this decision, barring something catastrophic, Sitake will remain at the top of BYU football not only for the foreseeable future, but damn near forever. Scratch that way to the top where Hill is off the list.

Michigan, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. Even — especially — if Whittingham wins, and wins big, in Ann Arbor, Hill would be in line, in an advantageous position to quickly replace the 66-year-old Whittingham as the Wolverines’ next head coach.

When Whittingham said a few years ago that he wouldn’t be coaching in his later years, he meant it. His definition of “later” may have changed a bit since then, but it’s rational and reasonable to expect a coach to leave both Michigan and coaching after a few seasons. His job there will be to straighten out a proud program that got bogged down under his previous head coach. Whittingham will be tasked with re-flushing the damn thing and getting it going again. Once that is accomplished and Whittingham hurtles toward the age of number seven, someone new, someone younger, someone ready to take over for the long haul, someone with new ideas but who has already established himself as a reliable Michigan man will have to take over.

In theory, Hill would be that man. And voila, the cocky, cocky guy who was a head coach before and wanted to do it again would be in the perfect position to do it again — at one of the bluest people in the country. Handover would be comfortable and ripple-free.

Losses, of course, could blow the whole thing up. But the winnings? Oh yeah.

Think back to what Hill did at BYU, not just in the second half Saturday, but overall, turning that defense around in remarkable fashion, turning it from laughable to commendable, from one of the Big 12’s worst to one of its best. Last season, Hill’s players ranked No. 1 in the league in total defense, scoring defense and turnovers forced. They allowed the fewest passing touchdowns, limited opposing quarterbacks to the third-lowest pass efficiency rating in the nation and led the nation in most interceptions per game.

And it’s not like defense is all he can do. After overseeing a program at Weber where Hill regularly led the Wildcats to the FCS playoffs before moving on to BYU and then becoming the force he was with the Cougars, not only on his side of the ball but in overall impact on everyone in the building, there’s no reason to believe he can’t continue that trajectory at a place with the resources and commitment of Michigan.

Even if Hill doesn’t replace Whittingham when the time is right, he would be an attractive head coaching candidate at another premiership program.

That’s the easy part of this story.

The trick would be finding the right guy to take Hill’s place at BYU. Yes, there are already some talented defensive coaches on the team, but few have the experience that Hill has. Could Justin Ena or Jernaro Gilford or Kelly Poppinga stand in there? What about Gary Andersen? Maybe, but because of Hill’s comprehensive positive impact on the Cougars, that might be a big no-no. Plus, what if Hill took some of those guys with him to Ann Arbor?

Either way, it will be Michigan’s gain or BYU’s loss. But the hard truth is that Hill was — I can use the past tense — so stellar and valued with the Cougars, he was as good as gone, sooner or later. And everyone at BYU knew that what could come would eventually come. And it will come – and it will go – it will.