I'm one of the loons who thinks Jay Hill is the best coach in the state of Utah since LaVell himself. That said, I wanted, and am happy, that we kept Kalani during the offseason, cause losing him would have majorly destabilized us right as we are on the brink of a potentially amazing season. In a vacuum, yeah I'd rather have Jay than Kalani, but for the immediate future I'd rather have Kalani + Arod + Fesi + all of our returners than Jay and 50 transfer portal departures to Penn State.
But anyway, what am I going to miss most about Jay Hill? The dude was the grandmaster of the halftime adjustment. There were so many times in the last couple years where an opposing offense would surprise us in the first half and then Jay Hill would just absolutely smother them in the second half. Take a look:
2023 vs Arkansas – Razors score 24 points in the first half, 7 in the second.
2023 vs Oklahoma – Sooners score 17 in the first half, 7 in the second half (and that score came after we fumbled on our own 25 yard line)
2024 vs Utah - Utes score 21 in the first half, 0 in the second half (Utah's 2nd half drives: punt, INT, punt, punt, punt, punt. Utes gained 59 yards in the 2nd half, Jay Hill clamped the pillow on their face)
2024 vs ASU - Devils score 21 in the first half, 7 in the second half.
2024 vs Kansas - Jays score 10 points in first half, gain only 73 yards in the second half (but score a TD thanks to the stupidest 'onside punt' since the 2010 BYU-Utah game)
2025 vs Colorado - Buffs score 14 points on the first two drives. Remainder of the game they go Punt, Punt, End of half, Punt, TD, Punt, Punt, Interception.
2025 vs Arizona - Cats score 17 in first half, 7 in the second.
2025 vs TCU - Frogs score 10 in first half, gain 3 points and a laughable 62 yards in the second half (technically they gain 106 yards, but 44 of them came in garbage time on the final drive of the game with BYU up by 31 points)
2025 vs ISU - Clones score 24 points in first half, 3 in second half.
2025 vs UCF - Knights score 14 points in first two drives, score once in the next seven drives (pick, punt, punt, TD, fumble, downs, downs)
2025 vs GT - Tech scores 21 points in the first half, 0 in the second.
Remember back when Bronco was the coach and we couldn't win a game after going down 10 points? I think when BYU beat East Carolina in 2015 it was like our 2nd time coming back from being down 10 or more during Bronco's career. Jay Hill's ability to adjust made those types of comebacks routine.
I think his departure is enormous and I find it odd that so many (Hans included) put their faith in Gary Anderson as the brains of the BYU defensive operation considering when last we saw Gary coach he was pumping out the 100th worst defense in the country. During his 11 seasons as a head coach, his defenses on average ranked 74th in scoring and 68th in total defense. He had three monster seasons with Dave Aranda but in the 8 seasons without him Gary's defensive averages were 99th in scoring and 87th in total defense. It's hard for me to believe that's the secret weapon behind our recent defensive turnaround.
All that said I hope K Pop can somewhat carry the torch. He was a stud as a player and has loads of experience. I was worried our Oline would die without Grimes and I've been proven wrong (setting aside the Funk years lol). I'm worried our defense will be toast without Hill, hoping to be proved wrong again!
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