Dave and Matt are standing pat

The worry of the dream season's staff departing for other opportunities was already there even before news broke of Mike Sanford heading off to take the head coaching job at Indiana State. Dave Aranda has done a masterful job with the defense at USU this season, while Matt Wells has shined plenty as well during his first year as offensive coordinator.

With the success we'd had, there was the hope that at the very worst, some of the guys below Wells and Aranda on staff would have been well-groomed enough to step up and take the reigns. If at all possible, the hope was to keep Wells and Aranda on board for another year given how well they each did. But for assistants, opportunities are going to be out there, especially in Aranda's case with him having previous experience as a D-coordinator.

And those offers were very much out there too! Reports have said that Aranda was a frontrunner for the defensive coordinator jobs at both Cal and Texas Tech, with rumors even flying out there Sunday that Aranda was indeed heading to the Red Raiders.

In Wells' case, Kyle Goon and Tony Jones teamed up in reporting that Wells had been pursued by North Carolina State.

As it is now, it looks like holy trinity of Andersen, Wells and Aranda want an encore in 2013. The three of them will be back at Utah State for at least one more season, and hopefully plenty more!

Now we have one more year of these guys together, making every one of them that much more prepared to step up and succeed if more is asked of them at USU, or should they eventually try to find success elsewhere. It also gives the younger assistants more time to work and learn under each of them, with the same benefits hopefully paying off in the future.

Really just to sum it up... This is HUGE for Utah State to retain these two guys!!! Maybe, just maybe we have something special enough going on that they stick around even longer than just next year too!