As for the coaches we know about, let's run each one down...
KEVIN CLUNE - Linebackers
This was one of the big ones! Obviously retention from the old staff was a priority on several fronts, and maybe none bigger than Clune. All you need to do is look at his body of work and they guys he's coached up to stardom! And even above that, the depth that the Aggies have had at the linebacker position appears pretty excellent as well. In the 3-4 defense, the team needs the linebackers to be stellar, and they have been under Clune.
It's been speculated that Clune could also end up as the pick for defensive coordinator, so we might still be hearing more about him this offseason. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Having him on staff still is huge!
KEVIN MCGIVEN - Offensive coordinator, quarterbacks
The first handful of staff additions were guys retained. This one is a guy re-hired to the Utah State staff. There had been rumors that Matt Wells was struggling to find an offensive coordinator, what with him being an offensive guy himself and undoubtedly wanting a say n things offensively. With that in mind, McGiven looks like a pretty good hire in this spot.
He was a member of Gary Andersen's original staff at USU as the quarterbacks coach, helping coach Diondre Borel to a breakout season in 2009. One has got to think that he and Wells will be working together quite a bit on both offensive scheming and coaching quarterbacks, but if the defensive duo of Andersen and Dave Aranda taught us anything this past season, that can be a tremendous benefit to the program.
With the success McGiven has had as an offensive coordinator on previous coaching stops, as well as having worked under former OC Dave Baldwin during some of Baldwin's better days. Hopefully he took plenty of notes on the things Baldwin did well and was able to be critical of the shortcomings, much like the hope was with Wells a year ago when he stepped into the OC role.
LUKE WELLS - Co-offensive coordinator, tight ends, recruiting coordinator
Matt's bringing little bro to the staff, and little bro is bringing with him a little bit of big time coaching experience. Luke started his coaching career under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, also sharing the sidelines with the likes of Mike Leach and Mark Mangino. From the looks of things, this could be a pretty big hire for USU.
Looking at the numbers from Luke's time as the tight ends and wide receivers coach at Iowa State, they generally had pretty balanced receiving unit much like Utah State has had the past few years. And while it obviously would be great to have an unstoppable go-to wideout, being able to always put out a consistent unit can be a huge asset.
As for recruiting, it'll be interesting to see what he and the rest of the staff are able to do with the rest of this recruiting season. There aren't a ton of scholarships to go around right now, so you'd have to hope that they're going to aim pretty high with some of these guys.
MARK WEBER - Offensive line
This one hasn't been officially announced yet, but rumor has it that it's a done deal. On a staff of quite a few young coaches, Weber brings a ton of experience to USU. He's coached all over the country at a handful of quality programs (and even some not so quality ones like BYU).
Really don't know a ton about him other than he's got a ton of experience in a bunch of different conferences, so you've got to think he's adaptable to changing styles. We'll probably learn more about him in the coming days when his announcement is officially made.
OTHER COACHING NOTES
USU's official website has listed a few other members of the coaching staff. Among them are Steve Mathis and Mark Andersen. Mathis was essentially the right-hand man of Gary Andersen for the bulk of his time at USU, and it's a bit intriguing that he's sticking around. Mark Andersen is Gary's brother, listed on the roster as the Director of Football Operations/Business Management.
David Fiefia and Kite Afeaki are also listed on the coaching staff too. Fiefia as an offensive graduate assistant and Afeaki as defensive administrative assistant.
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