Cougars’ coaches keeping emotions in check ahead of their return to Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium

BYU coach Kalani Sitake and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham shake hands after the game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. The two friends and former colleagues will meet again Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Perhaps it is because BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill played for and coached at Utah and BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick only coached at Utah after playing for BYU, but Kalani Sitake’s top assistants are approaching Saturday’s rivalry game with slightly different emotions and perspectives.

“I have a lot of love for that (Utah) program and a lot of love for the people there. I hope the fans can enjoy the game and keep it at that. Just remember we are all closely related and we are all connected.”

BYU coach Kalani Sitake

For Hill, the long-awaited Big 12 matchup at Rice-Eccles Stadium (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN) brings a sense of excitement and anticipation that reminds him of his playing days.

“I love this game,” he said Tuesday. “I love what it represents for the state. I love what it represents for the players and the coaches. I think rivalries are fun.”

For Roderick, who played for BYU under legendary coach LaVell Edwards from 1996-98 and was a receivers coach, quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator from 2005-16 under Kyle Whittingham, it is no more important, or less important, than any other.

“When you do this for a living, every game feels like life and death. It really does,” Roderick said Wednesday. “And so yeah, it is a big game. No matter what team I have been on, I have always wanted my team to win.”

Of course, Sitake also played at BYU (1994, 1997-2000) and coached at Utah (2005-14) before becoming Oregon State’s defensive coordinator in 2015 and BYU’s head coach in 2016. He’s spent the last two weeks since…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cougars-coaches-keeping-emotions-check-040000176.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-11-08 04:00:00

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