Andersen, who reportedly accepted the job as the Aggies' coach Wednesday, is likely to take wide receivers coach Aaron Roderick as his offensive coordinator, a position Roderick held when Andersen was SUU's head coach in 2003.

There is a possibility Andersen could take inside linebackers coach Kalani Sitake as his defensive coordinator as well.

Sitake was SUU's offensive line and tight ends coach for Andersen. Neither he nor Sitake, who has been in Hawaii recruiting this week, returned messages left on their cell phones.

Losing Sitake could be a big loss since he is in charge of Utah's recruiting in the islands, a point of emphasis for the program.

Another coach with ties to Andersen is cornerbacks coach Aaron Alford, who was SUU's director of athletic-academic services while Andersen was at SUU and was brought onto Utah's staff in 2007 by Andersen. However, he has no immediate plans of joining Andersen's staff at Utah State since any position would be a lateral move for him at best.

Utah fans can take some comfort in Wednesday's news since Andersen's appointment at Utah State means it's highly unlikely there is a possibility that Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is in the mix to be Washington's next head coach. It's doubtful Andersen would have left if there was a chance he could succeed Whittingham at Utah.

Whittingham hasn't taken his name out of consideration for the Washington job but has stated he is happy at Utah and has had talks with Utah athletic director Chris Hill about a contract extension.

The immediate concern for the Utes is how the upheaval will affect bowl preparations since it's doubtful that Andersen and whomever he hires from Utah's staff will stick around for the BCS bowl.

In 2004 Urban Meyer flew back and forth from Florida when he was named the Gators' coach and guided the Utes through their Fiesta Bowl win, but that was a different situation since Utah and Florida are in different conferences and rarely recruit against one another.

Not only are Utah and Utah State frequent opponents who next play Sept. 5, 2009, but Andersen oversees Utah's in-state recruiting. It's hard to imagine he could act as both Utah's defensive coordinator and Utah State's head coach for the next month.

So far the Utes have two in-state commitments for its 2009 class from Jordan offensive lineman Vyncent Jones and Northridge safety Chris Washington. Jones said his plans won't change and Washington couldn't be reached for comment.

Utah has a commitment from Joe Kruger for its 2010 class, but his older brother Paul said Andersen's departure shouldn't affect Joe's plan to join him at Utah.

Utah's players have heard the rumors that Andersen was interviewing with the Aggies for several days so Wednesday's news didn't surprise them, Kruger said.

"He's a tremendous coach and to lose him is a loss for us," he said. "It has been a great ride with him and he's a great coach for me personally, but we're happy for him too."

The Utes are expected to resume practicing for their BCS bowl on Wednesday. In the midst of those preparations, Whittingham will have to find a new defensive coordinator and maybe fill other positions.

If Sitake doesn't follow Andersen to Utah State he would be a logical candidate to be Utah's next defensive coordinator.

Whittingham did not return messages Wednesday.