This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Losing Aaron Roderick to BYU will hurt Utah's coaching staff in a number of ways. First, Roderick has been on coach Kyle Whittingham's staff longer than anyone with the exception of running backs coach Jay Hill and defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake, who like Roderick joined Whittingham's staff in 2005. During his time with the Utes, Utah has had Andy Ludwig, Dave Schramm, Norm Chow and Brian Johnson all calling the plays. Roderick's presence at least gave the Utes some semblance of consistency during a time in which the Utes never settled in with offensive coordinators or an offensive coaching philosophy.The Utes already had one opening to fill with defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a leaving for Wisconsin, now with Roderick gone, there could be some major reshuffling again for the offense. Expect Whittingham to bring in some seasoned offensive help, but it's really on him, and Johnson to an extent, to bring some consistency to the field as well. Otherwise, Utah could be in for yet another rocky season with the offense. It's certainly not an ideal situation for the Utes, who are looking at one of their most challenging schedules ever with Stanford and Oregon among the Pac-12 opponents. Roderick was valuable not only as a coach, but also a recruiter. Among his recruits were quarterback Travis Wilson and receiver Kenneth Scott. This weekend, the Utes are hosting several players the Utes are recruiting, including quarterback Connor Manning and defensive tackle Sese Ianu out of Golden West College. On Tuesday, Manning said his commitment was solid with the Utes, but said one of the reasons he committed was because of Roderick. Ianu's coach, Nick Mitchell, said on Wednesday Ianu had a good relationship with Roderick. "He is excited about visiting there," he said. Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State and Arizona State are after Ianu as well as the Utes. Defensive end Myron Aiava, another Roderick commit, is visiting this weekend too. The Utes couldn't hang onto Roderick as a coach, now they have to see if they can hang onto his recruits. - Lya Wodraska