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No matter how Utah coach Kyle Whittingham filled his latest offensive coordinator vacancy, the new/old guy would be an upgrade over Dave Christensen, who once ordered a slant pass on third-and-1 near the goal line in overtime at Stanford instead of giving the football to Devontae Booker.

Wait, that play worked? Never mind.

Another promotion for Aaron Roderick just might work as well. And bringing back John Pease, whose linemen loved him in his initial return from retirement, is a good move for Utah's defense.

Whittingham has employed just about every available strategy in annually hiring or assigning offensive coordinators since Andy Ludwig's departure after the 2008 season, so a replay was inevitable at some point. Roderick's repeat promotion Monday came four years after his demotion made room for Norm Chow, who then moved on and was followed by Brian Johnson, Dennis Erickson and now Roderick (again) and offensive line coach Jim Harding, who will have a co-coordinator title.

Roderick undoubtedly will call the plays, and he showed promise in his first tour as co-coordinator — even if that was in the program's Mountain West era. His 2010 scheme was creative and productive until quarterback Jordan Wynn's midseason shoulder injury affected the offense as Wynn tried to play through it, before having surgery.

The only issue with Roderick is his expertise as a quarterback coach, after he moved into that position last year. Nobody could say Travis Wilson improved under him, although maybe Roderick should get credit for Wilson's not completely crumbling, amid his two benchings in the apparent tug-of-war between Whittingham and Christensen.

It would have been surprising for Whittingham to hire a high-powered offensive coordinator and give him full control, so there was no sense wishing for such a move. Roderick merits another shot, and Harding has done good work as a line coach and recruiter. Staff cohesiveness should improve in Christensen's absence, and Erickson remains a good resource.

Defensively, Pease should blend in well as the coordinator, and he's a proven line coach. He understands Whittingham's scheme and, like Erickson, he brings some valuable perspective after 19 years in the NFL and considerable work in college programs.

Justin Ena, coming from Weber State to occupy the other defensive position as linebackers coach, fills the unspoken need for a Polynesian staff member. He also has more experience than Kalani Sitake, prior to Sitake's arrival at Utah.

Pease is a young 71, even if his back is filled with rods, screws and assorted devices to keep him reasonably upright. My favorite Pease story is how he once drew a life-expectancy timeline on the board and told his defensive linemen, "We'd better win now." And that was when he was only 66.

Sealver Siliga, a lineman for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, said last week that Pease will "always be my favorite coach ever," observing how he "prepared me for the NFL, even though I didn't know I was preparing for it."

Pease retired (again) in December 2010, after his second season of coaching the Ute linemen. He has joked that he's a slow learner, referencing three marriages prior to a successful run with his wife, Chris, a Utah graduate.

The same has been said of Whittingham, when it comes to hiring offensive coordinators. He may have gotten it right this time. Sure, I've said that before — notably, about Erickson, who was replaced by Christensen, in Whittingham's impulsive move after the 2013 season. It's also true that Roderick has not held this job at the Pac-12 level.

The good thing is, there's no high standard of offensive production to live up to, after the Utes' struggles of the past four seasons in this conference. Anything resembling continuity and consistency would make Roderick and Whittingham both look good.

Twitter: @tribkurt