Gordon Monson: In swiping away BYU’s Jay Hill to Michigan, Kyle Whittingham will — would? — blow a hole in Cougar football

Yeah, goofy as it sounds, there was a Pop-Tarts Bowl game to be played on Saturday, a rather nice matchup featuring BYU against Georgia Tech. Two of the Cougars’ best players could not participate on account of injury — running back LJ Martin and linebacker Jack Kelly — and that not only altered the way the game was played, it sort of doused the competitive happenings.

But hovering over the whole event was a dark cloud, the one casting a shadow on and around celebrated Cougar assistant coach Jay Hill, and — who knows? — maybe others, as well. Everyone was eager — or is the proper word anxious? — to discover the answer to the question: Will he — they — stay or will he — they — go?

Kyle Whittingham was in Orlando, after all, meeting with his new Michigan team, a group that will play its own bowl game in this same stadium on New Year’s Eve. And Hill most definitely seemed a prime candidate to be lured away as the Wolverines’ next defensive coordinator.

While Hill, before and after, said nothing about his status, there were hints to uncover during the game itself, a game that BYU came back in rather dramatic fashion to win, 25-21.

Afterward, Kalani Sitake didn’t come right out and say it, but he made it sound as though Hill was as good as gone, taking the long way around by saying: “When [Whittingham takes a job], he has a network that he goes to for putting together a staff. That is how football works. I feel really good about what we have going here with the players and coaches. We will go with what we’ve got. They established the foundation and Jay was a big part of that defensively.”

You read that right, he said was, as in the past tense.

“Jay is going to make his own statements,” Sitake continued. “I’m just acknowledging that Kyle is at Michigan and guys have decisions to make.”

As for the aforementioned hints, in the first half, with the way the Cougars’ defense played, every indication was that Hill was either leaving or had already as much as left. His players were unusually listless and lifeless, missing tackles, putting no pressure on Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King, leaving receivers uncovered, yielding large chunks of yardage every which way and, worst of all, playing soft. BYU was down, 21-10.

Hill was going, going, gone.

In the second half, though, that defense came alive, shutting out the Ramblin’ Wreck, tackling with ferocity and force, playing mentally sharp, physically strong, and straight making plays. The biggest set of them came at the end, after the Cougars took the lead in the closing minutes, leaving Georgia Tech with one last possession to either take victory or suffer defeat.

It was left to BYU’s resistance to slam the door. That door was nearly shut when GT had a fourth-and-15 deep in its own territory, but a 68-yard pass pushed it back open at the Cougars’ 18-yard line. From there, however, Hill’s players stopped Tech on four straight plays, the last one ending on an interception by cornerback Evan Johnson (who also had given up the bomb seconds earlier) to securely hand BYU the win.

So, that was that. Fitting that the outcome was ultimately left to the devices of a defense that pretty much has been the strength of Cougar football for two seasons now.

Sitake said it, with a shake of the head, like this: “These players just kept believing.”

As for that defense’s architect and leader bolting for the Big Ten, Hill’s potential departure to Michigan, that concurrently would appear to be an easy decision, a tempting deal for an ambitious defensive coordinator, and thereafter a complicated one for BYU.

Leaving a money boost — which would probably be ample — aside, there’s something even more important in the mix for Hill. The man doesn’t just want to be a head coach again, he fully intends on making that a reality. He straight told me that out of his own mouth.

“Do I want to be offered jobs?” he said not so long ago. “I’m an arrogant, confident guy. I wanted to be a head coach before and I want to do it again.”

Two things about that declaration: 1) Given his acumen and aptitude, in addition to his previous stint as Weber State’s head coach, it’s only a matter of time before someone hires Hill to lead a major program, and 2) that path is wider and smoother from Michigan than it is from BYU.

Attendant with all the above is the direct and far-reaching circumstances at those two schools. Interesting it is that had Sitake left the helm at BYU to take the wheel at Penn State, the Cougars would have hired Hill as their head coach. That didn’t happen, as Sitake decided to remain in Provo, with a hugely substantial raise. On account of that decision, Sitake, barring something disastrous, will remain atop BYU football not just for the foreseeable future, but for-darn-near-ever. Scratch that route to the top for Hill off the list.

Michigan, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. Even — especially — if Whittingham wins and wins a whole lot at Ann Arbor, Hill would stand in line, in an advantageous position, to quickly succeed the 66-year-old Whittingham as the Wolverines’ next head coach.

When Whittingham said a couple of years ago that he would not coach into his later years, he meant it. His definition of “later” may have changed a bit since then, but it’s rational and reasonable to expect that the coach will leave both Michigan and coaching behind after a fistful of seasons. His job there will be to straighten out a proud program that had run aground under its previous head coach. Whittingham’s charge will be to re-float the durn thing and get it underway again. Once that’s accomplished, and Whittingham hurtles toward an age with a number that starts with a seven, somebody new, somebody younger, somebody poised to take over for the long haul, somebody with new ideas but who has already established himself as a reliable Michigan man will need to take over.

In theory, Hill would be that man. And voila, the arrogant, confident guy who had been a head coach before and wanted to do it again would be in perfect position to do it again — at one of the country’s bluest of blue-bloods. The handoff would be both convenient and without undulation.

Losses could blow that whole thing up, of course. But wins? Oh boy.

Remember what Hill has done at BYU, not just in the second half on Saturday, but overall, turning that defense around in a remarkable way, transforming it from laughable to laudable, from one of the Big 12’s worst to one of its best. Last season, Hill’s players ranked No. 1 in the league in total defense, scoring defense, and forced turnovers. They allowed the fewest passing touchdowns, they limited opposing quarterbacks to the third-lowest pass efficiency rating in the country, and they led the nation in most interceptions per game.

And it’s not as though defense is all he can do. Having overseen a program at Weber, where Hill regularly took the Wildcats to the FCS playoffs before moving on to BYU, and then becoming the force he’s been with the Cougars, not just on his side of the ball, but in overall effect on everyone in the building, there’s no reason to believe he can’t continue on that trajectory at a place that has the resources and commitment that Michigan features.

Even if Hill didn’t replace Whittingham when the proper time came, he would be an attractive head-coaching candidate at another premier program.

That’s the easier part to this story.

The more complicated part would be finding the right guy to take over Hill’s spot at BYU. Yes, there are some gifted defensive coaches already on staff there, but few with the experience Hill has. Could Justin Ena or Jernaro Gilford or Kelly Poppinga stand in? How about Gary Andersen? Maybe, but because of Hill’s comprehensive positive impact on the Cougars, that’s a big fat maybe. Moreover, what if Hill took some of those guys with him to Ann Arbor?

Either way, Michigan’s gain will or would be BYU’s loss. But the hard truth is, Hill was — I can use past tense, too — so stellar and valued with the Cougars, he was as good as gone, sooner or later, come what may. And everyone at BYU knew that what may come eventually would come. And come — and go — it will.