A look at USU football’s coaching staff changes

Utah State Football has had quite a turbulent season so far, and they have yet to play a down of football. On July 2, Utah State placed former head coach Blake Anderson on administrative leave before officially announcing his firing on July 18. Amid swirling storylines and accusations from both sides, Utah State moved on and promptly announced their plans for the coaching staff for the upcoming season.  

Under two months away from the season opener, the Aggies had very little time to start a hunt for a new head coach. On July 2, the same day coach Anderson was placed on administrative leave, the athletic department announced that defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling would step up as the interim head coach for the 2024 season. After several weeks, Dreiling and the team announced further additions and role adjustments to the coaching staff. With the Aggies just days away from their first game of the season, this is a look at some of the recent changes to the staff. 

Head Coach Nate Dreiling 

Head coach Nate Dreiling is in his first year at Utah State after being originally hired as the defensive coordinator on January 10. Dreiling is entering his tenth season as a collegiate coach and now his first in a head coaching role. Dreiling came to USU after spending the last two seasons with New Mexico State University, serving as defensive coordinator in both of those seasons.  

New Mexico State claims a 17-11 record over the last two years, ending both seasons with a bowl appearance. During the 2023 season, the NMSU defense led Conference USA, allowing just 22.8 points per game under Dreiling’s direction. Dreiling was hired in January as the new defensive coordinator, replacing Joe Cauthen. Even before his new promotion to head coaching duties, Dreiling had a tough task ahead of him in rehauling the struggling Aggie defense. During the 2023 season, Utah State ranked near the bottom of the Football Bowl Subdivision in a list of defensive categories that includes total defense, rushing defense, scoring defense, turnover margin and others. Despite all the adversity he’s already faced coming into the 2024 season, coach Dreiling doesn’t appear too overwhelmed.  

“As you know, there’ve been twists and turns all over the road this summer,” Dreiling said while addressing the media in early August. “There’s been a bunch of adversity, but in that, you can already see what these kids are going to show.”  

Dreiling reiterated the importance of not letting circumstances define them and moving forward in the face of difficulty. Entering fall camp, that has been the focus: advancing toward the season opener and not dwelling on summer woes.   

Offensive Coordinator Kyle Cefalo 

Nearly a month after being named the interim head coach, Dreiling and the team announced additional minor changes within the program. One of the most notable of those changes was the promotion of Kyle Cefalo to offensive coordinator. Cefalo has been in Logan since 2021 and is now entering his fourth season with the Aggies. This will be Cefalo’s first season as the outright offensive coordinator, but he is familiar with the demands of the primary play caller. Cefalo spent the 2023 season as the co-offensive coordinator, with head coach Blake Anderson primarily filling the position.  

Cefalo has been the wide receiver coach and passing game coordinator for Utah State during his three seasons with the team after spending the previous four seasons as the wide receiver coach at Arkansas State. Cefalo also spent his last two seasons in Arkansas as a special teams co-coordinator and brings plenty of offensive prowess to the job.  

During his tenure at USU, Cefalo coached some of the most illustrious receiving seasons in school history. Utah State’s 2021 campaign saw wide receiver Devin Thompkins break three Utah State individual receiving records. Just last season, Jalen Royals set the single-season receiving touchdown record, hauling in 15 touchdown passes and posting over 1,000 receiving yards for the season. The Aggies finished both the 2021 and 2023 seasons in the top 25 in the country in total offense.  

Associate Head Coach Troy Morrell 

In addition to the responsibility change of Kyle Cefalo, the Aggies announced on July 31 the addition of Troy Morrell, who will come to the program as an associate head coach and senior offensive analyst position for the upcoming season. Coach Morrell comes to Logan with extensive coaching experience at the National Junior College Athletic Association level with the Butler Community College Grizzlies, where he coached for 19 seasons, 15 of which were as the head coach.  

For a younger head coach such as Dreiling, Morrell provides experience and tranquility, which might come in handy for the Aggies on the sidelines this fall. In his time with Butler CC, Morrell led the program to three NJCAA National Championships and was awarded NJCAA Coach of the Year five times.  

Despite the off-season turbulence, the new head coach and his staff are feeling confident going into the 2024 season, especially on the offensive end.  

“Offensively, I feel like if we can protect the football, we will be very challenging to stop,” Dreiling said after the final scrimmage of fall camp on August 17. “They are so talented. They move so fast, and there is really not a weakness.” 

After some initial concerns about the defense, Dreiling was encouraged after their second scrimmage performance.  

Utah State was picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference this season out of 12 teams. USU’s high-octane offense and recent offensive success should give Aggie fans reason to be optimistic and will undoubtedly be the bright spot for coach Dreiling and his team. Amidst the uncertainty from the off-season and the lingering questions on defense, it is hard to know where exactly Utah State falls in the Mountain West picture.  

Despite all the unknowns, Dreiling is confident in his guys and his staff heading into the season.  

“I just feel more confident in the world that they’re just going to come out swinging, and they have a huge chip on their shoulder,” Dreiling said during Mountain West Football Media Days in July.  

Utah State will put their confidence to the test during their season opener against Robert Morris on August 31 at 6pm at Maverik Stadium.