Aggie football’s new OC has a Pac-12 pedigree
The Utah State football team has hired David Yost as offensive coordinator, as announced by head coach Matt Wells on Friday. Yost joins the Aggies after serving as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Oregon Ducks in 2016.
“We’re excited to hire coach Yost as our new offensive coordinator,” said Wells. “His pedigree and background as a quarterback coach and ability to develop explosive offenses will be very exciting for our fans and players alike.”
Yost will assume mentorship of the USU’s quarterbacks on top of his offensive coordinator duties. Last season’s offensive coordinator Luke Wells will continue as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, as well as coaching the tight end position, as he has for the past three years. All other offensive positional coaches remain the same.
“I’m very grateful for this opportunity and for the confidence that coach Wells has shown in me,” said Yost. “Being an offensive coordinator is a big responsibility and I’m looking forward to helping Utah State football.”
In his lone season at Oregon, the Ducks threw for 265.3 yards per game, the 32nd best mark in the country. The Ducks also ranked 16th and 27th for total offense and scoring offense, respectively, averaging 491.7 yards and 35.4 points per game.
Prior to his stay at Oregon, Yost was the inside receivers coach at Washington State, where he was instrumental in helping the Cougars set the top three marks in Pac-12 history for most passes caught in one season.
Yost is perhaps best known for his 12 years spent at the University of Missouri under Gary Pinkel. Yost started at Missouri as a quarterbacks coach in 2001, and spent his final four years at the program as offensive coordinator. At Missouri, he developed a reputation as a ‘QB guru’, helping to develop QBs future pros Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert into some of the best QBs in the history of the program.
After graduating from Kent State with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, Yost received his coaching start at Toledo as a graduate assistant, also under Pinkel. Yost would then serve as the team’s quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for the next four seasons before following Pinkel to Missouri, where he held the same positions.
“First of all, he’s a very, very bright guy. He’s a family man, a great role model, very caring to all our players, and one of the best teachers and coaches I’ve ever been around,” Pinkel said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2009. Pinkel coached alongside Yost for 15 years.
The Ohio-native and his wife, Carrie, have three children. One daughter, Kennedy, and two sons, Keaton and Kamden.