Guy named head football coach

Aaron Falk

After another losing season, how to win is the question for the Utah State football team.

And Aggie fans are hoping new head coach Brent Guy is the answer.

“I say ‘BTB,'” Guy said during a press conference to announce his hiring. “Better than before.”

As a linebacker coach at Utah State from 1992 to 1994, Guy helped the Aggies to their only bowl victory in school history. USU Director of Athletics Randy Spetman said Guy is right man to lead the Ags to a successful future.

“That is why I came back,” Guy said, showing the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl ring to the standing-room-only crowd in Champ Room. “That is what I want to do.”

Director of media relations Mike Strauss said Guy was targeted as the Aggies’ No. 1 option from the beginning. But Spetman and other administrators made sure to keep the hiring process low key.

“I asked [Spetman] to fly low and slow and to make sure that we did this in a way that would bring

great repute to the university,” President Kermit L. Hall said.

Part of the rebuilding process at Oklahoma and Boise State, Guy will be saddled with the responsibility of building up a down-trodden program that has not had a winning season in more than five years.

“This is a great day for the Aggie family,” Spetman said. “He knows how to build a program from the bottom up.”

Guy also addressed questions regarding his ability to coach the offensive side of the game, after nearly two decades as a defensive coordinator.

“I have ideas of what I want do,” Guy said. “I say that because I’ve been in this business 19 years defending offenses and I know what’s hard to stop.”

Guy pointed to a solid quarterback and an effective running game as some of his top offensive priorities, something he should have next season with an experienced core of returning players.

Quarterback Leon Jackson and standout receiver Kevin Robinson were in attendance at the press conference to get their first glimpse of their new coach, and both said they were impressed.

“I’m just excited and anxious to get involved and see where he is going to take us,” Jackson said. “I’m excited to have him as my coach.”

-acf@cc.usu.edu