BYU Football Adds Kevin Clune to Defensive Staff

Clune has 28 years of coaching experience.

byucougars.com

On Thursday afternoon, BYU football added another coach to their 2021 staff. Head coach Kalani Sitake announced that Kevin Clune will join the defensive staff and coach linebackers. BYU made the hiring official in a Thursday afternoon press release:

"BYU football head coach Kalani Sitake today announced the hiring of Kevin Clune as an assistant coach on the Cougars’ defensive staff. Clune joins Sitake’s staff with 28 years of coaching experience, including 10 seasons as a defensive coordinator.

“I’m excited to announce Kevin Clune is joining our defensive staff,” Sitake said. “I have known Kevin my entire coaching career. He is a great person and an outstanding coach with a ton of experience, both as a position coach and as a coordinator. With his experience and expertise, Kevin is great addition to our defensive room working with Coach Tuiaki, Coach Lamb and our defensive staff as we build on our past successes.” 

With Clune coaching linebackers, a role previously held by Ed Lamb, BYU will shift around responsibilities on defense. Coach Tuiaki will coach the interior defensive lineman. He was responsible for the entire defensive line last season. Preston Hadley will coach defensive ends/hybrids and Ed Lamb will coach safeties. Hadley coached safeties in 2020. Jernaro Gilford will continue to coach cornerbacks. 

Clune has served as the defensive coordinator at Utah State, Oregon State, Hawaii, Weber State, and Southern Utah. Most recently, Clune was the linebackers coach at Memphis in 2019. On the opportunity to join the BYU coaching staff, Clune said, “I can’t express how excited I am to join Coach Sitake and the rest of the staff for the 2021 season, I am honored by the opportunity to be a part of the BYU tradition and to work with these student-athletes. Coach Sitake has assembled a team of tremendous young men, and I look forward to helping build on last year’s success as we move forward to next season.” 

Clune is familiar with the state of Utah, and he is familiar with this current BYU staff. Clune served as an analyst at BYU during the 2020 season. Here is Clune's comprehensive coaching resume courtesy of the BYU's official website:

2020-present BYU ­– Linebackers Coach/Senior Defensive Analyst (2020)
2018-19 Memphis –Linebackers Coach/Senior Defensive Assistant (2018)
2016-17 Oregon State – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
2015 Utah State - Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
2014 Hawai'i - Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
2009-13 Utah State – Linebackers Coach
2005-08 Weber State – Assistant Head Coach (2008)/Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
2003-04 Southern Utah - Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
2001-02 Utah - Graduate Assistant Coach
2000 Occidental College - Defensive Line Coach
1996-99 Fullerton JC - Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
1993-94 Dos Pueblos (Calif.) HS – Linebackers Coach
1991- Palma (Calif.) HS - Defensive Line/Receivers Coach

With Clune now officially on board, BYU is in the market for one final coach. Specifically, they are looking for an offensive line coach since Eric Mateos followed Jeff Grimes to Baylor.

You probably noticed that our site looks a little different. It is currently under construction and the commenting capability is turned off. While we work on some exciting updates to improve your experience, you can ask us questions through one of our social media channels:

Facebook - @BYUSportsIllustrated

Twitter - @SI_BYU and Casey Lundquist at @casey_lundquist

Instagram - @BYU_SI