BYU Football announced the promotion of passing game coordinator Aaron Roderick to offensive coordinator on Monday with the departure of Jeff Grimes to Baylor.
“Aaron is the right person to take over as our offensive coordinator with the departure of Jeff (Grimes),” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “Jeff did a tremendous job as offensive coordinator and Aaron is the perfect choice to help us build on the success Jeff, Aaron, Fesi (Sitake) and our offensive staff have achieved together.'
Grimes' move to Baylor was announced early Monday, with the native Texan returning to his home state to coach the Bears following a wildly successful and nationally recognized season with the Cougars.
Roderick will continue to coach the quarterbacks as he was under his previous title, and Fesi Sitake will become the passing game coordinator, while also continuing to coach the wide receivers. The other position coaches remain the same on offense, with Eric Mateos coaching the offensive line, Harvey Unga the running backs and Steve Clark the tight ends.
“I am incredibly honored to be the offensive coordinator at BYU because I understand this program’s legacy and truly appreciate the great coaches that have been in this position in the past to build that legacy,” Roderick said. “I’m grateful to Kalani for this opportunity. I also really appreciate Coach Grimes for not only wanting me to be a part of his staff when I came back to BYU but also putting a lot of trust in me with the passing game. I can’t wait to work with the players and take on this challenge with Fesi and our talented coaching staff.”
Roderick and Sitake called the plays on offense for the Cougars in the Boca Raton Bowl as Grimes did not make the trip to Florida for undisclosed reasons. BYU put up 49 points and 655 total yards of offense against Central Florida in that game.
With starting quarterback Zach Wilson leaving for the NFL, Roderick will have to find a new starting signal-caller to run his offense in 2021. Baylor Romney was Wilson's backup in 2020, but Jaren Hall was out for the season with an injury and freshman Jacob Conover ran the scout team for the Cougars and looks to be a promising prospect.