Previously, the BYU Football staff had more offensive coaches than defensive. So, when it was initially announced that offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes was leaving for the same position at Baylor, BYU coach Kalani Sitake said he may look at getting another defensive coach.
That’s what happened as Sitake announced on Thursday the hiring of Kevin Clune as a defensive assistant coach.
Clune isn’t a completely new face to BYU. The 28-year coaching veteran volunteered as a defensive analyst at BYU in 2020 and will now serve as the linebackers coach on defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki’s defensive staff, which now increases to five coaches.
“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 a great addition to our defensive room working with Coach Tuiaki, Coach [Ed] Lamb and our defensive staff as we build on our past successes.”
Clune’s resume includes 10 seasons as defensive coordinator, but he also has mentored linebackers at Oregon State, Utah State, Hawaii, Weber State and Southern Utah. He also has experience working as a special teams coordinator for four years and one season as an assistant head coach.
Most recently, Clune came from Memphis, where he served as linebackers coach under Mike Norvell.
With Clune’s experience at Utah, Southern Utah, Weber State and Utah State prior to coming to BYU, he has 15 years experience in the Beehive State.
Clune, a former player at Fullerton Junior College and the University of San Diego, first started his coaching career at Palma (Calif.) High School as a defensive line and receivers coach.
