Nate Dreiling sat in a pub in Dublin, Ireland, taking a swig from a local brew alongside his wife, Alexa, on July 2.

It was a calm scene, as a bartender handed out drinks and music played in the background.

The then-Utah State defensive coordinator was enjoying a vacation from Logan, where he had just joined Aggies head coach Blake Anderson’s staff about six months ago. But, as he looked at a menu and ordered dinner, USU athletic director Diana Sabau buzzed his phone.

She informed Dreiling that he would become Utah State’s interim head coach, and Anderson’s contract had been terminated due to non-compliance with Title IX and school policy. Since then, Dreiling has been tasked with picking up the pieces and soothing a team frustrated with Anderson’s sudden departure, as the Aggies approach their first contest on Aug. 31.

“The tough part about it was that we couldn’t be there for the kids,’ Dreiling said last week at Mountain West Conference media day. “Everyone found out via Zoom as opposed to in person, so that part was hard. Finally, on Monday morning I got in front of the team and communicated with them, talked with them and more so just listened to understand as opposed to listening to respond to their concerns.

“I let them know that they’re going to be priority number one for this organization.”

Of the most frustrated players on Utah State’s roster is star junior safety Ike Larsen, who decided not to transfer to a Power 4 school and take less NIL money this offseason solely due to Anderson. He’s one of many players who has been angry about the former head coach’s termination, citing a lack of transparency from Sabau and the athletic department during the process.

During the first day of Mountain West media days, Larsen reaffirmed his commitment to Utah State this season, but he also noted that — due to Anderson’s firing — he’d be reconsidering his future with the Aggies moving forward. Larsen’s concerns are also held by other players on the roster, forcing Dreiling to do damage control behind the scenes.

“I can’t really say anything on that,” Dreiling said of the reasoning behind Anderson’s firing. “What I will say about this team is that they love Coach Anderson. We’re going to use this as an opportunity to come together and play with a chip on our shoulder.”

Another reality? The 33-year-old is currently the youngest head coach leading a Division I program. With no head coaching experience, Dreiling has phoned over 30 people, spanning from Northwestern’s former interim and now full-time head coach David Braun, who took over for the Wildcats last offseason after hazing allegations led to Pat Fitzgerald’s firing, to Miami head coach Mario Cristobal.

“I don’t want to get blindsided by something that’s gonna hurt my players,” Dreiling said. “There’s been a huge list of guys I’ve contacted. How can I not make mistakes, so my players can experience the season they want.”

Inside the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, former BYU and current-New Mexico head coach Bronco Mendenhall strolled the halls of Mountain West Media Days before he approached Dreiling. After a two-year hiatus, where he tended to a ranch in Montana and enjoyed the crisp mountain air, Mendenhall returned to coach the Lobos.

Mendenhall, like Dreiling, once took over a Utah program in disarray in his 30s, tasked with rebuilding the Cougars from the ground up and establishing his own culture in 2005. He’s never coached with Dreiling nor does he share any relationship with him, but he’s heard nothing but great things about the young, interim head coach.

“I wish you the best of luck sir,” Mendenhall said, as he shook Dreiling’s hand last Thursday.

“Sometimes opportunities come in unique ways,” Mendenhall told The Salt Lake Tribune. “Blake Anderson’s a friend of mine, I don’t know what happened that led to this. But for Nate, this is his opportunity to be the best he can as a new head coach of a brand new place under very challenging circumstances, to demonstrate competency, leadership, and be effective.

“He’s got a lot to do in terms of uniting his staff, capturing his team, and then running the organization. But he’s not the first it’s do something like this. It’s possible. I’m sure he’s feeling the weight of responsibility, but he’s probably also feeling the weight of opportunity.”

His other piece of advice stems from the lessons he learned with the Cougars.

“I think I was the second youngest at that time in college football at BYU,” Mendenhall said. “The sooner that I became clear on my own identity the better I was. So, self assurance and direction became really clear and that was necessary. The second was that leadership is lonely. … You have to kind of get used to not always being liked or supported.”

Dreiling, following the advice from Mendenhall and the 30 other coaches he’s called, wants to create his own identity amid the surprising opportunity to lead Utah State’s program. He aims to be a player’s coach, someone who allows them the freedom to be successful.

He also wants to build a strong foundation with the Aggies, despite the program having internal culture concerns for the last decade.

“It starts with who you’re bringing in,” Dreiling said. “I talk to my team all the time about toughness. Toughness is not being able to look at the guy in front of us, but toughness is how you respond to certain situations. So we’re not only going to bring in a tough kid, but we’re going to bring a kid with high manners and high class, and we’ll then educate them off the field, so they are a walking Utah State Aggie that everyone is proud of.”

With the season less than six weeks away, Dreiling’s new challenge is nothing compared to the obstacles he’s faced elsewhere in his life. His wife recently overcame a breast cancer diagnosis, which they were celebrating in Dublin when he received the call from Sabau.

One thing remains certain, the job at Utah State won’t be easy. The roster, and entire athletic department, is shaken up following Anderson’s termination. Anderson and his attorney, Tom Mars, recently filed a 70-page rebuttal to USU, in an attempt to fight his termination.

It remains unclear when Utah State will comment publicly on the matter or where Anderson will go with potential litigation.

Dreiling, however, sees this as an opportunity to land his first head coaching job.

“I want to be the head coach at Utah State for absolutely ever,” Dreiling said. “None of the decisions I make are about what’s going to help me get this job. Every single decision is that we have making the players first priority, right? If that happens, no matter what, I’m going to be dang proud of how we ran this program.”