Logan • Nate Dreiling is the youngest head coach in the FBS.
His tenure could also wind up being one of the shortest.
Utah State’s interim head coach — who was promoted to the position last month when Blake Anderson was fired — will likely need to engineer a complete overhaul of the program this year to keep the job past December.
Athletic director Diana Sabau said this week it would take, “a really successful season,” for her to consider Dreiling as a permanent option.
“Today is the first day of camp, and I don’t want to tell you something that is unrealistic,” Sabau said of Dreiling’s job status. “I think every person, as you work together as a team, you figure out what is the reality and what are the expectations. And how do we work together to achieve that?”
Utah State went 6-7 the last two years. Sabau said going .500 is no longer acceptable.
“Nate knows that our expectations are, yes, we would like to be better than .500,” she said. “But this is a whole, comprehensive process. We want to see advancement and progress on the field. We want to see that our student athletes are prepared. ... We want to make sure they are achieving in the classroom. As you have all been recently made aware, we have had a huge academic slide with our football program.”
Dreiling came to Logan in January as the Aggies’ defensive coordinator. Anderson, before he was fired, thought the 33-year-old could be the Aggies’ problem solver on defense. He will still call the defense in his new role.
Before USU, Dreiling coached at Oregon and most recently New Mexico State as its defensive coordinator. He has never been a head coach before.
Dreiling said he wants to be the head coach at USU long-term.
“Do I want to be the head coach at Utah State? For-absolutely-ever,” he said in Las Vegas last month. “This place, what this place has meant to my family. You want to talk about a place to raise kids, you ain’t beating Logan, Utah. And I’ve got three little ones.
“But ultimately, and I told the team this, none of the decisions I make are going to be about, ‘What is going to help me get this job?’” he continued. “Every single decision is having the players’ priority first and what is best for these kids. And at the end of the day if I follow this path, no matter what happens, I’m going to be dang proud of how we ran the program.”
Sabau said she was pleased with how Dreiling reshaped the staff in the last month.
He promoted Kyle Cefalo to offensive coordinator. He made Cooper Bassett the co-offensive coordinator. Hayden Kingston, a former graduate assistant, is now the quarterbacks coach.
He also hired Troy Morrell, a longtime Butler College head coach in Kansas, to be his associate head coach. Dave Wiemers was added as a defensive analyst to help alleviate some of Dreilings’ coordinator duties.
Time will tell if it’s a strong enough foundation for Dreiling to be named the Aggies’ full-time head coach.
“Nate brings a tremendous toolbox to us,” Sabau said. “He has made some adjustments with our current staff. Elevated some individuals that have shown promise, that have a toolbox, that have shown talent for new responsibilities. And those individuals are excited. They have a new pep in their step and almost feel like, ‘Hey, this is mine to own. Why not me?’”