Ty Detmer out as BYU’s offensive coordinator
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PROVO, Utah — BYU offensive coordinator Ty Detmer has been relieved of his duties, head coach Kalani Sitake announced Monday morning.
KSL.com reports Detmer, who is also the team’s quarterbacks coach, and all other assistant coaches remain under contract following the 2017 season, according to a school release.
Under the first-time college coordinator, BYU went 13-13 in two seasons, including a 4-9 record in 2017. The Cougars were among the worst offensive teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, ranking No. 118 out of 129 teams in total offense.
The Cougars scored 20 points or less nine times in 2017, finishing the season with the team’s fourth-string quarterback and seventh-string running back in last Saturday’s 30-20 win over Hawaii in the season finale.
ESPN reported earlier Monday morning that Detmer had been fired by BYU, but school officials said in a statement that the new coordinator will make decisions regarding the offensive staff, once hired.
Detmer returned to Provo shortly after the hire of fellow Cougar alum Sitake at the end of 2015. Detmer threw for 5,188 yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior, becoming the first player from the Western Athletic Conference to win the Heisman Trophy, given annually to college football’s top overall player.
He finished his career with 63 NCAA records, and still holds three of them, and went on to a 14-year NFL career in Green Bay, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Cleveland, Detroit and Atlanta. As a player, Detmer brought arguably the greatest fame to the BYU athletic department in school history, comparable to the team’s national championship in 1984.
In 2016, Detmer helped take BYU to a 9-4 record and a win in the final Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego before the bowl game ceased operations. The Cougars relied heavily on fifth-year senior quarterback Taysom Hill and BYU all-time leading rusher Jamaal Williams, two players on NFL rosters in New Orleans and Green Bay, respectively.
Prior to returning to BYU, Detmer was the head football coach at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas since December 2009. His father Sonny, a former All-American wide receiver at Wharton College, is considered a high school football coaching legend.
Of the nine coaches on the Cougar’s football staff, eight are BYU graduates. Defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki, a Southern Utah alum, graduated from Timpview High School in Provo and former BYU wide receiver Aaron Roderick was also involved in an advisory role following two seasons as co-offensive coordinator at Utah in 2015-16.
BYU will immediately begin a search for a new offensive coordinator.