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PROVO — The BYU football program has a new strength and conditioning coach. Bronco Mendenhall announced the hiring of Frank Wintrich on Friday.
“I am excited to welcome Frank to our staff at BYU,” Mendenhall said. “He is an experienced and passionate coach who is extremely dedicated to preparing athletes to be their best and masters of their sport.”
Wintrich replaces longtime strength coach Jay Omer, who retired after 14 seasons in Provo. Wintrich comes to BYU after spending the past four years at the University of North Texas. In all, Wintrich has 12 years of experience with six different programs, including two seasons as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Utah State in 2004 and 2005.
“I’m thrilled to be part of the staff at BYU working with Coach Mendenhall,” Wintrich said. “This is a great fit both culturally and in the type of strength program I run. I follow a holistic approach to help the players master the game by training the total athlete, focusing not only on physical preparation but also on psychological, technical and tactical aspects.”
BYU also announced on Friday that four transfers and seven previously signed returned missionaries will join the football program for winter semester and be eligible to participate in spring practices.
The four transfers include running back Squally Canada (5-foot-10, 192-pounds) and cornerback Kamel Greene (5-foot-11, 178-pounds) from Washington State, tight end Jackson Kaka (6-4, 210-pounds) from New Mexico State, and safety Eric Takenaka (5-foot-10, 205-pounds) from Snow College.
Canada is the only player who is ineligible to play during the 2015 college season, due to transfer rules. Canada will be eligible in 2016 and have three seasons to play at BYU.
In addition to the players transferring to BYU, the Cougars will have the services of several returned missionaries.
Sophomore defensive backs Matt Hadley (6-foot, 191-pound, S) and Micah Hannemann (6-foot-1, 190-pound, CB/S) return after playing in seven and eight games, respectively, for the Cougars in 2012 prior to serving missions. Redshirt freshmen Sawyer Powell (6-foot-1, 203-pound, S), Rhett Sandlin (6-foot-2, 220-pound, MLB) and Moses Kaumatule (6-foot-1, 254-pound, DE) also return on defense. On offense, redshirt freshman Austin Hoyt (6-foot-7, 268-pound, OL) and true freshman Josh Weeks (6-foot-4, 200-pound, WR) are both back to participate in team workouts and spring practices.
