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LOGAN — Utah State head coach Matt Wells is thinking he should be concerned about breaking into two new coordinators in 2015.
But he isn't, with the Aggies' additions of defensive coordinator Kevin Clune and offensive newcomer Josh Heupel from Oklahoma.
"You look at defense, and Kevin was our linebacker coach for five years," Wells said. "My wife says he just took a one-year sabbatical to Hawaii."
Clune knows his defense well enough. He was Utah State's linebackers coach for five years, when the Aggies went to three straight bowl games and won the 2012 Western Athletic Conference championship.
"He kind of developed the defense we have now," Utah State linebacker Kyler Fackrell said. "A lot of it, he was able to hit the ground running because he was used to it. It will be a lot of the same. There could be some philosophies that might change a little bit, but overall, I think it will be the same defense."
Heupel was a Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2000, when he quarterbacked the Sooners to the BCS National Championship. He's coached in 11 bowl games and won six conference titles as a coach, so you can see why Wells isn't losing any sleep over his new assistant head coach.
"I'm more worried about the chemistry and the culture in the locker room, the leadership," Wells said. "Knowing that there is probably some more adversity coming, and how will we handle that as a program. We need to reset our culture and our standard each and every summer."
The locker room starts with the upper classmen, including Fackrell, the Mountain West's preseason defensive player of the year.
"There are some great players, on my own team and in this conference," Fackrell said. "It's a huge honor, but it doesn't change the way I'm going to approach this season or the way I'm going to play.
"I'm just going to play the way I play. Hopefully I'm worthy of that at the end."
Fackrell is already on notice at rival conference schools.
"Now you've got this guy picked to be the defensive player of the year, and we've got some great players on defense, too," Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. "This guy has to be pretty special, because I know we have some good dudes over there."
Contributing: Sean Walker
