BYU football promoting assistant Kelly Poppinga to defensive coordinator

January 8, 2026

By Mitch Harper, KSL Sports: Kalani Sitake is turning to Kelly Poppinga to lead the BYU football defense entering the 2026 season.

Poppinga, a member of BYU’s staff for the past three seasons, is being elevated from defensive ends coach/special teams coordinator to defensive coordinator. He replaces Jay Hill, who took the defensive coordinator position under Kyle Whittingham at Michigan.

Poppinga takes over a BYU defense that has been in the top-20 of scoring defense the past two seasons and won 23 games, the most in the 16-team era of the Big 12.

Read the full story…

BYU Football Promoting Kelly Poppinga To DC

BYU football promotes Kelly Poppinga to be the defensive coordinator in replace of Jay Hill, who left to take the same role at Michigan.

KSL Sports

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