His wife had just given birth to twins. ​ He was a young defensive line coach at Idaho State. His head coach gave him an ultimatum: tell me I'm right about your coordinator, or you're fired. ​ He quit instead. ​ Then he took a job monitoring in-school suspension at a high school. Twelve dollars an hour. ​ A year later he was head coach at Park City High. Then the phone rang, out of nowhere, from a coach at Northern Arizona named Bronco Mendenhall. ​ In his own words: he asked if I wanted to coach the defensive line, when I had really nowhere to go. He gave me an opportunity. ​ Utah hired him. Southern Utah made him a head coach. Urban Meyer brought him back. ​ Then Kyle Whittingham, the coordinator he'd refused to sell out in Pocatello, made him his first defensive coordinator. ​ In 2008 that defense went undefeated and beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. He was a finalist for the award given the best assistant in America. ​ Utah State hired him next. Three winning seasons in the prior twenty-eight years. ​ Two losing years to fix it. Then 7-6. Then 11-2 and a conference title. ​ When Wisconsin called, he phoned every player on his roster himself to tell them he was leaving. ​ Two years in Madison. 19-7. A division title. Then he left it for Oregon State, one of the worst programs in the country. His athletic director never saw it coming. ​ It didn't work. Year three opened 1-5 and he resigned in October, four years still on the deal. ​ Twelve million, six hundred thirty thousand dollars, guaranteed. He signed a paper releasing them from every cent. ​ "How could I wake up every day and look at myself in the mirror knowing I took money from the kids in that program?" ​ Utah State hired him again, then fired him midway through 2020 with three years and $2.7 million left. ​ He refused that too. Roughly fifteen million dollars, turned down twice, because he hadn't done the work. ​ Then a volunteer analyst job at an FCS school. Then a year with no job at all. ​ He is 62. He works at BYU now. His title is Chief Consultant to the Head Coach and Senior Defensive Consultant. ​ Last September the school that fired him put him in its Hall of Fame. ​ Last fall the Cougars went 12-2, their best season since 2001. ​ Find him after practice and he's usually walking off the field, talking to one player. ​ Gary Andersen. ​ Now you see the whole picture. ​ BYU Football: @BYUfootball ​ X: @ASCENDING_AZ | nowascend.ing ​ #BYU #GoCougs #BYUFootball #Big12 #HearHim

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