2 BYU offensive coaches won't return after 5-7 showing in inaugural Big 12 campaign
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PROVO — After a 5-7 campaign that concluded with a 2-6 record in its inaugural Big 12 campaign and a five-game losing skid, BYU will make at least two changes on the offensive coaching staff.
BYU offensive line coach Darrell Funk and tight ends coach Steve Clark won't return to the program in 2024, the school confirmed to KSL.com Monday morning. The news was first reported by the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News.
The duo are the only of BYU's position coaches that will not be retained.
Under Funk, the BYU offense backslid in rushing offense in 2023, ranking tied for 118th out of 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 3.48 yards per carry and 104.3 yards per game.
This came despite bringing in Aidan Robbins , the former 1,000-yard rusher at UNLV; former ESPN four-star prospect LJ Martin from El Paso, Texas; and graduate transfer Deion Smith from Colorado at running back.
Both Robbins (506 yards, one touchdown) and Martin (546 yards, four touchdowns) were hampered by injury during the season as the Cougars posted 1,252 yards on the season. BYU's most productive run game in 2023 was 394 yards against FCS foe Southern Utah, the first time since 1964 that BYU has failed to eclipse 400 yards in a single game.
BYU also took a step back in pass protection, dropping from No. 1 in pass grades in 2022 to No. 43 in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus with an offensive line anchored by projected NFL draft pick Kingsley Suamataia and returning center Connor Pay after losing brothers Clark and Campbell Barrington to Baylor.
But Pay was moved to right guard at the start of the year when BYU brought in Paul Maile, the former starting center at Utah. The Lone Peak High alum was eventually moved back to center after a loss to Kansas, while Maile started at left guard for most of the remainder of the season and moved Utah State transfer Weylin Lapuaho to right guard.
BYU assistant coach Steve Clark with the tight ends during fall training camp, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020 in Provo. (Photo: Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo)Suamataia started every game at left tackle except the season finale at Oklahoma State, when the former four-star recruit from Orem High by way of Oregon did not make the trip and BYU ran for 130 of its 327 yards on the ground in a 40-34 double-overtime loss to the No. 20 Cowboys.
Funk spent three seasons in Provo after moving over most recently from Texas-San Antonio prior to the 2021 season , which puts BYU among his longest stops during a 37-year career that included jobs at Michigan, Purdue and San Diego State. Prior to UTSA, he hadn't held a job for multiple seasons since he was the Wolverines' offensive line coach from 2011-14.
Clark, who grew up in Provo, has been a mainstay in multiple jobs in Utah since he started his career in 1994. The former offensive coordinator at Weber State and Southern Utah before joining Sitake's staff in 2016 only spent one year outside the state — in 2003, when he was Saint Mary's passing game coordinator prior to the Gaels shuttering their football program.
The former Provo High offensive coordinator also worked as a defensive assistant at Utah and was a graduate assistant for BYU working with the offensive line and special teams from 2005-07.
Clark helped develop former BYU tight end Matt Bushman into an All-American candidate before landing on the practice squad with the Kansas City Chiefs. He also mentored current tight end Isaac Rex, who became BYU's all-time leader in touchdowns by a tight end with 24 after catching 34 passes for 422 yards and three scores as a fifth-year junior in 2023.
The son of former BYU star tight end Byron Rex is expected to enter the NFL draft after going through senior-day celebrations against Oklahoma.
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Sean Walker
KSL.com BYU and college sports reporter
