New ISU defensive coordinator: “I’m addicted to football”

New Idaho State defensive coordinator Grant Duff has a unique qualification in the world of football coaching.

“I always say I’m in college football because I’ll get a Mountain Dew better than anyone,” Duff said. “I just see it as another opportunity to be excellent.”

Unlike most college football coaches, Duff never played college football. He says he was a mediocre high school player at Snake River in Moreland, so he never got the usual path into coaching because he played at the college level. But that didn’t dampen his passion for the game.

“I’m addicted to football,” said Duff, who was announced Tuesday as the Bengals’ new defensive coordinator. “I just couldn’t let it go – it’s the only passion in my life. School was always easy for me, I always got good grades. But I just wanted football. So let’s do this.”

Duff’s first step toward “football” came after graduating from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a degree in agriculture in 2009. He then landed an unpaid internship as an assistant at the University of Utah, where he worked under head coaches Kyle Whittingham and Jay Hill, then the Utes’ defensive coordinator. It was Hill who helped Duff master the art of delivering the perfect Mountain Dew.

“I worked for free for three years,” Duff said of his time with the Utes as he earned a master’s degree in health promotion. “I was a fly on the wall, a sponge. I soaked it all up.”

When Hill took the head coaching job at Weber State, he took Duff with him. He started as director of football operations, became special teams coordinator, coached the defensive line and served as co-defensive coordinator for the Wildcats for the past four years.

Under Hill, who left Weber State to become the defensive coordinator at BYU after the 2022 season, the Wildcats typically had one of the best defenses in the FCS ranks. The Wildcats won four Big Sky Conference titles and reached the FCS playoffs six times.

“It was a great experience at Weber, we did a lot of great things,” said Duff. “But then it was time to move on to something else.”

When Idaho State hired Cody Hawkins as head coach in 2022, Hawkins reached out to Duff about bringing him to his team, but Duff didn’t think it was the right time to make the move.

“We stayed in touch and I was able to watch him (Hawkins) from a distance,” Duff said. “I believe in what he does. He’s exactly the type of guy I want to work for. He just embodies my values.”

When Hawkins made the decision to leave Josh Runda as defensive coordinator after two seasons, Duff was ready to return to Eastern Idaho.

“I’m just really looking forward to this opportunity,” he said, “everything is falling into place.”

Duff said his defensive philosophy is rooted in his time with Whittingham and Hill in Utah. “This system is the foundation of my beliefs. I think the most important thing is not how you do things, but who you do them with. The system is tertiary. Some coaches will say, ‘We’re going to do this no matter what.’ I don’t want to be one of those cookie cutters. You have to be adaptable. Some years you have a lot of big guys at the top and you mostly play with four players. Other years you may have to play with three players to get your best 11 players on the field.”

However, Duff is holding on to a few things: his defense will be unpredictable and will not be passive.

“I don’t believe in being on guard, playing a defense that just bends but doesn’t break through, and just hoping that someone makes a play,” he said. “We have to be an offensive defense – we have to confuse the quarterback and not give him a static picture. We do this with some twist games beforehand and some disguises in the background. We have to blitz, we have to play coverage and we will miss eight opponents. I would just hate to look a player in the eye and say we’re going to do the same thing every game. I want to dictate the offense.”

To implement his plans, Duff needs coaches and players. He and Hawkins are in the process of reviewing the defensive staff and making decisions about what it will look like going forward.

“There will be a few more new hires, but they will all be vetted,” Duff said. “I ask two questions: What is best for our players and what will help us win games? Some of it is based on the scheme of which kids are in which position group and who can best lead those guys.”

Duff is the first domino in the overhaul of the Bengal coaching staff. Hawkins, who took the program from one win the season before his arrival to three last year and five this season, continues to optimize his staff.

“Cody has a plan,” Duff said. “I’m a really good soldier and I’m going to follow this plan.”

Player recruitment is also currently at a critical point. Wednesday is the first day of the early signing period for high school and junior college recruits. Then December 9th is the first day players can enter the transfer portal.

Duff, who was the lead recruiter for Weber State at Idaho, is looking forward to recruiting his old stomping grounds for Idaho State.

“Nothing makes me happier than signing people from here and then developing their careers,” Duff said. “I couldn’t play, so I live vicariously through them. That’s a big part of it – my home state’s recruiting is great.”

Duff said his primary focus is recruiting and developing high school players from Idaho and Utah, but “to say we would never accept a transfer is stupid.” I don’t want to have a brand new team every year – consistency and Culture, that’s what we want to convey to the children. I don’t believe in accepting everyone else’s transfers. But sometimes you have to fill gaps. That’s the hardest part about being a coach – they change all these rules and there’s no handbook. It’s a bit of trial and error.”

He said he was somewhat familiar with the Bengals’ current roster, having seen them on film preparing for past games or recruiting some of them during his time at Weber. The plan for his Thanksgiving weekend was clear.

“I’m going to eat some turkey and watch a lot of video,” he said.