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It sounds rash and radical, crazy even, because it seems about a decade premature, but what we have here is a key to what Kyle Whittingham could do to keep Utah football's substantial momentum flowing in a positive direction:

Hire Brian Johnson as his new offensive coordinator.

No, no, it wasn't meant as a joke.

Hire him. Now.

I know what you're thinking: He's too young. He's too inexperienced. He's never coached. He's not seasoned enough to take over that kind of responsibility in a program that suddenly has garnered a lot of attention and is worth a lot of money.

Stop, and think again.

Johnson has.

"It would be interesting," he said. "I've actually thought about [becoming a coach at Utah] a couple of times. I really haven't made a decision one way or the other [about playing]. Some people have told me that I'd make a great coach, or whatever. I don't know how it would go with coaching guys who are older than me."

Ute defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake does.

"I'd hire him tomorrow if he wanted to coach," Sitake said. "He'd be a good one. He's smart, he knows the game and he's a great leader. I'd take him."

And that's on the defensive side.

Other coaches at Utah said Johnson has the best "presence" of any player they've been around.

That presence, especially noticeable over the last few games, rocketed an athlete playing at a high level, hurtling him and his team beyond that -- by way of an uncommon melding of the physical and the mental and the emotional. Not only did Johnson exceed standards of mastering the requirements of playing quarterback, which are, even in the college game, substantial, he often scanned the schemes and scenarios, determined which plays would be run at which times against which defense, and then completed the deal by doing exactly what needed to be done, inspiring his teammates en route.

Anybody around here think Johnson hasn't absolutely devoured the spread offense, and consumed alongside so many of the options within the options, he directed so magnificently against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and in so many clutch situations throughout the year?

He has worked hard to learn all of that, but his characteristics and qualifications to take over the Ute offense -- or at least play a major role in running it -- far exceed what he's absorbed as a student of the game.

It's not just what he knows, but the way he is.

Johnson is a pragmatic, mature, confident leader, one his teammates easily looked up to and followed. And the fact that he gathered himself so well and performed so cool and calm at the end of ball games with the outcome still in doubt did nothing but increase his standing. He depended on teammates to make plays, trusting them to do exactly that, and they trusted him back.

That's notable, considering earlier in his college career, Johnson struggled at times to complete clutch plays and depended too much on his own abilities to run around and make something happen, taking his eyes off open receivers.

By last Friday night, he knew where those receivers would be before the receivers did, and he repeatedly got them the ball as much with his mind as his arm. "Brian had the freedom to do what he wanted to do," said Bradon Godfrey.

And the entire team was confident, in part, because Johnson was so self-assured. "Everyone fed off his energy," Louie Sakoda said. "His leadership made this team."

Added Whittingham, "Brian Johnson meant everything to this football team."

So, why keep that in the past tense?

Put it in the present and the future. Hire him.

Johnson may want to try playing pro football. That's his body talking. But he didn't win all those games at Utah, particularly in the back half of his time there, because of unparalleled physical attributes. He won them because of what Whittingham called, in the true vernacular of a coach, "intangibles."

Translated, that means he's intelligent, charismatic, aware, poised, dedicated and a hard worker. He made himself into a great offensive player, and guys who do that, rather than rely on loads of natural ability, can more deftly pass those lessons on to others.

Imagine the kind of recruiter Johnson would be. Remember what he said when the Utes were dead in the water against Oregon State, down eight points with less than two minutes to play, and he saw disappointed fans streaming out of Rice-Eccles Stadium into the dark of night? "They're going to miss a great show."

Hire him, quickly.

Not as a reward or as a matter of ceremony.

Hire him because he would help win games.

It does not matter that Johnson's only 21, and that he has, at least technically, never coached before. Truth is, he mentored this Ute team all season long, to a 13-0 record, a record that without him and his presence would have fallen far short of that.

If you've got it, you've got it.

And this kid does.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Monson and Graham Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">gmonson@sltrib.com.