This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Utah State football program has added former Aggie Waqa Damuni as its assistant athletic director for football operations, the team announced Wednesday morning.

Damuni, a letterwinning tight end from 1996 to 1998 and college teammate of head coach Matt Wells, returns to Logan to run the day-to-day operations of the football program, according to a school news release.

"Anytime you get a chance to work at your alma mater, it makes it special, and I do hold a special place in my heart for Cache Valley and Utah State University," Damuni said in the release. "I look forward to working with Coach Wells, the staff, and our student-athletes, as we continue to build on the success of this football program both on the field and in the classroom."

For the last 10 years, Damuni has been an academic coordinator for programs such as Colorado and Memphis. He spent the last five years as the associate director of academic support at Arkansas.

Damuni has a background in service, working previously in Cache Valley as a juvenile justice counselor, and he was a liaison to the Hispanic Community in that role as well.

Utah State football stresses academics, and was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association last fall for academic excellence. The program was ranked ninth this year by the Academic Bowl Championship Series poll.