Andersen officially hires Aranda | The Salt Lake Tribune

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Utah State officially has a new defensive coordinator.

The Aggies named Dave Aranda to the job on Tuesday, hiring him out of Hawaii and bringing him to Logan to take Gary Andersen's spot on the staff, so Andersen can focus more on his head coaching duties.

Aranda, who manned one of the most aggressive defenses in the Western Athletic Conference this past season, was on campus early last week and introduced to the team last Thursday morning.

"I'm very excited for the opportunity to be able to coach with coach Andersen and his staff," Aranda said in a press release on Tuesday. "They play a hard, physical style of football and I believe it's an up-and-coming program and that I'm proud and very happy to be a part of."

Aranda was the defensive coordinator at Hawaii for the past two years. Under his watch, the Warriors led the WAC in sacks last season.

That's a major reason for Andersen bringing Aranda to Logan. He took note of the physical and aggressive style of Hawaii in the last two years and thought that coaching philosophy would be perfect for the personnel that's already in place.

In 2010, Hawaii led the nation in turnovers caused. Aranda will also coach Utah State's defensive line.

Tony Jones