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Provo • A BYU legend will be returning to Provo, the school officially announced on Thursday afternoon.
Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Ty Detmer will be the Cougars' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. The move was first reported on Thursday morning by the Austin American-Statesman, then confirmed by multiple sources to the Tribune prior to the university's announcement.
BYU also announced that Ilaisa Tuiaki will be the defensive coordinator. Tuiaki was the linebackers and special teams coach at Oregon State this past season under Kalani Sitake, who was named the new BYU coach on Saturday.
Detmer has been coaching at a private high school in the Austin, Texas, area. Although he has no college coaching experience, Detmer is considered a get for Sitake because he has previously said he had no interest in coaching at the college or professional level.
Since he was appointed head coach last Saturday, Sitake has not only landed Detmer, but secured commitments from a pair of four-star recruits. Snow College defensive lineman Handsome Tanielu said he will sign with BYU after having committed to Utah last June. Thursday afternoon, four-star defensive back Troy Warner of San Marcos, Calif., re-affirmed an earlier commitment to BYU after having entertained an offer from USC last week. Warner is the brother of BYU starting linebacker Fred Warner.
After winning the Heisman Trophy in 1990, Detmer played in the NFL for 12 seasons, mostly as a backup quarterback for five different teams. At BYU, he broke dozens of NCAA records and was twice named a consensus All-American. He finished his college career with 15,031 yards and 121 touchdown passes. He had a 162.7 passer rating — an NCAA record at the time.
Detmer graduated from BYU with a degree in recreation management and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
His addition to the BYU coaching staff should prove to be a boon to the school's recruiting as he further ties the program back to legendary coach LaVell Edwards, as does Sitake.
Detmer became the coach at St. Andrews Episcopal School in 2009. He currently lives in Austin with his wife, Kim, and four daughters and owns a ranch on the outskirts of Austin.
His nephew, Koy Detmer Jr., is a backup quarterback at BYU.
Before his one year at Oregon State, Tuiaki was an assistant coach at the University of Utah. He was the tight ends coach in 2012, then the defensive line coach from 2012-14. He coached four Pac-12 postseason honorees at Utah, including first teamers Nate Orchard in 2014 and Trevor Reilly in 2013.
Twitter: @drewjay