Utah football promotes 3 to new positions on staff


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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah football program announced three new promotions to its coaching staff Thursday.

Utah has promoted Pablo Cano, former assistant director of player personnel, to be the new director of player personnel. Cano replaces Fred Whittingham, who was promoted to tight ends coach earlier this year.

Replacing Cano is former recruiting administrative assistant Robert Blechen, who has been with the program for three seasons. Blechen is the brother of former Ute safety Brian Blechen. Alema Fitisamanu, who was also previously a recruiting administrative assistant, has been promoted to director of high school relations, a new position on the staff.

Both Blechen and Fitisamanu are now full-time employees for the Utah coaching staff. All three will continue to oversee aspects of the recruiting operations for the team, including the logistics surrounding prospect visits, early film evaluation and the various camps the university puts on for kids around the state of Utah.

Cano has a 26-year history of coaching and recruiting at several schools around the country. He was a head coach at New Mexico Highlands from 2006-07, while serving as a recruiting coordinator. He has coached at four junior college institutions and was a recruiting coordinator at Arizona State from 2009-11 before joining Utah in 2012.

Cano played defensive back at Whitworth (1986), Rio Hondo College (1989) and Cal State Hayward (1990-91) before receiving his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Cal State Los Angeles in 1999.

Fitisemanu played football at BYU from 1984-85 and 1989-90 and is a former first-team all-WAC linebacker. He was an assistant coach at Desert Vista High School in Arizona (2009, 2012) and Mountain View High School in Utah (2014). He was also the head coach of the Samoa Hurricanes in Apia, Samoa, in 2008.

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