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LOGAN — Todd Orlando cultivated one of the top defenses in the western United States at Utah State, a significant reason the Aggies finished the 2014 season with a 10-4 record despite playing as many as five quarterbacks and suffering numerous season-ending injuries on both sides of the ball.
His impressive defensive playcalling in only two years at the helm for Utah State caught the attention of several national pundits — and a couple of schools, too.
Orlando has accepted a position to be the next defensive coordinator at the University of Houston, the school announced Monday night.
“When you look at the success Utah State has had defensively over the last two seasons, we are excited to add Todd Orlando as our defensive coordinator,” Houston coach Tom Herman said in a statement. “His defensive style is both aggressive, as evident by the sacks and tackles for loss number, and opportunistic, ranking among the nation’s best in turnovers.”
Under Orlando, the Aggies ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense with 19.7 points per game. The Wisconsin graduate spent two years at Utah State as well as time at Florida International and Connecticut.
Orlando’s brief stay in Logan saw several defensive standouts, including current Mountain West defensive player of the year Zach Vigil, the dynamic Frankie Sutera who ranked third nationally with seven interceptions in 2014, and two-way linebacker/running back Nick Vigil. The Aggies ranked fourth nationally with 49 sacks in 2014, and second with 114 tackles for loss in a year that saw them win their third-straight bowl in a fourth-straight postseason appearance, both program records.
Houston’s announcement comes less than a day after former defensive coordinator David Gibbs declined the university’s offer of a two-year $1.15 million contract to call the Cougars’ defensive plays, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Utah State was already trying to replace one coordinator when offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven accepted the quarterbacks coach job at Oregon State last month. McGiven will re-join former Aggie head coach Gary Andersen, who made the move after two years at Wisconsin, as well as former Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake.
Current Aggie head coach Matt Wells has not announced replacements for either departed staff member at this time.
