Utah Tech adds longtime Stanford assistant Lance Anderson as next football coach

ST. GEORGE — For the second time since the university jumped to Division I less than four years ago, Utah Tech football will have a new head coach.

Football fans along the Wasatch Front have probably heard of Lance Anderson, though.

The Trailblazers made the announcement Friday morning, bringing in the former 16-year assistant to Stanford coaches Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw as the program's second head coach in its short Division I history.

Anderson comes to Utah Tech most recently after spending last season as an offensive analyst at Boise State. The 52-year-old native of Rupert, Idaho, who was a walk-on at BYU before finishing his collegiate career as a linebacker at Idaho State also coached at San Diego, Utah State, Saint Mary's, Bucknell and his alma mater.

But he is perhaps most noted for his time at Stanford, holding positions that included linebackers coach, defensive line coach, defensive coordinator and interim head coach for two months in 2022 after Shaw resigned from the program.

"I'm really grateful in my coaching career to have worked with a lot of great football coaches: David Shaw, Jim Harbaugh, Derek Mason, Vic Fangio, just to name a few," Anderson said. "I've also been lucky to be part of a lot of great football teams and a lot of winning programs. A lot of that winning is due to the type of players you have; they are the ones who perform, and I've been lucky to coach so many great players, particularly the chance to be at Stanford for 16 years.

"We went in there, took over a 1-11 program, and built that program into one of the most dominant programs in college football for well over a decade. It was an an honor and privilege to go in there and work every day, to coach players like Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey. ... For me, that was such a great experience."

Anderson is most noted for his time as the Cardinal recruiting coordinator, when he served as the program's liaison with the Stanford admission office and helped land top-20 recruiting classes five times in 10 years and peaking at No. 5 nationally in 2012 at one of the most stringent academic institutions in the country.

Many of those classes featured Utah high school products, including NFL pass catchers Dalton Schultz (Bingham) and Simi Fehoko (Brighton), among many others.

"We had a big recruiting area at Stanford, but Utah was one of my areas, and that was a big emphasis for me," Anderson said. "I love recruiting the state of Utah. During my time, we got a lot of great football players from the state of Utah, and I think every one of those guys became starters and great players. From Dallas Lloyd and Brandon Fanaika from Pleasant Grove, Sean Barton from Woods Cross, Simi Fehoko from Brighton, Dalton Schultz who is one of the top tight ends in the NFL today. ... There's a great player at Stanford right now, Scottie Edwards out of Olympus. I'm excited to bring that same caliber of athlete here to Utah Tech."

Anderson replaces Paul Peterson, the former Snow College head coach and one-time Boston College quarterback who took the top job in St. George in 2019 and led the program through a transition period from Division II and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to Division I and the Western Athletic Conference (now the United Athletic Conference for football).

The 43-year-old former BYU graduate assistant and Southern Utah passing game coordinator was 17-32 in five seasons with the Trailblazers, including 2-9 and a 1-9 record in UAC play last year prior to his departure.

"I'd feel remiss if I did not thank coach Paul Peterson for his work in getting this football program to where it's at and allowing us to launch today's new era," Utah Tech athletic director Ken Beazer said. "I thank him and his staff for all that they have done for the program."

The Trailblazers will open the 2024 season Aug. 31 against Big Sky foe Montana State at Greater Zion Stadium in St. George.

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