BYU football coaching staff: Cougars hire Weber State OC Steve Clark, Russell Tialavea and AJ Middleton

BYU's football program took a big step in filling out the rest of their staff on Monday.

Per a press release from the athletic department, BYU will hire Weber State offensive coordinator Steve Clark as their tight ends coach, former defensive tackle Russell Tialavea as the director of player personnel and AJ Middleton as the assistant strength coach.

Head coach Kalani Sitake praised each of the hires in the release.

"I’m happy to announce the hiring of Steve, Russell and AJ," Sitake said. "Steve is authentic, extremely organized and a tireless worker who will coach our tight ends. AJ adds great experience to our strength and conditioning staff, and Russell has kept the overall program running smoothly amidst the recent changes and I'm excited to have him serve as the director of football operations."

Steve Clark is coming back to BYU after stints at Southern Utah (with current Cougar assistant Ed Lamb) and Weber State as the offensive coordinator. From 2005-07 Clark worked with the special team and offensive line as a graduate assistant. Before his first tenure in Provo, Clark worked with Urban Meyer's defensive staff in the 2004 season.

Russell Tialavea, who had previously been serving as the assistant director of player personnel, has been promoted to the director level position. Since graduating in 2012, Russell has worked his way up in the athletic department serving in various positions from an academic specialist to a human resource rep.

AJ Middleton will be the only hire of the bunch without any prior coaching or playing experience in Provo. He was previously working at UNLV as the assistant strength coach. Middleton expressed his anticipation to join a program like BYU's.

"I’m looking forward to helping develop our players and being part of a program that has such a great winning tradition," Middleton said. "It’s exciting to be part of an organization with such an emphasis on integrity."

With these three hires BYU will only have two more spots (running backs and defensive backs) to fill on its coaching staff.