Utah coach Kyle Whittingham announced Monday that Mike Bajakian, the Utes’ senior offensive analyst, will serve as interim offensive coordinator for the rest of the season, replacing Andy Ludwig, who stepped down amid a season of struggles.
Ludwig, in his second stint as Utah’s offensive coordinator, had overseen the offense since 2019 after previously working there from 2005 to 2008 and helped the team to consecutive conference championships in 2021 and 2022.
“Andy is the consummate professional and we want to thank him for his complete dedication to our program during his 10 total seasons with us,” Whittingham said in a statement Sunday. “Coach Ludwig has been instrumental to our success here at Utah and personally, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Andy as both a coach and a person.”
Bajakian, most recently offensive coordinator at Northwestern, has been a coordinator at Boston College, Tennessee and elsewhere.
Utah finished 98th nationally in scoring last season and has slipped to 95th this season following Saturday’s 13-7 home loss to TCU. Top quarterback Cameron Rising missed all of the 2023 season because of a knee injury and this fall suffered a Week 2 injury to his throwing hand that eventually shut him down for the season. Backup Isaac Wilson has stepped in and completed only 54.8% of his passes with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. Utah has lost three straight for the first time since 2017 and is averaging just 16.2 points in Big 12 play.
Ludwig, 60, provided stability and success to Utah’s offense during his two terms there, as Whittingham cycled through offensive coordinators at other times. Lugwig nearly left for the same role at Notre Dame after the 2022 season but remained at Utah. He also has coordinator experience at Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, San Diego State, Cal, Oregon and Fresno State.
Utah’s offensive staff includes veteran assistants, such as line coach Jim Harding and tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham, the brother of Kyle Whittingham.
Utah visits Houston this week.
