The University of Utah announced today that Colton Swan, formerly of Weber State University, would fill the vacancy left by Justin Ena in the role of linebackers coach.

Swan, who originally hails from Jerome, Idaho, has been at Weber State for over 10 years, and has coached safeties, tight ends, linebackers, and special teams, along with serving as the co-defensive coordinator for three seasons.

In the past two seasons, Swan has helped the Wildcats to have one of the best defenses in the FCS, which helped them make two deep playoff runs in consecutive years. In 2018, the Wildcats finished ranked 20th in total defense, boasting the 19th-ranked rushing defense and the 12th-most sacks in the FCS. Additionally, one of the linebackers that Swan coached, LeGrand Toia, earned first team All-Big Sky honors two years in a row, as well as FCS All-American honors from multiple organizations.

Before starting his coaching career, Swan was a standout linebacker for the Wildcats, from 1999-2003. Originally a walk on, Swan earned a scholarship as a redshirt freshman and went on to earn honorable mention all-Big Sky honors as a junior, along with second team all-Big Sky honors as a senior.

Swan will dive right in to the deep end as Utah looks to close out its 2019 recruiting class strong. With roughly a month left until the February signing day, the Utes still have some high-profile linebacker targets on the board, including Lolani Langi, Daniel Heimuli, and Henry To'oto'o, among others. If Swan can get off to a hot start on the recruiting trail and help convince at least one of those three to join the Utes, it could be a sign of good things to come down the road.