Over the next four months, BYU’s football players—those who remain after the upcoming roster cuts affecting every Football Bowl Subdivision school—will largely be on their own now that spring practices have wrapped up in Provo.
The Cougars will not have head coach Kalani Sitake, coordinators Aaron Roderick, Jay Hill, and Kelly Poppinga, along with their position coaches, monitoring them constantly as they have for the past eight months.
However, Sitake emphasized that expectations will remain high. Following the final of 15 spring practices and before the annual alumni game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, he stated, “We are going to transition now to summer conditioning.”
He mentioned that there will be numerous discussions with each player about their futures in the program and how they are perceived by their position coaches over the next few weeks.
During this conditioning phase, supervised by the strength and conditioning staff, players will be given most of April off to concentrate on academics and finals, with graduation scheduled for April 24-25. “It’s not as if they will have a break to relax.
They still have work to do, just not as a team,” Sitake noted. “They can focus on completing their finals and finishing the semester. There’s also a lot of time in spring for personal commitments like weddings, so I’ll be involved in those, and before you know it, we’ll be back to mandatory conditioning in May.”
Players are encouraged to hold player-run practices (PRPs), which quarterback Jake Retzlaff and others have already planned. As spring camp came to a close, Sitake urged them to continue the momentum from the past spring and take ownership of their training through these player-run sessions. Under the supervision of director of football strength and conditioning Ryan Phillis, the Cougars have been working hard in the weight room since early January. “
We are ahead of where we were last year in terms of strength gains, test scores, and overall body composition,” Sitake observed. “The players are in a much better place now.” This was evident during the media-viewing portions of spring camp, where the Cougars, entering their third season in the Big 12, visibly appeared to be a legitimate Power Four team.
Hill echoed this sentiment, noting that coaches would take a few days off during spring break for Utah schools before conducting exit interviews with current players the following week. “After that, we’ll be on the road for recruiting, which will continue five or six weeks later,” Hill added. “Then we’ll return for youth camps, high school camps, and passing leagues in June.
July will be our downtime to prepare for fall camp.” Roderick succinctly conveyed the message to the players after the 15th spring practice concluded, stating that BYU has not held a traditional open spring game or scrimmage in several years. “The message is that we’ve had a good spring, but we haven’t accomplished anything yet this season.
Last year was solid, but this year, we won’t sneak up on anyone. Everyone knows about us now, and we’ll have a target on our backs each week,” Roderick said. “We need to be extremely diligent and eager to prove ourselves again. Everyone in our program is determined; nobody feels we’ve arrived. We will continue to work hard throughout spring and summer.”
Wrapping Up Spring Camp One of the most promising outcomes from spring camp was that the Cougars engaged in a tough, physical camp filled with real football action without incurring major injuries.
Some expected starters, such as Chase Roberts (shoulder), Weylin Lapuaho (elbow), Isaiah Glasker (undisclosed), and Andrew Gentry (foot), did not fully participate, but Sitake assured that all should be ready for the fall.
“This year, we’ve engaged in a lot of 11-on-11 football and conducted plenty of live drills. While it can be nerve-wracking, it’s essential for improving at football—practicing tackling and being in live situations,” Sitake explained. “
There’s some stress involved, but overall, we managed to maintain our health. Although some players are a bit banged up, we expect them to be ready when May rolls around.”
Sitake also noted a positive aspect of the scrimmages: there was no clear dominance from one side, unlike in previous years. “I can’t say one side won more than the other; it’s been quite balanced,” he stated. “What I’ve observed is that everyone is improving. The team is grasping the scheme better, and we’re seeing players take on leadership roles within the same system.”
Offensively, Sitake mentioned that the coaching staff implemented “some new strategies that should benefit us this fall,” while defensively, they focused on techniques, enhancing their pass rush, and tackling. “I believe we achieved those goals,” he added. “
We have many returning players with substantial experience in all three phases, which has been a significant advantage. This has allowed us to do things we typically wouldn’t do with our starters and backups, such as expanding the scheme and putting them in more situational scenarios.”
Regarding individual performances, Sitake usually refrains from highlighting specific players, but he did express admiration for the team’s overall conditioning. “They’re not in peak shape yet, but that’s okay,” he remarked. “We just need to ensure we’re progressing towards that goal as the season approaches.”
Roderick said several times throughout camp that UCLA and Utah transfer tight end Carsen Ryan was as good as advertised, and the offensive coordinator repeated that statement Friday.
“We knew he was a good player, but didn’t realize how good he was, really,” Roderick said. “There was a lot of good film on him at UCLA and when he played at Utah. … But I thought he played even better this spring than maybe what I had seen on film. So, I am high on him. I thought he did a good job.”
Roderick said offensive lineman Isaiah Jatta, who will play left tackle, and running back Pokaiaua Haunga had outstanding camps.
On defense, Hill noted that defensive back Jonathan Kabeya “stood out to me,” along with defensive tackles John Taumoepeau and Josh Singh and edge rusher Ephraim Asiata.
“Probably unfair to answer that with (a lot of) names just because there could be 20 that I could list,” Hill said.
The Deseret News will publish separate stories breaking down the offense, defense and special teams in the coming weeks, with projected post-spring depth charts.
