‘We will be ready to roll’: Kalani Sitake wraps up BYU spring football camp with renewed sense of optimism

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Barring something totally unforeseen, like what happened last year at the quarterback position, the BYU football team that wrapped up spring practices in Provo will be identical to the one that takes the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Sept. 5 against Utah Tech.

That was the message sent by head coach Kalani Sitake, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick and new defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga when all three men met with reporters via Zoom on Thursday afternoon.

“We will be ready to roll this fall,” Sitake said.

“We have a good football team,” Roderick said.

“I feel really good about where we are at,” Poppinga said.

In past years, there was a bit of roster uncertainty coming out of spring camp, because the transfer portal was about to open and players who didn’t have the kind of camp they wanted — or saw the writing on the wall that they weren’t going to be on the two-deep or a big part of the coaches’ plans in the fall — would seek greener pastures.

This year, there’s no transfer portal opening when spring ball ends across the country, so what you see now is pretty much what you get, Sitake said.

Sitake and Roderick both said that spring practices showed them that they can win a lot of games with the team as presently constituted, and they won’t be looking to add any more bodies unless something catastrophic occurs.

“I feel really good about the program, and the leadership on the team,” Sitake said. “In order for you to have great leaders, you have to have people that are willing to follow. We have a really good dynamic on the team. I give a lot of credit for (that) to the player retention, and surviving the portal, because it’s a great family, and the reason why it’s a great family is because of the young men in our program, and the leadership that we have.”

Bear Bachmeier is back and better than ever

Last year, about a month and a half after spring camp ended, the program was rocked by news that would eventually result in projected starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff leaving the program for Tulane, rather than serve a seven-game suspension for violating the honor code. All bets that the Cougars would pick up where they left off in 2024, when they went 11-2 and won the Alamo Bowl, were off in 2025.

But a freshman quarterback who didn’t even participate in spring camp last year, Bear Bachmeier, saved the day, as it were. The 19-year-old from Southern California led BYU to a 12-2 record and within a whisker of making the College Football Playoff.

That Bachmeier is back and fully healthy after an ankle sprain limited what he could do in the Big 12 championship game loss to Texas Tech and the 25-21 win over Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl is one of the primary reasons for the optimism among the coaches.

“It has been nice to have Bear here all spring,” Roderick said. “He got here so late last year. I think we’ve been able to make some really great progress with him, and develop the other quarterbacks as well. … We like all the new guys (freshmen and transfer portal additions), and we have a lot of veteran players who have played a lot of football, too. We’re going to have depth at every position.”

Noted Sitake: “If you look at the position of quarterback, it helps having a guy that played for us last year and understands the offense. That makes it a lot easier.”

And what if Bachmeier, heaven forbid, goes down? Sitake said probable QB2 Treyson Bourguet, a fifth-year senior, will be ready.

“He did some really good things in the spring, and we know we can win games with him,” Sitake said.

Can BYU’s defense get over the (Jay) Hill?

Another big question entering spring camp revolved around the defense, as Poppinga stepped in for Jay Hill after former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham persuaded Hill to join him at Michigan. Sitake said he spent a lot of time during practices the last month watching Poppinga operate and came away impressed.

“I wanted to be involved, I wanted to be there with him and see what he was going to do, put him in positions where he’s going to make calls like he would in a game, and understand how he’s going to function as a leader,” Sitake said. “From what I (saw), it is exactly what I thought. He’s going to be in a really good spot, and I think he’s going to be a great coordinator for us.”

Poppinga has said that the defense won’t change that much, aside from a few tweaks and the additions of dynamic linebackers Jake Clifton (Kansas State) and Cade Uluave (Cal) out of the transfer portal, and that was fairly evident in the media viewing portions of practices. Also, the defense held its own against Bachmeier and some new skill players such as Oregon transfer receiver Kyler Kasper and USC transfer tight end Walker Lyons.

“What was nice is that one side just didn’t dominate the other. It was back and forth, which is a good thing,” Sitake said. “If one side was winning every day, I would be a little nervous. But both sides were really good, and had their moments.”

Sitake marveled at the talents of Clifton and Uluave, who participated in camp despite having a heavily wrapped right hand, and said there will be fierce competition for starting spots at the linebacker positions with Siale Esera, Isaiah Glasker and Ace Kaufusi, among others.

He also noted that safeties Raider Damuni, Faletau Satuala, Tommy Prassas and Jonathan Kabeya showed well as the Cougars go about replacing the under-appreciated Tanner Wall.

“From what I can gather from spring, we had a really good start, and I’m excited about the offseason,” Sitake said. “I am excited about the next step, which is getting to fall camp, and making sure that these guys get a lot of stuff done and accomplished between now and by the time we open camp in the fall.”

Having brought in Demario Warren to coach the safeties and Lewis Walker to coach the cornerbacks, Sitake said the two newest additions to the coaching staff “have been great” and have quickly put their personal stamps on the unit.

Special teams are a bit unsettled

Sitake said he is also happy with how special teams are coming along under the direction of Justin Ena, the former inside linebackers coach, although replacing kicker Will Ferrin and punter Sam Vander Haar won’t be easy. He said Matthias Dunn (kicker) and Fuller Shurtz (punter) performed admirably in camp, and more help is on the way when former five-star kicker Brody Laga returns from a church mission.

“Having Justin Ena coaching special teams is going to be such a huge advantage for us,” Sitake said. “He was one of the best special teams players (in the NFL). He understands how it works, and I am really pleased with his leadership there. I don’t know if he gets enough credit for what he does.”

Coaches are also confident that a solid punt returner will emerge to replace Parker Kingston, who took three punts to the house in the past two years but is no longer with the program due to his well-publicized legal issues. Observers say that cornerback Cannon DeVries and receivers Cody Hagen and Bear Bachmeier showed well there in camp.

Sophomore Ty Smith, a redshirt freshman from Gilbert, Arizona, is the heir apparent to Garrison Grimes as the deep snapper.

“We’re gonna have plenty of guys that can kick and hold,” Sitake said. “Ty Smith has done a great job snapping the ball. I can’t believe that I was teammates with his dad, Tyson. I’m officially getting old. It is kind of cool. Sad, but cool.”

Did the Cougars avoid major injuries in camp?

Sitake said the Cougars didn’t scrimmage as much or tackle as much as in past spring camps, mostly because of the experience returning and to avoid injuries. Several key players such as running back LJ Martin, Glasker and offensive lineman Sonny Makasini were held out of contact as they recover from offseason surgery.

On the flip side, running back Sione Moa returned from a compartment syndrome injury that almost took away his playing career in 2025 and has looked sharp in camp, Roderick said.

Sitake said “a couple guys” who are not on the depth chart sustained serious injuries, but he declined to name them and asked reporters to wait for the players to make those announcements themselves, if they so desire.

“Nobody in the two deep, but there’s a couple that I wish we could have (healthy),” Sitake said.

What’s next for BYU football coaches, players?

April will be different for BYU coaches this year, with no transfer portal opening to worry about, and no new players to vet who may have entered the portal in the past. Still, Sitake said the staff will continue to conduct exit interviews with every player on the roster and “set expectations” for them as they move into player-run-practices (PRPs) and work with the strength and conditioning staff.

“Everybody has to understand where we see them and what we want them to accomplish in the next few months, a short-term goal, and the goal for what they need to do when they get to the fall and how they want to compete for playing time,” Sitake said. “So the exit interviews are a big part of the process for us ending spring.”

A few more returned missionaries will join the team in the summer, along with freshman cornerback Antonio Johnson of Arlington Heights (Texas) High. All of the other freshmen who signed last December and aren’t on church missions were able to enroll in January and participate in spring ball.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into winning games, so we’ve got to be on point with so many things right now,” Sitake said. “We’ll take advantage of the time that we have, but I feel really good about where we’re at currently, the beginning of April. We still have some work to do. We’re not ready to go to the season yet, but we will be by the time we get to August. We will be ready to roll this fall.”

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