Justin Ena takes over as Cougars’ special teams coordinator; can he maintain the momentum?

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To say that former BYU and NFL linebacker and special teams ace Justin Ena knows the landscape of college football in Utah would be an understatement.

Ena, who was promoted to BYU’s special teams coordinator by head coach Kalani Sitake in February after having coached the Cougars’ inside linebackers from 2023 to 2025, holds the rare distinction of having coached at all six Division I schools in the state that have football: Southern Utah, Weber State, Utah, Utah State, Utah Tech (then known as Dixie State) and, of course, BYU.

He’s also coached at Eastern Washington and San Diego State after playing four years in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans, mostly on special teams.

Ena replaces Kelly Poppinga, who was promoted to defensive coordinator after Jay Hill left BYU to join Kyle Whittingham’s staff at Michigan. Obviously, Ena knows special teams well, having coached them for two years at SUU (2008-09) and three years at Utah (2015-18), sharing the assignment with Sharrieff Shah.

“Kelly did an excellent job with our special teams the past three years, and I feel Justin taking on this role will allow our special teams to keep thriving as an important priority and vital phase of the game for our program in playing high-level, complementary football,” Sitake said when Ena, who starred for the Cougars from 1997-2001, was named special teams coordinator.

At Philadelphia, Ena played on special teams for one of the best, John Harbaugh, who would go on to become the head coach in Baltimore.

“In the NFL, I primarily played special teams, so I know how important that phase of the game is and will be making sure our guys buy in to be the very best they can be when their name is called,” Ena told the Deseret News last week.

BYU’s special teams mostly thrived under Poppinga, and were responsible in large part for some of the biggest wins in recent memory over Utah, Colorado, Kansas State and other Big 12 programs. So the native of Shelton, Washington, has some big shoes to fill.

Ena said he will tweak the units a bit here and there, but the standards established by Poppinga and Sitake won’t change.

“The only thing that could change a little bit more, schematically, would probably be punt return. But punt return is always dictated on the punting you’re facing,” Ena said. “Kelly did a heck of a job preparing the guys, and making sure that they’re all bought-in on that. I’m confident that will continue.”

New faces across the board on special teams

While the standards won’t change, the faces on BYU’s special teams in 2026 certainly will.

Kicker Will Ferrin, punter Sam Vander Haar, long snapper Garrison Grimes and primary punt returner Parker Kingston are out, and will be replaced by a variety of talented, but inexperienced, younger players, Ena said.

Ferrin will be the most difficult to replace, as the Boise State transfer became one of the best in school history. Ena said senior Matthias Dunn and freshman Ian Sanches have been battling for the job in spring camp, and will be joined by returned missionary Brody Laga of Herriman’s Mountain Ridge High School in April.

“Matthias has been Will’s backup the last couple of years, and we love what he’s doing,” Ena said. “He’s got a really big leg. He touches it really well. He’s just got to put it through the uprights (more consistently).”

When Laga, who earned a five-star rating from the Chris Sailer Kicking Academy when he was in high school, gets home, “there will be a three-way battle and we will see what happens from there,” Ena said.

At punter, Vander Haar saw his petition for another year of eligibility denied by the NCAA, so his backup in 2025, Fuller Shurtz, will step in.

“Sam is going to move on to the next phase of his life, and whether it’s playing football or being a great dad and great husband, which he is already, we wish him the very best,” Ena said. “He did a lot for the program.”

Ena said Shurtz, a redshirt freshman from Katy, Texas, is an outstanding athlete who also played cornerback on his powerhouse high school team.

“He’s got a really big leg, so whether he’s pocket punting or rolling out in rugby (style), he can do a lot of things,” Ena said. “We are excited for him.”

Ena said coaches have already started to look for a replacement for Kingston, who returned three punts for touchdowns in his career. He mentioned sophomore cornerback Cannon DeVries as a possible replacement, along with running back Preston Rex, receiver Tiger Bachmeier (who did some punt returning last year) and a couple of freshmen receivers — Legend Glasker and Terrance Saryon.

“We’ve got five or six guys in the rotation, led by the older guys like Cannon, Preston and Tiger,” he said.

Bottom line, Ena said, is that he will borrow from the principles he learned from Poppinga, Shah, Harbaugh and Dave Toub, who was with Harbaugh in Philadelphia and is now assistant head coach and special teams coordinator under Andy Reid in Kansas City.

“I’m going to make sure that the kids understand that you have to bust your butt and do your thing to become the very best and help our team win as many games as possible,” Ena said.

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