The wisdom of closing spring camp with an alumni game rather than an open scrimmage

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The wisdom of closing spring camp with an alumni game rather than an open scrimmage
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake gestures to the student section as he arrives at LaVell Edwards Stadium before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake gestures to the student section as he arrives at LaVell Edwards Stadium before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025.
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Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

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Kalani Sitake needed to make his 2026 spring football practice sessions all about keeping momentum from a 12-win season. As things come to an end, he and his staff have done exactly that.

BYU has avoided serious injuries and welcomed a bevy of key transfer portal recruits at important positions (linebacker, receiver, secondary, tight end). There’s been learning, teaching, insertion of offense and defense, and opportunities for returning stars to take the lead. Coaches also hosted a lot of class of 2027 recruits this past week.

Here is a Casey Lundquist interview with freshman Legend Glasker. The former Lehi star is one of many newcomers turning heads this spring. Here are interviews with the two coordinators, Kelly Poppinga and Aaron Roderick.

The session will end with an alumni game scheduled for Friday in LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Here are a few of our spring camp stories:

Question of the week

BYU football’s spring drillswinddown Friday with an alumni game instead of a spring game or open scrimmage.Is this a beneficial tradeoff? Whatdoes it accomplish, andisit a good substitute for an open scrimmage to end the session?

Jay Drew: When it comes to spring football games, Kalani Sitake has been something of a trendsetter. Sitake stopped doing them a couple years ago, and now dozens of other college football programs have also scrapped them.

Locally, the latest major program to forgo having a spring scrimmage or game is the University of Utah, as new head coach Morgan Scalley said recently that the Utes will have an event for fans in the place of an actual game.

When BYU stopped holding a spring game, I was disappointed at first, because as a reporter, I rely on those games to learn more about the team and construct a depth chart (very few schools release post-spring depth charts, so it is up to reporters to try to piece them together if their editors want them for publication).

As a tradeoff, BYU has put on an alumni game for its fans on the weekend where it would be expected to have a spring game. I have to admit — those have been fun and mildly interesting, and it seems to me that the fans who do attend them are entertained and find them enjoyable. So yes, it is a beneficial tradeoff, and I expect BYU to do them as long as Sitake is the head coach.

Generally, there are two major reasons why BYU went away from having a spring game — to avoid injuries, and to avoid giving upcoming opponents film to study as they prepare for games in the fall.

I should mention that BYU also does fan fests throughout the West during the spring, and those can be a good tradeoff for the lack of a spring game as well.

Dick Harmon: Spring football games have faded in terms of importance, entertainment and relevance because so many coaches hold out key players to protect them from injuries. These watered-down sessions became less useful than final closed scrimmages where just the team worked before coaches and staff. The two most important questions of the spring have been answered, in part: how Bear Bachmeier and new receivers are progressing, and just what Kelly Poppinga plans to do now that Jay Hill is at Michigan.

This alumni game on Friday has actually been a stroke of genius. Held at the end of spring drills the same weekend that the semiannual general conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is conducted, it has brought together some of the most storied personalities of the program. Because these former players are excited, passionate and engaged in returning to the field, it makes it all the more performance art for fans.

It is also a marketing win because it is broadcast on BYUtv, and the commentary from former players on the sidelines and in the set is extremely entertaining. To have former stars like Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Max Hall, Norm Chow, Vai Sikahema and so many others involved in a kind of draft and play format that has a competitive element to it is top shelf at a time when there is basically little or nothing going on with football.

This wouldn’t work if the former players weren’t so thrilled to be there and ham it up. It’s a reunion on steroids and fosters program pride, involvement and investment by these former stars.

Cougar tales

BYU’s women’s basketball team, led by Lee Cummard’s first-year winning record, advanced to the finals of the WBIT on Monday after beating Kansas. Here is Jackson Payne’s analysis of the performance.

BYU golf pulled off a victory and a top-five performance in tournaments this past week, led by freshman Kihie Akina.

Two former BYU football players are expected to be the highest-paid players at their positions this coming season, with LA’s Puka Nacua and San Francisco’s Fred Warner collecting big checks.

From the archives

From the X-verse

Extra points

Fanalysts

Comments from Deseret News readers:

So with the addition of Walker, BYU’s opponents will soon be saying “Lyons and Tiger and Bear, oh no!”

— XPat1961

Spring optimism is nice but being realistic we are talking about guys coming off injuries/buried down the depth chart on other programs/incoming freshman as replacements for proven upperclassmen commodities….

— BYUrising

Up next

  • April 2 | TBA | track and field | @ Texas Relays
  • April 2 | 8 a.m. | track and field | @ Bobcat Invitational
  • April 2 | 11 a.m. |women’s tennis | @ Baylor
  • April 2 | 2 p.m. | gymnastics | @ Arizona
  • April 2 | 5 p.m. | softball | @ Texas Tech
  • April 2 | 5:30 p.m. | baseball | @ Texas Tech
  • April 3 | 8 p.m. | men’s volleyball | Vanguard @ Costa Mesa
  • April 3  | 10 a.m. | women’s tennis | @ TCU
  • April 4 | 11 a.m. | softball | @ Texas Tech

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