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For the first time since he was suspended for violating team rules in midway through the 2015 season, promising defensive end Sione Takitaki practiced with the BYU football team on Thursday as preseason training camp began in Provo.
Checking in at 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, Takitaki looked big and fast, and pronounced himself ready to pick up where he left off on Oct. 16, 2015. He had eight tackles and a sack in a 38-24 win over Cincinnati, then never played another down his sophomore season.
"I went through a lot to get back," said Takitaki, declining to specify why he had to sit out the entire 2016 season, a season now listed as a redshirt year for the product of Fontana, Calif. "I am just blessed to be in the position I am to be back. There are a lot of people that helped me to get back. I am just really blessed to be back. That's all I can say about that."
Takitaki, who played in 11 games as a freshman in 2014 and six as a sophomore in 2015, has recorded 40 tackles and seven sacks in his star-crossed BYU career. He's listed as a co-starter at defensive end with Trajan Pili in BYU's post-spring camp depth chart.
"I feel like I can [get back to form]," he said. "We got the best weight and conditioning staff. … We have been working with them since January, so I feel really good. I feel like my body is coming already. It is going to be a great season."
Takitaki said he probably enjoyed the first day of camp more than anyone, because of what it took to get back into the good graces of the school and the program. He credited his wife for helping him get through it.
"You guys probably know, I got married. It was a good change," he said. "My wife has been a blessing this whole journey, in a good way. And I am just stronger for that. I am happy to be where I am at, with all the help that I have. Just moving forward. The new staff has been a blessing … They are all good guys, loving us up, just showing what this program can do."
Takitaki said his role hasn't been defined yet, but he imagines it will be like in 2014 and 2015 — as a terrorizing pass rusher.
"I feel like I've got it all," he said. "Just plug me in, put me in, that's all."
Of course, Takitaki's two seasons so far were under coach Bronco Mendenhall. He said there's an entirely different vibe in the program now, under Kalani Sitake.
"I am not going to say we are slacking, but it is more kick back now," he said. "[Sitake] takes care of us more. I probably shouldn't have said that. We aren't as aggressive. We are not running here and there. It is not as intense. With Bronco, everything was just sprint, and it was probably like Hell Week with Bronco. But now it is awesome."
Bottom line: Kudos to the young man for agreeing to meet with the media throng after practice Thursday and face some difficult questions. Other players who have gone through similar suspensions and the like haven't been as willing to immediately and publicly discuss their travails.