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Provo • Say this much about Kalani Sitake: BYU's new head football coach hasn't been afraid to change things up.

Delivering on what he promised to do when he got the job last winter, Sitake has moved no fewer than seven players to different positions, including several from one side of the ball to the other.

It is all in an effort to get the best 11 players on the field at all times, BYU's rookie coach said last week after a scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Getting the most out of the considerable talent left behind by Bronco Mendenhall, "is going to be vital to our success this year," Sitake said, staying true to a core belief he established in his years as a defensive coordinator at Utah and Oregon State.

Perhaps the biggest change came in the spring, when running back Francis Bernard was moved to inside linebacker. Bernard, a sophomore, is a natural at the position, said defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki, and the Herriman High product said the first day of camp that he was able to "hit the ground running" due to his work in the spring.

"It is coming along well," Bernard said. "I feel a lot more comfortable. As far as being instinctive, I feel like I am getting there. I feel like a linebacker now."

Bernard's handling of the switch, and the emergence of sophomore Butch Pau'u at middle linebacker, enabled the coaches to move senior Harvey Langi from the MLB position to defensive end. The move was made to take advantage of Langi's pass rushing skills, and because projected starting defensive end — stud end, in Sitake's terminology — Sione Takitaki is not in camp for undisclosed reasons and quite likely won't be with the team this season.

"The experiment is a success," Sitake said of Langi's switch, which didn't happen until the first week of camp in August. "I have been wanting to move him to defensive end since I got here, and the timing just worked out well for us. He is a bigger body, so I think that for him it just makes sense to eat freely and gain weight rather than fast and diet. … His skill off the edge is really vital for our defense to work well."

Langi declined interview requests the first two weeks of camp, but his new defensive line mates, Travis Tuiloma and Logan Taele, who have been sidelined by nagging injuries, have said the former Bingham High star and University of Utah transfer is adjusting well to the position.

"He's just a great athlete — he can do everything on the field," Tuiloma said.

Another senior who was mostly a linebacker last season, Sae Tautu, is also playing defense end. That move was made in the spring, with Tautu now up to nearly 250 pounds.

With the shuffling at defensive line and linebacker and senior Michael Davis the only experienced returner at cornerback, the strength of BYU's defense should be at safety, where senior Kai Nacua returns and is joined by junior Micah Hannemann, a starting cornerback last year.

"The safety position, you need to be a director of where everybody else is playing, so yeah, I feel like the experience with me and Kai is good," Hannemann said. "I am playing strong safety, but it is like other defenses' free safety, because I am the smaller, quicker one. And Kai is the free safety, although he is the bigger, run-stopper safety."

Double shoulder surgery in the offseason has caused Nacua to be somewhat limited in camp, as far as contact goes.

"I like our safeties a lot," Tuiaki said. "Having Kai back has been huge for us. We have been careful with him, to make sure he is healthy because of his [shoulder] deal. And Micah looks confident out there."

Most of the other position switches involved backups. Senior Garrett Juergens has moved from cornerback to receiver, where he will lineup beside his twin brother, Mitchell. Cornerback Micah Simon is now also a receiver, and in the latest switch, freshman Alema Pilimai has gone from linebacker to tight end.

drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU players making a position switch

Player Year Ht/Wt Previous 2016

Francis Bernard So. 6-1/239 RB LB

Harvey Langi Sr. 6-3/250 LB DE

Micah Hannemann Jr. 6-1/205 CB S

Sae Tautu Sr. 6-4/245 LB DE

Garrett Juergens Sr. 5-10/184 CB WR

Micah Simon So. 6-1/189 CB WR

Alema Pilimai Fr. 6-4/205 LB TE