This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • BYU football players and coaches will report for preseason camp in less than five weeks to begin making preparations for the Aug. 26 opener against Portland State.
BYU football fans can get their fix of news relating to the program Friday, however, when the school holds its seventh annual BYU football media day at the BYU Broadcasting Building on campus. Events begin with the traditional state of the program news conference at 9 a.m. and continue until approximately 4 p.m.
BYU, a football independent since 2011, holds its own media gathering in late June to avoid conflicts with media days held by most conferences in mid-to-late July.
The general theme of this year's event is honoring legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards, who died last December at 86.
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and others who coached or played under Edwards before joining the coaching profession will appear in a live television program at 2 p.m. on BYUtv.
No major announcements are expected Friday, although the Cougars still don't have a bowl agreement lined up for the 2017 season.
"It is unknown right now," athletic director Tom Holmoe said March 1 about BYU's bowl situation in 2017. "So we are talking with ESPN right now to try to fit in a situation, a bowl game. It will be interesting to see how that works. But ESPN has bowls that they own, and a lot of great relationships with those conferences [that have bowl tie-ins]. So we will see how that goes."
Holmoe said he will "just leave that up to ESPN," when asked how long BYU will wait on the cable sports giant to find it a bowl game if it becomes bowl eligible.
"We are not in a position to say what we want," Holmoe said. "Even in the games in the past, when we negotiated those games, we pretty much allowed ESPN to go to some of those major conferences that have contracted games, and work with them. … Then they come to us and say, 'What do you think?' I say, 'That sounds great.' "
BYU is also without an agreement for a 2018 bowl game because the Poinsettia Bowl, which the Cougars were contracted to play in in 2018, folded in January.
Asked Monday if any significant announcements are in the works for Friday, coach Kalani Sitake told reporters that they probably know more than he does.
"All I know is media day is coming Friday and I am just looking forward to talking about our team and the progress we've made since spring camp," he said. "I am just really looking forward to seeing our guys. I mean, there are a lot of guys we have that are new to the program. We are taking advantage of the time that we have now to get them adjusted to school and everything else."
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU football media day
At BYU Broadcasting Building, Provo
Friday's schedule
9 a.m. • State of the program discussion with coach Kalani Sitake, AD Tom Holmoe, various assistant coaches
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. • Print and broadcast media interviews with players and coaches
2 p.m. •LaVell Edwards' Coaching Tree live television broadcast (BYUtv)
3 p.m. • Tours of BYU broadcasting facilities