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Provo

Harvey Langi is one of the most celebrated players in Utah high school football history. He's featured in a movie promoted in this year's Sundance Film Festival. He made two major switches by transferring from Utah to BYU and changing positions, and he wears the jersey number recently vacated by the Cougars' star running back.

Even with all of that, he's not the most famous Langi associated with BYU's football program. That distinction belongs to his cousin Motekiai Langi, the 6-foot-7, 410-pound rugby player who signed with the Cougars in February, prior to an LDS mission in Arizona.

That's not to say there's nothing intriguing about Harvey Langi. With two years remaining in his college career, he's trying to fulfill the promise that accompanied his recruitment from Bingham High School, where the Miners won state championships in his junior and season years. He's learning how to play defense — which is not just about tackling people, or is it? — and maximize the athletic ability that once made him such a productive running back.

BYU expects a lot from him this season as a 6-3, 250-pound inside linebacker and a leader of a defense that showed improvement in Saturday's scrimmage.

By his account, Langi was merely running around and hitting opponents last season in his transition to defense, "just trying to get that aggressive mentality in me," he said. His purpose now is to learn the workings of the defense for every player and "get educated into it," Langi said, "instead of just trying to be the aggressor."

So he's thinking more and reacting less — which, naturally, is 180 degrees from the approach that coach Bronco Mendenhall wants a linebacker to adopt. When Mendenhall says, "There's still a lot of conscious thought that has to go into the progression of what's happening, rather than instinctual," that's a case of the coach diagnosing the problem for Langi.

Running backs can find holes and make yards on their own, but his new job description is different, requiring even more teamwork, according to Langi. "On defense," he said, "you have to take away the 'I'm-the-star' mentality and humble yourself down."

Eventually, Langi will blend his knowledge with natural ability and become a defensive force, Dave Peck believes. "His best years are still ahead of him," said the former Bingham coach. "I just see him becoming a beast."

Those years in Langi's past were impressive. He's the most effortless runner I've ever watched in Utah high school football, and that's a compliment. His efficient, powerful style made him just about unstoppable at Bingham, with a strong offensive line that helped gain more than 4,000 yards in his career.

Anyone would have expected that production to continue at Utah, but Langi was not quite ready for Pac-12 competition in as a freshman in 2011 — at least, not as prepared as junior college transfer John White, who seized the position and kept it in record-setting style. The following summer, after having gone through spring practice, Langi made the surprising announcement that he would leave on a mission.

When he returned from Florida last summer, with Utah already publicizing him as a defensive end, he transferred to BYU as a linebacker just in time for preseason practice. He appeared in 12 games and made a total of 14 tackles — adding to his 13 carries at Utah, hardly the kind of statistics he expected to compile in two collegiate seasons.

Langi then missed spring practice for undisclosed reasons, although his self-analysis during an interview last week offered some clues: "I need to work on going to class, being a student-athlete, taking care of things off the field or on the field."

He's back on the field now, as the only current No. 21 in BYU's program. In the college football world of duplicate numbers, Langi matched running back Jamaal Williams' look last year. Williams is gone, having withdrawn from school this month with plans to return in 2016 (the thought of filling Williams' vacancy crossed Langi's mind, but he's sticking with defense). Langi also will be a senior next year when the BYU-Utah series resumes, completing a career that has taken some twists and turns from his days in South Jordan.

During his recruitment by schools including USC and Stanford, Langi became a focus of the "In Football We Trust" film project, documenting the sport in the Polynesian community. He liked being part of the storytelling process, although it captured everything about his life, including some off-field legal issues.

The film "not only put Polynesians on the map, it put Utah on the map," Langi said. "Of course, you regret mistakes in the past. It's cool; I've learned from them and I've progressed, and that's all that really matters."

Mo Langi is scheduled to arrive on BYU's campus sometime in 2017. By then, Harvey Langi hopes to be somewhere along the path to the NFL. His career trajectory, taking from Bingham to Utah to BYU and from running back to linebacker, already makes him a unique figure in the state's football history, and he's promising there's more to come in this story.

"It's been a journey for me, and it's been a successful journey," Langi said. "It's not over yet." —

About Harvey Langi

Birthdate • Sept. 24, 1992

Height • 6-foot-3

Weight: • 240, as listed by BYU; describes himself as 250

Family • Second oldest of nine children

High school • Bingham, rushed for 4,289 career yards, including 1,399 as a senior

2011 season • Utah, 13 carries for 70 yards, including a 27-yard run in 54-10 win at BYU

2014 season • BYU, played in 12 games (one start), making 14 tackles