Eye on the Y: BYU linebacker Chaz Ah You’s comeback starts now

Provo • About 30 minutes after BYU’s third spring practice wrapped up, Chaz Ah You was still in the midst of a walk-through.

With a pair of trash cans acting as offensive players, Ah You was mimicking plays with the rest of the linebackers in shorts and a T-Shirt. Occasionally, he would pause and give some guidance to the younger players in the group. Then it was right back to work.

Seven months ago, when he was sitting in Kalani Sitake’s office debating whether to redshirt last year, this was the scene they both envisioned. A sixth-year player, who had a career ravaged by injuries, taking a leadership role on a young defense.

“That was definitely something Kalani talked about,” Ah You said. “We knew we were going to lose a lot of guys going into this season. So he kind of brought that up, having some leadership going into the Big 12.”

BYU played the long game with Ah You. It could have rushed him back from an injury in 2022, burning his final year of eligibility.

Instead Sitake told him to take his time, recover and be ready to play a much bigger role when everyone leaves. Besides, BYU already had an overly loaded linebackers room last year.

This helps explain his usage last year. He didn’t play in fall camp, then started lightly appearing in practice around Week 4. He tried to play in a game in Week 9 — knowing he could play the final four games and still maintain a redshirt. But he aggravated his undisclosed injury and shut it down.

“We were really trying to take our time and be patient with it. I wanted to have a healthy offseason this year and so those four games were a luxury anyway,” Ah You said. “I wasn’t even guaranteed those games.”