Provo • Before Kedon Slovis fell asleep on Monday night — the day before BYU’s fall camp was set to open — he got a text from fellow quarterback Ryder Burton.
The freshman asked Slovis about his availability after practice the next day. He was hoping the fifth-year senior could carve out some time in the film room to go over Burton’s reps. It was Burton’s first fall camp at BYU, any guidance would help.
Slovis acquiesced. But internally, it was a poignant reminder for BYU’s leader of just how young and inexperienced this team really is.
“A lot of the times I don’t know if they don’t know something,” Slovis said. “Take it for granted. ... Obviously a lot of new guys and a lot of new faces.”
That level of inexperience and newness extends far beyond the quarterback room. There are nearly 60 new players in BYU’s program for its inaugural Big 12 campaign — 42 of them have signed since December. From transfers, to junior college additions to freshmen, it was the most dramatic roster overhaul in Kalani Sitake’s tenure. Maybe it didn’t rise to the level of Deion Sanders’ changes at Colorado (where the new coach cut more than 75% of his scholarship players), but for BYU this was significant.
“There is a different feel to the team this year and I like that,” Sitake said.
But it leads to a fall camp with more unknowns and question marks than sure things.
Just on the first day alone, defensive coordinator Jay Hill observed an essentially completely new unit. Just when he looked over at linebacker, Hill saw Ben Bywater, Max Tooley, AJ Vongphachanh and Harrison Taggart out there taking reps. None of them participated in spring camp.
Even the ones who had logged reps at BYU before (Tooley and Bywater) were coming off an injury.
“They were a little rusty today. I’ll tell you that,” Hill joked after practice.
And on offense, it was a similar situation as coordinator Aaron Roderick watched transfers Aidan Robbins, Darius Lassiter, Keelan Marion for the first time.
“Yeah probably,” Sitake said of whether this was the most unknown he’s had going into a fall camp. “But the unknowns can run and they are very athletic. So that is a good sign. The players that are veterans and are here have done a great job in [player-run practices] and teaching. You can see it from the offseason. The guys not only look good but they know the scheme and the technique.”
All this change was necessary. Sitake is leading a program into the Big 12 and had to upgrade the talent level and the depth. Slovis commented that this might be the deepest offense he has played on. Whether that is true or just fall camp rhetoric remains to be seen. But he certainly has a point in the sheer numbers BYU has on this roster now.
The Cougars brought in the most transfers in the Big 12 this offseason (tied with Cincinnati with 21). It means this camp now has more position battles than in years past. At linebacker, for example, there are arguably eight players competing to be in the rotation.
Sitake said the ongoing competitions are his biggest priority at this stage of August.
“If we had a bunch of returning starters we would probably give younger guys reps,” he said. “But now we got to compete. The depth chart is not solidified. In order to do that we got to get a lot of reps. Give everyone enough reps where we can evaluate them completely.”
Of course, competition and numbers is not the same thing as proven talent. BYU will only get that through games. But in the meantime, Sitake has to get to know where this roster sits, and quickly.
“We have got to figure out who are playmakers are,” Hill said. “Who we can most rely on when we need to make a play. We have a lot of new faces. We have some transfers. We have a bunch of young freshmen who just joined us. I would say depth and getting better with assignments and schemes is going to be critical.”
Last year, when Sitake had nearly his entire team returning, he talked about playing it safe during fall camp and keeping guys healthy. But this year, as he looks at a Power Five conference and a retooled roster, he put it plainly about what comes next.
“We will utilize all of our practice time,” Sitake said. “... There is a lot of film to watch, but overall the energy at day one is supposed to be like that.”
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