Frisco, Texas • On the eve of BYU’s entrance into the Big 12, Tom Holmoe felt the winds of change coming.
For so long, his university had been associated with a strict Honor Code that prescribed standards for dress and grooming and prohibited, among other things, premarital sex, alcohol and drugs.
The steep penalties that came with stepping outside the lines were used as a recruiting tactic against the Cougars, even by in-state rivals like Utah. And BYU’s longtime athletic director saw change on the horizon as the university — owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — as the Cougars stepped into the Power Four.
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with the Big 12 or anything to do with athletics,” Holmoe mused. “But I do think you will see [some of the changes in the Honor Code] in athletics before you see it on campus.”
He talked about relaxing some of the grooming standards, which prohibit male students from having hair past their ears.
But almost three years later, in the face of the BYU athletics’ highest profile Honor Code violation in recent memory, the Cougars are publicly doubling down on the institution’s policies.
The university planned to impose a seven-game suspension against quarterback Jake Retzlaff, sources have told The Salt Lake Tribune, after the quarterback, as part of a now-settled sexual assault lawsuit, admitted to having premarital sex. The threat of suspension has prompted the senior, who led the Cougars to an 11-2 record last season, to seek a transfer rather than face the ban.
“I love Jake Retzlaff,” head coach Kalani Sitake said at Big 12 Media Days this week. But the coach said of the Honor Code, “We expect our students to live according to what they signed up for.”
In the aftermath — as a talented team goes on without a leader — BYU coaches, players and administrators all voiced support for the rules of the school operated by the LDS Church.
The Honor Code, new BYU Athletic Director Brian Santiago said this week, “is absolutely one of our competitive advantages.”
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A few weeks ago, Santiago spent the weekend deep in the recruiting trenches.
The Cougars were hosting a number of high-profile players, including five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons. Sitake’s staff was putting the final touches on its best recruiting class in a decade.
Days later, Lyons donned a Cougar hat while talking to Pat McAfee on ESPN, becoming BYU’s highest-rated recruit since 2008. The Cougars’ 2026 class is currently ranked 20th in the country.
Santiago was impressed. But he quietly came away with other reassurances, too.
“These football recruits and their families could not stop talking about how the level and attention to detail in the football program has risen. That moves the needle in a significant way,” he told The Tribune.
Then he mentioned the Honor Code.
“I would venture to say you’re not going to find very many parents anywhere that don’t want their children to live the Honor Code.”
(LM Otero | AP) BYU head coach Kalani Sitake speaks during Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
BYU is currently experiencing a recruiting boom. In addition to landing Lyons, a Latter-day Saint who plans to serve a church mission before heading to Provo, the Cougars reeled in two four-star recruits, including the top-rated player in the state.
There are many reasons for this, including the added resources in the Big 12.
Being in the Power Four “settled a lot of arguments for people not to come to BYU,” Sitake said.
But Santiago thinks there is more to it than that.
“I think the world is seeing that some of the biggest names in sport, across the board, are choosing BYU precisely because of the Honor Code, because of what it represents,” he said. “There are some that are selecting out, saying, ‘I don’t want that.’ But some of the best are choosing BYU because of the Honor Code.”
Still, as BYU recruits higher-level players, Honor Code enforcement is an even bigger issue.
In some cases, BYU is paying athletes millions of dollars to play for the university. Retzlaff, for example, was set to make over a million dollars this year to play for the Cougars, multiple sources told The Tribune.
Would that level of investment change the calculus for Honor Code suspensions?
“Not a factor at all. It shouldn’t change it at all,” Santiago said. “We’ve got to be consistent with who we are, and the Honor Code is part of our DNA. We embrace that wholeheartedly. Now that we’re in revenue share and student-athletes are being compensated, it doesn’t change who we are at all. In fact, I think there’s actually more investment in the Honor Code and what BYU stands for with the added investment.”
Sitake seemed to agree.
“There’s a level of expectation, a standard that we ask our student athletes and our students all together to live by,” he said. “Every school has their standards. We have ours, too. These are just part of the things that you have to be committed to.”
Doubling down
If there was any player who could be upset about Retzlaff’s departure, running back LJ Martin would be it.
Going into his junior year, he thought he’d be on a dynamic offense that would threaten to go to the College Football Playoff. Martin could have ventured off to other schools. He originally committed to Stanford and isn’t a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
(LM Otero | AP) BYU running back LJ Martin, right, speaks as teammate defensive lineman Keanu Tanuvasa looks on during the Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
But when he was asked about the Honor Code, and if it hurts BYU’s competitiveness on the football field, Martin defended it this week.
“If you are Christian and you have Christian beliefs, that’s pretty much what the Honor Code has,” he said. “So it really doesn’t matter to me. Me being a non-member of the church, it didn’t really matter because I’m living what Christ wants me to do.”
When asked further about Retzlaff’s situation itself, he deflected.
“He hasn’t said anything yet, so I won’t,” he said.
For now, Martin’s reaction is indicative of BYU. It is doubling down on its Honor Code rather than retracting.
Retzlaff may be leaving. The 2025 football season might suffer as a result.
But the Cougars seem fine with that — even if it’s not the last time it happens.