Provo • One element of BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker’s story is notable enough to be the lede in the telling of it, but not so unusual for it to be absolutely unheard of. It goes like this:
The Cougars’ best defender, a man who last season was a star contributor to the best defense in the Big 12 and who will play a major role in BYU’s success in a season that is now just days away, was once what no college player wishes to be and what no significant P4 program has much time or affinity or use for. He was … on the north end of the roster, a project, and on the south, a scrub. He was a walk-on.
“I didn’t get a whole lot of offers out of high school,” he says, a euphemistic declaration that translated into brutal truth means, “Nobody wanted me.”
OK, that’s a lie. His school bio says — and we can all believe those, right? — he was a three-star prep recruit and that a couple of schools in Utah sort of wanted him. But Southwest Presbyterian State, had there actually been a school of that name, might have been indicative of the kind of program that really was after him. But Glasker, who played at Bingham High School as a receiver and a safety, set his lonely eyes on something more. Along a solitary pursuit toward what only he saw, that’s exactly what he made real, what he through a now crowded, acclaimed chase, is realizing still.
Coming out of Bingham, Glasker hoped to play at BYU, where his father had played baseball and his mother played volleyball. Cougar coaches recognized him as an athlete, but not enough to actually offer him a scholarship. Making matters worse, Glasker suffered a pelvic infection, a bulbous growth in his groin area that required surgical removal, adding injury to insult.
“Before that surgery, doctors told me they weren’t sure I was going to be able to play football again,” Glasker says. “My pelvis was eroded, kind of chipped down. I had surgery for a hernia in high school, and they were saying the infection might have been caused by an unsanitized needle. When they cut it open, there was a golf-ball-sized blob of pus all over my bladder and pelvis, so I had a PICC line inserted and there was a whole box of antibiotics I had to take. They were unsure if the pain was going to go away. It took about five months. … But now I feel great.”
He feels, apparently, the way he plays. More on that in a minute.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars linebacker Isaiah Glasker (16) sacks Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (11) for a fumble and turnover during the game between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Arizona Wildcats in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024.
Glasker was lured to BYU via light program interest that had many ifs attached to it, foremost among them, if he worked hard and developed his abilities at a new position — linebacker — promising opportunities might open up to him. After his freshman year, Glasker says, “Kalani [Sitake] called me into his office and told me he thought my best chance of making it to the NFL was at linebacker.”
Wait … the NFL? By then, Sitake and other coaches — particularly Jay Hill, who had been hired as defensive coordinator — realized what had careened into their program. Hill henceforth and forthwith offered him a scholie.
“Switching to linebacker is the best decision I ever made,” Glasker says. “At first, I was hesitant because of the work that had to go into it, gaining weight and everything. I had never played linebacker. I had to get used to the whole flow, really being in the box.”
He accepted the role despite his inexperience, his 6-foot-6 height and his then-lanky frame. Glasker looked more like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander than Fred Warner, but has since added some mass to his form, still spread judiciously over a build that surprisingly is listed at 240 pounds, a full 10 pounds more than the weight at which Warner — the former BYU great who now is considered the best linebacker in all of football — is listed.
His strength and especially his speed — “I feel like I can run with anyone, tight ends, running backs, even receivers,” Glasker says — are what the redshirt junior considers his best attributes, qualities that were on full display in 2024, when he racked up 70 tackles, 42 of them unassisted, 14.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and three interceptions, one he returned for a touchdown. “I ran a 4.5 in high school,” he says, “but I think I’m a little faster now.”
He also ran off with awards last season, being named an honorable mention All-American by some of those who give out such recognitions. He was named the defensive MVP of the Alamo Bowl, a convincing BYU win over Colorado, and heading into the 2025 season is in the running for more, as Glasker is on the watchlists for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker, and the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to college football’s most outstanding defensive player.
His stature and status on the team has grown along with the outside accolades, his teammates now looking to him for proper guidance and stewardship. He says he’s accepted that responsibility: “Last year, I just tried to make plays. This year, I’m trying to lead.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars linebacker Isaiah Glasker (16) is blocked by Kansas Jayhawks tight end Trevor Kardell (45) as Kansas Jayhawks running back Devin Neal (4) runs the ball during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024.
Beyond overcoming the infection and learning the new position, his biggest challenge has been gaining and maintaining the aforementioned extra weight necessary to play it. Unsure of the exact number of calories he takes in every day, he figures some days it might climb into the 8,000 range, Glasker eats four meals a day with protein shakes and snacks in between.
He credits Hill as being the main coaching influence that has guided his ascent, loading him up, beyond all the calories, with confidence and knowledge of the defensive playbook.
“I’ve always been able to make plays,” Glasker says, “but now I feel like I can just go out and play freely. …”
He hesitates.
“… But I would say, it’s a little bit harder than it looks. Coming off the edge, making plays, you’re going against linemen who are 6-8, 300-plus, so … yeah.”
Standing on the field after a recent practice, having done his work in the buzzard-hot August sun, Glasker uses his waved arms and hands to underscore the preceding point, revealing a large, rather obvious tattoo on his arm. Illustrated are the words, “Faith in God,” against a backdrop of a rose with hundred-dollar bills mixed into the pedals, butterflies for his mother, and the picture of a lion. “The dollar bills just remind me to get that money,” he says, laughing. Underneath that, in cursive script is “Glasker,” along with Roman numerals that spell out his birthday: Oct. 8, 2002.
“It reminds me to be who I am,” he says. “For sure. Every time I go on the field, I want to represent my family.”
Before he goes on that field, the linebacker likes to listen to some rap music, maybe some R&B, and of late, via the influence of a girlfriend, he’s gotten into country music. The current pregame artists of his choice: NBA YoungBoy and Morgan Wallen.
Whatever, whoever it is in his ears, Glasker is dialed in on furthering his football career at BYU and thereafter the NFL. “That’s the plan,” he says.
So it is that the kid who was “always doubted,” who “a lot of people didn’t believe in,” is now making believers out of many. He’s good with that, but not satisfied, not yet. With a smile, he says, “I’ve kind of showed ‘em what I can do.”
The showing, the doing are set to begin again in the days ahead.