BYU’s best season in two decades ended on a sweet note.
The Cougars won the Pop-Tarts Bowl over No. 22 Georgia Tech, ending the night devouring a sweet treat on national television.
Kalani Sitake certainly enjoyed the celebration, eating a Pop-Tart in one bite straight out of a toaster.
“Maybe ate a little too many,” the head coach joked after the game.
But after the sweet, there was a little sour.
Defensive coordinator Jay Hill — the architect of BYU’s defense and recruiting surge — might be heading to Michigan to follow his former boss Kyle Whitingham. Losing Hill would be a massive hole to fill on a staff that won 23 games in the last two years.
It isn’t just Hill, either. Gavin Fowler, who coached the secondary with Hill, is going to Weber State as the defensive coordinator. Eddie Heckard, another mentor to the corners, is going to Weber as the corners coach.
The good news is, Sitake will have resources to fill Hill’s role. His contract extension included more zeros in BYU’s bank account to hire coaches.
So who could he look for?
Internally, I would take a long look at four options. Kelly Poppinga is the most obvious, with coordinating experience at Virginia and the special teams coordinator for the last three years. He knows Hill’s scheme well and is looking for a defensive coordinator position again.
Gary Andersen, who’s been in the booth next to Hill every game, is another candidate. He has all the experience you could want as a head coach at Utah State, Wisconsin and Oregon State. He’s been a defensive coordinator at Utah and would fit right in. Sitake pushed for more resources in part to keep experienced analysts like Andersen on staff.
But if you want to go with a first-time Power Four coordinator, I would look at Jernaro Gilford or Justin Ena. Gilford is an excellent recruiter and was retained by multiple staffs at BYU. He was just promoted to defensive passing game coordinator and is clearly in line for a coordinator position somewhere. Why not at BYU?
And Ena transformed the linebacker unit at BYU to produce players like Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker. He comes from the Whittingham coaching tree and sees the defensive philosophy a lot like Hill — prioritizing positional length and pressure from the linebackers.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Linebackers coach Justin Ena and special team coordinator Kelly Poppinga at BYU football practice in Provo on Monday, March 6, 2023.
But if Sitake doesn’t like those options, there are big names to reel in. Texas just fired its defensive coordinator after a successful stint. Pete Kwiatkowski is a name I’d monitor. Plus, he’s familiar with this area of the country.
He had time at Snow College, Boise State, Washington and Eastern Washington before heading to Austin.
New faces
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars quarterback McCae Hillstead (3) warms up before football action between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Stanford Cardinal, at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Saturday Sept. 6, 2025.
It was fairly clear during the Pop-Tarts Bowl that McCae Hillstead had to leave.
With quarterback Bear Bachmeier limping and hobbling for the entire game, BYU still didn’t give its backup a chance. Bachmeier threw for over 300 yards. But not even giving Hillstead a look in a meaningless game, when the starter was clearly injured, says a lot.
There was no path for Hillstead to play in Provo with Bachmeier having three years left and Ryder Lyons coming in 2027.
Hillstead will have options from the Group of Five level. He started at Utah State as a freshman and the Aggies are in need of a quarterback.
Outside of the quarterback room, the McKenzie brothers are testing the waters. Dom and Marcus McKenzie never really made their mark in Provo and will look for more opportunities elsewhere. Add LaMason Waller to that list, too. The wide receiver was heavily touted as a recruit but never made it to a significant role.
Ticket prices are going up
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, right, talks with quarterback Sam Hartman, left, during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023 in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Michael Caterina)
One last thing, season ticket prices are going up again — as much as $1,000 for some. There are seven home games instead of six next year and that partly accounts for the steep increase. Plus, revenue is the name of the game in college sports these days.
But there is one silver lining for BYU fans. Notre Dame is coming to Provo for the first time since 2004.
Call it a consolation prize for what was supposed to be the Pop-Tarts Bowl matchup before the Irish backed out.