Two weeks after former BYU wide receiver Parker Kingston was charged with rape and jailed in Washington County, his old team was back at practice.
And to start spring camp, Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake wanted to move on from his leading receiver.
“The team is fine. Guys are great,” Sitake said when asked about Kingston’s expulsion. “I mean, we have a strong culture on the team. So yeah, we are fine.”
That was all BYU’s leader was willing to say as his program started the 2026 season.
Instead, Sitake preferred to talk about BYU’s climb back into the national spotlight, where it’s lived the last two years. The Cougars have won 23 games since 2024, going to the Big 12 title game last year and winning the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Now it will have to reinvent itself once more without a player who tallied 1,047 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago.
Plenty of veterans return, including quarterback Bear Bachmeier, but it’s a gap to fill.
“They look good. We have a bunch of talent,” Sitake said of his receivers. “We retained some talent. I think we’re going to be really good at that position.”
He added:
“We’ve been saying, ‘humble and hungry’ from the beginning. It’s going to take an incredible amount of humility. We’re not doing things the same as we’ve done in the past. Every year, we’ve changed a few things to be ready. But the thing that is consistent is we have some great leadership on the team. We’ll lean heavily on our leaders.”
One of those leaders is running back LJ Martin, who returned after becoming the Big 12’s offensive player of the year. He finished with over 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns last year, turning down the NFL Draft.
But Martin is opening camp recovering from shoulder surgery he underwent before the bowl game in December. He says he’s already close to 100 percent healthy, but Sitake is being cautious with his return.
“He looks awesome. He’s right on target,” Sitake said. “This team really needs him.”
Martin added, “I’m feeling great.”
Sitake knows getting back to double-digit wins for the third-straight season will be difficult.
But he’s ready to turn the page — or maybe just steal a page from his old mentor LaVell Edwards’ book.
“Like LaVell said: We have a pretty good chance. We’ll see what happens,” he said.