Kedon Slovis once compared Provo to The Truman Show. Now he'll lead BYU in the Big 12.
On how the odd marriage came about, including going to church, eating wings with Chip Kelly, late-night meetings with Roderick & having all eyes on him in 2023.
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A Duke volleyball player was repeatedly called a racial slur during a match against BYU yesterday. The fan wasn't immediately removed from the event.
Spoke with the player's father, who said BYU's volleyball coach skipped a meeting with the player today.
Some personal news: I'm excited to announce that on Monday I'm starting a new job
@sltrib
as the BYU beat reporter.
I'm grateful to join this newsroom and jump into this beat. I can't wait to get to Provo and hit the ground running.
Four-star tight end Jackson Bowers commits to BYU over Washington, Arizona, Alabama and others. He becomes BYU’s highest-rated recruit in the 2023 class.
Adding to the Big 12 storyline on Saturday, new commissioner Brett Yormark will be in attendance at the Baylor vs. BYU game.
He visited Cincinnati today and is making his rounds to the incoming Big 12 members.
Houston Heimuli is the son of one of BYU's most recognizable players. He wanted to come to BYU out of high school.
Yet, then-HC Bronco Mendenhall didn't reach out to the family. Now — thanks to the COVID year of eligibility — he will return home.
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Jo Adell is expected to land in Salt Lake City this afternoon, but won’t be in the lineup yet.
When he does join the team, Lou Marson says Adell needs a couple of days to “decompress” and think about what he needs to work on.
Sitake visibly frustrated with the amount of penalties. BYU had 10 players on the field multiple times, burned timeouts because of it. Play calls weren't in on time too he said.
"We are mid-season. We should be in better form."
Sources: BYU plans to start backup QB Jake Retzlaff against West Virginia on Saturday.
Kedon Slovis has been dealing with injuries the last few weeks, sources said.
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Built promised BYU football players 15% of profits from its CougarTail bar. But players say they haven’t seen the money.
This comes after two years of NIL deals breaking down. Ocavu and OhanaX also underdelivered.
“It didn’t sit well.”
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Arizona State transfer Sione Veikoso committed to BYU this afternoon. He will add to an offensive line that is already eight-deep. Has four years of eligibility.
Darrell Funk said this spring BYU's line wasn't set. Now, we have a better idea why. Veikoso can play this year.
T.J. McDaniel chose an alternative recovery process after breaking his fibula and dislocating his ankle. No doctors gave approval. Team doctors didn't recommended it.
Nearly a year later, he's still not playing.
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The SMU student section brought a sign that reads, “Thanks for nothing Judas.” It lists Sonny Dykes and Ra’Shaad Samples under it.
An official asked the fans to remove the sign when it was draped over the wall. So now it is prominently displayed on the lawn.
“The Falcons are getting a fantastic football player and an incredibly humble and hardworking teammate with the physical versatility and football IQ to contribute in many different ways... I look forward to following his NFL career." - Kalani Sitake on Tyler Allgeier
As expected, BYU is bringing in another quarterback this transfer cycle.
Jake Retzlaff comes to BYU out of junior college in California. Threw for 4,596 yards and 44 touchdowns in 13 games at Riverside.
Spoke with wide receiver Brayden Cosper yesterday, who said the bowl game will be his last at BYU.
He reflected on his career as he exits, and why he is at peace after five years of college football.
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Former BYU linebacker Payton Wilgar will go to rookie minicamp with the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend.
If he does not sign with the Chiefs, he will go to Buffalo the next week.
Kalani Sitake said they considered giving the ball to Chris Brooks on the final rushing play. He said coaches have to "critique themselves" after the result of the 4th down stop.
Meet Ryder Burton: The kid convinced he can become the face of BYU's Big 12 era.
He is confident — delusionally, irrationally or perfectly so, depending on who you ask.
But by the end, people usually it say it would crazier not to be believe.
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Sources: BYU is expected to hire former Louisville assistant Kahil Fennell for its open assistant coaching position.
He will replace Chris Burgess, who left for Utah last month.
BYU hands San Francisco its first home loss of the season, 71-69.
Caleb Lohner began the week by saying he hasn't played the way he's wanted to this year. He finished this game a game-sealing offensive rebound. Also had 17 points in 22 minutes against Gonzaga.
Pacific volleyball canceled its trip to Provo this week over racial slur allegations made by a Duke volleyball player in August. It will forfeit the match.
BYU says Pacific declined multiple offers to meet and talk about the situation.
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BYU beat NC State 95-86 without Fousseyni Traore in the 2nd half and Atiki Ally Atiki the whole night. Wins the Vegas Showdown and is 6-0.
When Mark Pope changed his offense last year, this feels a lot like how he wanted it to look. BYU hit 14 threes and had 5 in double figures.
On some level, this Pac-12 championship game represents the biggest threat to Kyle Whittingham's program in 18 years.
USC is everything Utah isn't. Does a loss tonight mean Whittingham's model can no longer work?
USF is pretty loose outside the locker room. Players are on bikes, joking around. The team brought a DJ, and he has been blasting music.
On the BYU side it is quite calm, a couple players outside the locker room tossing a ball.
Kalani Sitake starts this week by calling Baylor the "standard of the Big 12."
This week will be a measuring stick for Big 12 readiness at BYU.
"We will see how we match up with the conference champs."
BYU adds former UNLV and Louisville RB Aidan Robbins through the transfer portal.
BYU was guaranteed to lose Chris Brooks and Lopini Katoa this offseason at the RB spot. Goes to the portal to help fill some of that depth.
BYU is looking at former Utah State standout AJ Vongphachanh in the transfer portal.
He was the leading tackler at USU last year. BYU is among several Power Five schools in the mix, including Washington State, Minnesota, Texas A&M, Miami and Louisville.
Kalani Sitake had been waiting to hire several more people to the staff ahead of the Big 12. When the program added five support staffers before spring camp, he said it is "nice, but not historic."
Today, BYU named eight people to the support staff (with three in new roles).
BYU OC Aaron Roderick said Keanu Hill will move from WR to tight end.
"He has to fight to keep his weight down. We just felt with our depth at WR, why fight it? Just let yourself get up to 235, 240. He is already one of our best blockers on the whole team at any position."
Couple of notes from BYU's practices this week:
- The team stayed outside in the rain on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for Oregon. Fesi Sitake remarked the weather in Provo the last few days has been quite similar to Eugene.
Kalani Sitake took five questions postgame. There was nothing left to say after BYU's worst defensive performance since 2016.
He thinks he has an idea of what the next steps are. It's a matter of doing it.
"[I have to] make decisions as the head coach."
Houston Heimuli spent the morning recreating his father’s “Turbo Tongan” poster from the 1980s. That poster is at the heart of why Heimuli is using his COVID year of eligibility to walk-on at BYU from Stanford.
These are being sold outside of Ford Stadium.
Chipper Haynes said he has been selling these for 20 years, but today might be his best-selling day.
A customer came up to him and said, “the anti-Sonny Dykes shirt. I’ll get two.”
Collin Sexton starts his All-Star weekend at Lincoln Elementary in South Salt Lake. Ashley Smith and Mark Tatum are also in attendance.
The NBA put in an updated court and STEM lab.
All week, Chase Roberts didn't know if Puka Nacua and Gunner Romney would play. But when he got word, he knew his role would be elevated.
In his second career game, the freshman had 122 yards receiving, 15 targets, a receiving TD and a passing TD.
PROVO — In a double-overtime thriller, BYU thrust itself into the national conversation. Downing No. 9 Baylor, it made a statement both for 2022 and its Big 12 future.
"We are here to shake up college football."
Korbyn Green was going to sign with Baylor. But then Joey McGuire bolted to Texas Tech and everything changed.
Now at BYU, the true freshman is pushing to crack the rotation as the No. 9 Bears come to town.
Payton Wilgar was torn in his decision to leave BYU.
He knew if he came back he could've raised his draft stock. But he had also already played in 45 games and had life weighing on him.
"I still kind of think about it to this day."
On Wilgar's choice:
ST. GEORGE — On July 1, Dixie State University will be no more. The school will become Utah Tech.
But for this small town, it's far from over. The change has become a cultural flashpoint, pitting a community against the athletes who fought for progress.
BYU OC Aaron Roderick went down the line with the wide receivers' availability for this week on BYUtv.
Chase Roberts: "He's gonna play."
Gunner Romney: "I expect Gunner to play. I don't want to get ahead of myself."
Puka Nacua: "I don't know about Puka."
BYU is going to play two former Baylor quarterbacks, and Baylor, in the first eight weeks of the year.
Gerry Bohanon (Week 1), Blake Shapen (Week 2), Charlie Brewer (Week 8).
Liberty intends to name Charlie Brewer as the starting quarterback, per a source. He's a former starter at Baylor and transferred to Liberty from Utah.
BYU was beyond convention. It threw out combination after combination of skill players, trying to awake a dormant offense.
Finally, Miles Davis and a trio of players down in the depth chart answered the call.
On an unscripted win for BYU:
Off camera, Yormark says the Big 12 will be focused on linear networks in the upcoming media rights contract ahead of streaming.
"As I look forward, we will be linear because that is the reach factor that helps build your brand."
Big 12-Big East Battle in basketball gets a two-year extension through 2024-25 season.
It sets up BYU to potentially play a Big East team its first two years in the league. Big 12 teams will host in 2023 and Big East will host in 2024.
Jaren Hall stepped into a role without a blueprint as BYU's first Black starting quarterback. So he made it his own.
Amid expectations, Hall is staying true to who he is.
"That trueness speaks volumes. Authenticity, there is power in that.”
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Less than 24 hours after Jaren Hall leaves the program, BYU brings in former USC and Pitt quarterback Kedon Slovis.
Slovis immediately becomes the presumed first quarterback of the Big 12 era.
On where the QB room stands:
Before he was the Pirate, Mike Leach was a BYU rugby player. Fresh-faced and younger, he was still every bit the Leach you'd expect.
From mink farms to van rides, the little-known chapter of his life provided a window into what CFB would eventually know:
OC Aaron Roderick on Ryder Burton:
"He came to every camp we held in recent memory. He is a really smooth, effortless thrower... He played in an offense that was very old school... adapting to our style of play is going to take a little work."
Said he knows the entire offense.
Demerick Gary thought he would be spending his summer in an NFL training camp. The coronavirus had other plans. Now, after four months of living on an air mattress and spending some days with $100 to his name, his return home has a bigger meaning.
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BYU OC Aaron Roderick said the next step for Chris Brooks is to take a greater share of the carries. Said he expects Brooks to carry the ball over 20 times multiple times this season.
His career-high is 36 carries in 2019. He has been over 20 carries three times in his career.
The Utah football truck deal drew national attention when it was announced in October. The NIL deal was worth an estimated $6 million.
But it also sparked a different debate: Where does Title IX fit into NIL?
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Kalani Sitake with his final update on the QB situation: "Even I don't know who is going to be taking the first snaps."
Said he told Roderick he could use one quarterback or three tomorrow.
BYU linebacker Max Tooley will return. He finished fourth on the team in tackles in seven games this year.
It is a boost for a linebacker group which just lost veteran Keenan Pili, who is heading to Tennessee.
BYU set to open up with USC in the Battle 4 Atlantis. It’s the first trip to the Bahamas for the program.
Field includes Kansas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Butler, Dayton and NC State.
The original presentation BYU gave to the Big 12 in 2016 got up to 90 pages. Kalani Sitake was there. Tom Holmoe spoke.
But it didn’t get in.
In 2021, the presentation went to 120 pages. But it was never given.
On the near miss and the breakthrough:
Some personal news, really excited to be a fellow at The Dallas Morning News this fall. This has been a dream of mine since I started writing and I can’t wait to start learning from everyone there.
Notably, Po’uha doesn’t have a specific position he will coach yet. BYU says position assignments will be announced when the entire staff is put together.
Po’uha coached defensive tackles at Utah.
BYU soccer beat Utah Valley 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It will play Stanford next.
Goals were scored by Allie Fryer, Tara Warner and Rachel McCarthy.