BYU opened spring football practice on Monday, probably for the first time in February, and head coach Kalani Sitake says he liked what he saw from almost every group of positions on the team before a player threw or caught a pass, or to participate in training.
This is because it seems that the Cougars have achieved one of their main goals in the off-season – which is to get bigger and stronger everywhere.
“It’s pretty obvious that our team has gotten a lot bigger and stronger over the last few months, working,” Sitake said.
“We tested our boys in the weight class and I really like the numbers from the whole group, so overall as a team I’m really happy with the strength numbers and we’ll see how it goes on the football field.”
“I think the boys just came to the gym with a different kind of attitude, and that’s evident in the numbers, the tests showed. Each position group became stronger. And that should help us. “- BYU football coach Kalani Sitake
Shitake said defenders, who have been heavily criticized for failing to effectively stop running away from losing to UAB, have indeed stepped up.
Caden House, Earl Tuyot-Mariner, Tyler Bathy, Josh Larson, Gabe Summers and John Nelson are among the returnees who celebrated a significant time last year.
“I think the boys just came to the gym with a different kind of attitude, and that’s evident in the numbers, the tests showed,” Sitake said.
“Each position group has become stronger and that should help us.”
The coach hopes that the renewed focus on weightlifting will help the Cougars avoid injuries, which led to the exhaustion of defense at the end of last year.
“Strength training doesn’t get enough credit for preventing injuries in the program,” Sitake said.
As for the first training session, Shitake said it was “a really good day” and seemed to suggest that the attack was ahead of the defense, which was expected.
“I’m really impressed with Jaren (Hall) and the attack and the weather,” he said. “Defense, we have to go through some things. … I like a lot of the new bodies we see in defense, and a lot of the guys are back (bigger and stronger). ”
After spending the first day of spring camp for the seventh time in BYU, Shitake said it was one of the most experienced teams he had, unlike last year, when Zach Wilson and many of his guns moved forward. .
Speaking of Hall, the starting quarterback declared himself 100 percent healthy and ready to go, recovering well from the ankle / foot injury that protected him from the cup game.
The fifth teenager said he suffered three broken ribs against Arizona in the first game last year and played through the pain against Utah and Arizona State, while also suffering a chest injury.
“It was fun to see everyone come back and go again and see the wheels start to spin a little bit,” Hall said.
His fellow quarterback Jacob Connover said all defenders received representatives on Monday, including himself, Cade Fenegan, Sol-Jay Mayawa-Peters and Nick Billups.
Neither Fenegan nor Bilups participated in the team part of the training, which was watched by the media.
“The first day was great,” Conover said. “I mean, the spring ball is meant to be enjoyed, and everyone bought it today and got rid of their worries for the first day, so it was fun.”
Some other developments and / or surprises in the list:
• Offensive striker Keanu Saleapaga returns to the team after missing all but one match in 2020 with injuries and throughout 2021 for undisclosed reasons. The former starter, set at 6 feet 6, 310 pounds, started in 19 games and appeared in 22.
“Adding it to the deep O line is really good for us and we’ll see how much we can use it,” Sitake said. “He was limited in training today, which is really good for us. We need to get to autumn healthy and there are many other boys who can use more repetitions in 11-on-11 things (from Saleapaga).
• In the part of the training for watching the media, the defensive back Mika Harper took safety positions. Harper was a defender in his first year, 2020, and started in five games. He suffered a serious knee injury at spring camp last year and missed the entire 2021 season.
“All our corners will play safety, and all our safety devices will play corner,” Shitake said when asked if Harper’s move to safety was permanent.
• Several players changed the numbers of the shirts, as usually happens every year. Dalin Holker moved from No. 32 to No. 5 and midfielder Ben Baywater moved from No. 33 to No. 2.