After a season that saw BYU hit the wall with just one game standing between themselves and the program's first appearance in the College Football Playoff -- again -- the Cougars are reloading.
Two blowout losses to the eventual Big 12 champions, Texas Tech, stung for a team that won out in every other game on the year. Doubly so when accounting for the Red Raiders' shutout defeat in their first Playoff matchup with Oregon. It wasn't a good look for a program that truly believed they were capable of squaring off with anyone in the country, and it shone a negative spotlight on the Big 12 Conference as a whole on the national stage.
After all, if the second-best team in the Big 12 is that far behind the postseason's weakest Power Conference contender, what chance does a team like BYU have when facing off against the giants of the country?
We'll never know until we know, and BYU football will lean on continuity to hopefully make that statement in the 2026 season.
Returning head coach Kalani Sitake was critical to BYU football's structural integrity -- that's why the fanbase made such a strong campaign for him to stay put in Provo. Even after losing defensive coordinator Jay Hill to Michigan, promoting Kelly Poppinga was enough to secure the confidence of the team's defensive aces like Evan Johnson, Faletau Satuala, Isaiah Glasker, and more.
On the offensive side of the ball returns sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who reportedly turned down NIL offers north of $5 million over the offseason to stay put in Provo, running back LJ Martin, the reigning Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, preseason All-American candidate Bruce Mitchell at center, and Jojo Phillips holding the wide receiver room together with the departure of three key receiving targets from last year.
Does continuity equal wins? Not as a rule, no, but it's often the case in practice. But the foundation for a winning football team is there in the load-bearing roster spots from last year's 12-2 squad. If the program were ever primed to make a run to the College Football Playoff, they are now.
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