Though the format has changed slightly over the years, one of the highlights of the annual Athlon Sports college football preview is the publication's ability to allow coaches to speak anonymously about other programs around the country.
A print edition will be in stores and mailed to subscribers later this month, and Athlon recently published an article on its free website titled, “Big 12 coaches speak anonymously about conference rivals in 2024.”
It's a tall task for the Big 12, considering the expansion league currently has 16 teams, including BYU and Utah.
“It's not easy to get college football coaches to comment honestly about other coaches, players or teams,” Athlon reports. “Most coaches don't want to give opposing teams message board fodder, so they use a lot of coaching cliches and overused clichés throughout the year.”
Full disclosure: I contribute BYU season previews, depth chart projections and other features to Athlon and have done so for the past five years, but I am not involved in reporting on what anonymous coaches are saying or have said about any of the teams, and I do not know the identities of the coaches.
Without further ado, here's what some anonymous coaches had to say about this year's Cougars.
The transition to the Big 12 didn't go well.
“Last year was a good example of the transition to Power Five or Power Four football — losing momentum, not having the depth and not being able to replace guys after injuries,” one coach said, referring to BYU's 5-7 overall and 2-7 Big 12 record.
Indeed, the Cougars hit a wall after starting the season 5-2 and losing their final five games. Starting quarterback Kedon Slovis injured his elbow and shoulder in a 35-6 loss to No. 7 Texas, and BYU's offense just wasn't the same.
The defense was dealt a major blow when leading tackler Ben Bywater suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in a 38-27 loss to Kansas on September 23 and never fully recovered.
It took the Cougars a few games to bounce back, but they played much better in their final two games, narrow losses to No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 21 Oklahoma State.
A speedy recovery is expected
While the Big 12 coaching staff seemed to have less to say about BYU than any of the other programs (their segment on BYU was a bit shorter than most of the others), they expressed confidence that Kalani Sitake can lead BYU back to a bowl game in 2024.
“They should be better at the end of the season,” one coach was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, in Provo, the coaching staff, with far fewer new faces in the lineup this fall than last fall, is hoping for a quicker start. They'll need it before away games at SMU on Sept. 6 and Wyoming on Sept. 14 and hosting league championship favorite Kansas State on Sept. 21.
“We have to change the mindset. That's the goal,” Sitake said Monday. “From what I've seen, the work ethic of the players, the urgency they have in the offseason to get better, I think it's really great.”
Jay Hill's employment
“Last year's hiring of (defensive coordinator) Jay Hill is a big talking point for this team because I think we have the potential to turn things around defensively this season,” one coach noted. “Hill was a really good head coach (at Weber State) and this job will really show what he's capable of.”
Indeed, after hitting rock bottom in 2022, BYU's defense improved in 2023 under Coach Hill despite a more difficult schedule. The Cougars allowed 417.7 yards per game, finishing 106th in total defense.
Reaping the benefits of strengthened recruitment efforts
Sitake, Hill and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick were all intent on recruiting 2024 freshmen, and opposing coaching staffs noticed. BYU looked wider to recruit and used its Big 12 membership as a selling point, signing the 44th-best class in the country, according to 247sports.com.
“They've got a really strong recruiting roster and they're going to add some more (defensive) players in the offseason,” one coach said.
The Cougars will open the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Southern Illinois University at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.
