5 Burning Questions for BYU’s 2026 Spring Camp

The BYU football program is scheduled to kickoff the 2026 season on Friday. The Cougars will go into the season as one of the favorites to win the Big 12. Dealing with high expectations will be something new in 2026. The last two years, BYU has started the season unranked. Ahead of Spring camp, here the five burning questions that will need to be addressed.

1. Who steps up at wide receiver without Parker Kingston in the picture?

This is the most obvious question so we'll get it out of the way first: where does BYU turn at wide receiver without Parker Kingston in the mix? Now that Kingston is no longer part of the 2026 picture, the Cougars have to replace their top three pass-catchers from the 2025 season.

Jojo Phillips suddenly becomes the most experienced wide receiver on BYU's roster. Phillips has 25 catches for 377 yards in his career. Even before the Parker Kingston news, BYU needed Jojo to take a big step forward in 2026.

Cody Hagen didn't get a lot of targets in 2025, but he did play a lot of snaps. Hagen was only 16 months removed from mission service when the Cougars kicked off the 2025 season. Hagen was one of the most productive wide receivers to come out of Utah, and he possesses the same talent that made him the coveted recruit. We believe he could rise to the challenge if he becomes a focal point of BYU's offense.

Outisde of Phillips and Hagen, it's wide open. BYU returns Reggie Frischknecht, Tiger Bachmeier, and Tei Nacua. They also bring in newcomers Kyler Kasper, Jaron Pula, Legend Glasker, and Terrance Saryon. All of those players will be fighting for a spot in the primary rotation. Historically, BYU rotates 3-5 players at wide receiver.

2. What is the post-Jay Hill era of the defense going to look like?

There's no question that Jay Hill left the BYU defense better than he found it. Hill came to Provo to turn around one of the worst defenses in the country, and he needed only two years to produce one of the top defenses in the Big 12.

While it's true that Hill deserves credit for turning the defense around in three years, we also learned something about Kalani Sitake over the last few months: the players are here to play for Kalani. Despite losing Jay Hill to Michigan, BYU was able to retain practically every meaningful player that had eligibility remaining.

Make no mistake, Hill would have loved to bring some players with him from BYU to Michigan. Instead, those players opted to stay at BYU to play for Kalani Sitake.

So while there will be a new man leading the defense in Kelly Poppinga, a lot of the key names on defense will be famililar. According to K-Pop, a lot of the scheme will remaing the same as well. Still, it remains to be seen exactly what the new BYU defense will look like.

3. How do the new faces fit into the offensive line?

No position group has to replace more starters than the offensive line. The Cougars diagnosed that need and responded by bringing in three transfers with starting experience. Those transfers, along with four-star freshman Bott Mulitalo, will compete for starting spots alongside returning contributors like Bruce Mitchell, Andrew Gentry, Kyle Sfarcioc, and Sonny Makasini.

No position group takes longer to gel than the offense line. How, and where, the new faces fit in at offensive line is one of the top storylines in camp. We expect multiple newcomers to earn starting nods for BYU's season opener.

4. How much progress can Bear Bachmeier make in his first full offseason?

It's been well documented that Bear Bachmeier didn't join the BYU football program until the Spring transfer window closed last spring.

Shortly after BYU brought in Bachmeier, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff became wrapped up in off-field issues that ultimately ended his time in Provo. Once that happened, BYU put together a plan to get Bear Bachmeier ready for P4 football. The ramp-up plan lasted throughout the season until the Cougars were able to unleash him during the back half of the schedule.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl version of Bear Bachmeier in Decmeber was unrecognizable from to the Fall Camp version of Bear Bachmeier that the media saw in August.

So with a full offseason at BYU, how much progress can Bear Bachmeier make? His progress could be the difference between winning a Big 12 championship or not.

5. How to the new transfer fit into a well-established roster?

If you look back at BYU's transfer classes the last few years, the BYU coaching staff has a very high hit rate on incoming transfers. Of the 13 transfers that BYU brought in before the 2025 season, 12 of them played meaningful snaps for the Cougars.

This year, BYU is bringing in only nine scholarship transfers. How will they fit into a well-established roster with a well-established culture? That is one of the most important questions for Spring camp.

BYU needs a few of the incoming transfers to play big roles right away. Players like Cade Uluave, Walker Lyons, the aforementioned offensive linemen, and Kyle Kasper come to mind.