Aaron Roderick Expects BYU to be Better on Offense in 2026

A few weeks ago, BYU wrapped up 2026 Spring Camp. BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick met with the media at the conclusion of Spring Camp. Roderick said he expects BYU to be better on offense in 2026 than they were in BYU's 12-win 2025 campaign.

"I do expect us to take a step forward," Roderick said. "We were good on offense last year. I expect us to be better this year, and I'm going to be disappointed if we're not. So I promise you, nobody, no fan, nobody out there has higher expectations than I do, and I'm expecting us to take a big step, and that starts with Bear [Bachmeier]. Bear had a great year last year, and we're expecting him to be even better this year."

Bear Bachmeier was the first BYU true freshman to start every game at quarterback in his true freshman. Roderick slowly brought Bachmeier along as the year progressed. Now, Roderick has the luxury of working with a returning starting quarterback in 2026. This will be the first time Roderick has had a returning starter at quarterback since Jaren Hall in 2022.

For a freshman, Bachmeier was remarkably effective in 2025. He was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, tallying 3,033 passing yards, and 15 passing touchdowns to 7 interceptions. He also added 527 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

BYU was effective on the offense in virtually every game except the two games against Texas Tech. In those two games against Tech, BYU scored a combined 14 points. Tech was one of the top two or three defenses in the sports last season, and they exposed the ceiling on BYU's offense.

In those two games, Bear Bachmeier looked like a true freshman.

If BYU is going to take that next step and crash the College Football Playoff, they will need Bear Bachmeier to look like a veteran quarterback in the games against the best defenses on the schedule.

Full Command of the Offense

Bachmeier's command of the offense was a theme throughout Spring Camp. In fact, defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga noted that Bachmeier was testing their ability to hide coverages.

On his command of the offense entering year two, Bachmeier said, "Yeah, I think I'm just getting more comfortable within the scheme and so it's allowed us and it's allowed A-Rod to kind of unleash everything...we've got an alert almost every play and a check and so it's going to be really fun."

Knowing what he knows now, Bachmeier recognizes that he was "naive" going into his true freshman season.

"I think slowly but surely everything kind of got released [in the playbook]," Bachmeier said. "I mean, I was really naive. I was asking, sometimes I'd like turn to LJ and ask him like, 'What's a good check here?' But I think me having an opportunity to have full command, it's going to be really helpful for us."

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