Are Former BYU Football Players Producing More or Less After Transferring?

In the era of the transfer portal, college football staffs spend a lot of time retaining their own roster. BYU is no different. Last January, BYU invested a lot of time and NIL resources to retain every projected starter that had eligibility remaining. Despite the time and resources invested in retention, players enter the transfer portal to find new homes every year.

In this article, we will attempt to answer one question: are transfers out of the program better or worse off after they leave the program?

First, it's important to note that not all transfers out of the program are created equal. Some players leave the program to get more playing time, and some of them may not land on another college football roster. We looked at 81 transfers out of the BYU football program since 2020. 28% of those transfers moved down to the FCS ranks to finish their college careers and 20% didn't land on another college football roster. We will not focus on those 48% of transfers in this article.

Other players leave when BYU would prefer to retain them. Last year, for example, BYU lost starting wide receiver Keelan Marion to the transfer portal after Spring Camp. Marion was poised to play a big role in the BYU offense before entering the portal and landing at Miami. We will focus our attention on the 52% of transfers that landed at another FBS school, comparing their last seasons at BYU to their first seasons with their new schools.

Produced More at BYU

Of the 52% of transfers that landed at other FBS schools, the data suggest that 17% of those transfers would have been better off staying at BYU. Their production dropped off at their new schools. Take linebacker Harrison Taggart, for example. Taggart played a lot of snaps for BYU in 2024 before transferring to Cal for the 2025 season. Taggart's playing time and production were cut in half at Cal.

Crew Wakley is another example of a player that probably should have stayed at BYU, even though he would have been a backup for the Cougars. In 2025, Wakley only played 60 snaps at Purdue before leaving the team. He played 360 snaps for BYU in 2024.

There is another 45% of transfers whose production remained the same at their new schools. You could argue that these transfers stalled their development by transferring, instead of staying at BYU and continuing to develop. On average, players that stay in the same program will produce more and more every season. That was not the case for these transfers.

Take former BYU starting cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally, for example. Jeudy-Lally's production at Tennessee in 2023 was nearly identical to his production at BYU 2022. Additionally, his production at BYU was almost identical to his production at Vanderbilt in 2021. Jeudy-Lally's career serves as a cautionary tale for players that transfer multiple times: transferring can stall your development.

Clark Barrington is another example. Barrington was a three-year starter before he decided to transfer to Baylor for his final season. At Baylor, Barrington's production remained the same. In fact, his production might have slipped a little in Waco. PFF grades aren't the best way to measure production, but they can serve as a proxy for year-to-year performance. Barrington's PFF grades dipped compared to his last two years at BYU.

The most public transfer out of the BYU football program was quarterback Jake Retzlaff. Retzlaff wanted to stay with the program, but a suspension caused Retzlaff to enter the portal and land at Tulane. Against worse competition in the AAC, Retzlaff's production remained the same. Retzlaff averaged 226.7 passing yards per game in 2024 at BYU. He averaged 226.3 passing yards per game at Tulane.

There are plenty of examples of former BYU players whose production remained flat at new schools. Aisea Moa, Jacob Conover, Jackson Bowers, Quenton Rice, and Devin Kaufusi fit that description.

Produced More at New School

There have been transfers out of the program (20% to be exact) that produced more at their new schools. We'll split this group into two categories: P4 transfers and G6 transfers.

Most of the G6 transfers left BYU to find more playing time. Miles Davis is a prime example of a former BYU player that transferred out to get more carries. Davis was going to be BYU's third-string running back last season, and the Cougars really could have used him when injuries impacted that position. Instead, he transferred to Utah State and had career high carries and yards.

Dallin Holker is one of the most consequential transfers out of the program. Holker left to Colorado State and became an All-American. Holker was splitting reps with Isaac Rex when he left BYU in the middle of the 2022 season.

Others like Jake Eichorn, David Latu, and Carson Tujague were not scheduled to play big roles for BYU. Instead, they transferred to the Group of Six ranks and played important roles in the Mountain West.

In our research, we only found six BYU transfers that increased their production when they transferred to another P4 school. These are the transfers that BYU really would have liked to keep in Provo.

Keelan Marion had a career high 746 yards for Miami last season. He had 346 receiving yards for BYU in 2024.

BYU was in desperate need of a dominant pass rusher for years. Turns out, that pass rusher was on the roster, but he transferred out before he could develop: John Henry Daley. Daley led the country in sacks last season before suffering a season-ending injury. Logan Fano, who started opposite of Daley at Utah, also started his career at BYU.

Tate Romney is another example. Romney transferred out of BYU and became a starter at Arizona State. Other examples of P4 transfers that increased their production were Campbell Barrington and Joshua Singh.

Verdict

Transfers out of the BYU football program have found success in the past, and more will find success in the future. However, the data suggests that transferring away from the program is more likely to result in a less productive career.

Only 20% of transfers out of the BYU football program improved their production after leaving Provo. Most of those transfers improved their production by going down to the G6 ranks. Only 7% of transfers went to another Power Four School and improved their production.

Half of the transfers did not find another FBS school to attend. Of the transfers that did find a new home, 62% either saw their production drop off or remain the same. Unfortunately, some BYU transfers have had to learn that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

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