BYU DC Jay Hill Wants to Give Young Players the Chance to Win Starting Jobs

Going into 2025, the BYU defense is set to lose a handful of starters at both cornerback and defensive line. In the transfer portal era, a lot of college programs turn to the transfer portal to fill starting jobs. BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill has a slightly different approach. Before going to the portal, Hill wants to give young players the opportunity to develop and win those jobs.

In an interview with BYU Sports Nation, Hill highlighted the importance of developing the young, upcoming players on the roster.

"I'll start with the corner group. I think it's important that those guys have an opportunity to develop and prove to us that they can be starters," Hill said. "If they can do that, then I don't think we want to go into the portal that much. I'd rather continue to recruit high school kids and develop the ones that we have here."

BYU has some talented young corners on the roster that were coveted recruits. That list includes Tre Alexander, Marcus McKenzie, and Jonathan Kabeya. The Cougars also return Evan Johnson and Mory Bamba ("hopefully" according to Hill). Hill says it's time to let those guys prove they're capable of being Big 12 starters. "Those guys can play," Hill said. "We have a lot of guys. We need them to develop, and I think them having the opportunity to prove who they are will be able to do that."

Along the defensive line, BYU will have more talent on the roster in 2025 than any other year in the Kalani Sitake era. However, most of the players in that room are young and relatively inexperienced. "I feel good about that group," Hill said. "We have returners that have played a lot. We have young guys there, but they're the future of the program. They need an opportunity to prove that they can be that. We lose some critical guys...but our guys will step up."