BYU Defensive Coordinator Kelly Poppinga Praises Defensive End Recruiting

Back in January, BYU declined to add any defensive ends from the transfer portal. At the conclusion of Spring Camp, new defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga is content with that decision. In fact, Poppinga believes no position has been recruited better than the defensive ends.

"Really happy with the guys [at defensive end]," Poppinga said. "I think Coach Po'uhga, Coach Kuaha'aha'a, and Coach Anderson's had an influence on that too as well. They've done a great job of developing. We have a lot of young guys that haven't really played for us that I think are going to be very, very good players, Kini Fonohema being one of them. Vince Tautua being another one, Kendall Wall being another one, and that's not even mentioning the 7 or 8 guys that we have coming back that have playing experience. So I'm super excited...we've recruited very well at that position. I'd say probably better than any position. That's the position we've probably recruited the best and so."

On paper, it's hard to disagree with Poppinga's statement. Included in the defensive end room are former four-star recruits Tausili Akana, Hunter Clegg, Nusi Taumoepeau, and Braxton Lindsey. The other scholarship defensive ends on the roster include Adney Reid, Siosefa Brown, Kini Fonohema, Bodie Schoonover, Vincent Tautua, and Kendall Wall. Most of those guys turned down other Power Four programs to come to BYU.

When Jay Hill was hired at BYU, BYU was talent deficient at defensive end. Hill and his staff put a lot of emphasis of improving the recruiting at that position. Fast forward to this year and those invements have paid off. Last year, most of those players were in their first or second seasons at BYU. Now, a lot of them have experience and should be expected to take a step forward.

Poppinga clarified that BYU does not want to rely on the transfer portal. They would rather recruit the high school ranks at a high level then develop and retain those players at a high level.

"We don't want to live in the portal," Poppinga said. "We want to be a team that recruits out of high school and develops within and it helps these guys grow and develop in the culture and, and every now and again take a guy from the portal if we have to."

Defensive Ends Depth Chart Projection

After Spring Camp, we updated our depth chart projections for 2026. This was our projection for the defensive ends.

Bodie Schoonover
Hunter Clegg
Kini Fonohema

Nusi Taumoepeau
Tausili Akana
Braxton Lindsey

We expect Bodie Schoonover to start for BYU as a senior. Schoonover will be the most proven run-stopping defensive end on the roster in 2026. Opposite of Schoonover, it will be up for grabs. We give Nusi Taumoepeau the narrow edge given the upside he displayed in 2026. Taumoepeau missed all of Spring Camp as he was recovering from a surgery.

Hunter Clegg and Tausili Akana will be important players for the BYU defense in 2026. We also expect Kini Fonohema and true freshman Braxton Lindsey to round out the rotation.

If these projections are correct, four of the top six defensive ends were former four-star recruits.