BYU Once Recruited Hauss Hejny to Provo

On Saturday, no. 11 BYU will take on Colorado State. The BYU defense will look to slow down a CSU offense that ranks 21st in scoring offense and 12th in total offense. The Rams' revamped offensive attack is led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Hauss Hejny. Hejny is averaging over 330 yards of total offense through two games, and he has accounted to 10 touchdowns to just one interception. Hejny is playing really good football, and he has the potential to create an explosive play at any moment.

Most BYU fans probably don't know that BYU once targeted Hauss Hejny as its quarterback of the future. In fact, there's a parallel universe where Hejny could have been the quarterback leading the Cougars into Fort Collins to take on the Rams. Instead, he is on the opposite sideline and sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier leads no. 11 BYU in his second year as the starter.

Hauss Hejny was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class. After the 2024 season, Hejny entered the transfer portal after one season at TCU. Hejny was stuck behind veteran quarterback Josh Hoover in Fort Worth.

BYU was in the market for a quarterback during that recruiting cycle. The Cougars were looking for a backup quarterback that could become the starter after Jake Retzlaff graduated. Hejny had four years of eligibility remaining, and his skillset was an ideal fit for the BYU offense, so the Cougars tried to lure him to Provo.

Hejny committed to Oklahoma State where he had a chance to compete for the starting job right away. Hejny won the starting job in Stillwater, but he suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter of his first start at Oklahoma State. Then, Oklahoma State's coaching staff was fired and Hejny entered the portal again after the 2025 season.

While we will never know if Hejny would have chosen BYU had Jake Retzlaff not returned, we can reasonably connect the dots that at least one member of BYU's staff made an impression during Hejny's portal recruitment.

Back in January of 2025, Matt Mitchell was BYU's assistant quarterbacks coach. Mitchell, in partnership with Aaron Roderick, was responsible for reaching out and connecting with transfer quarterbacks. Mitchell would have been one of the BYU coaches communicating with Hejny the most.

Mitchell joined the Colorado State coaching staff as the quarterbacks coach after the 2025 season. When Hejny entered the transfer portal for the second time, guess who was in position to connect with Hejny and get him to Fort Colins? Matt Mitchell. Landing Hejny's commitment has turned out to be a major boon for the CSU staff.

If Hejny Would Have Committed to BYU...

Remember, at the time BYU was pursuing Hejny, now starting quarterback Bear Bachmeier had just signed his letter of intent with Stanford. There were no indications at the time that Bachmeier would become available a few months later when Stanford head coach Troy Taylor was unexpectedly fired.

BYU had only one quarterback spot to fill in that transfer cycle. If Hejny would have committed to BYU, the Cougars wouldn't have had a spot for Bear Bachmeier when he entered the transfer portal after Spring Camp at Stanford. In other words, it could have been Hauss Hejny that led the Cougars in 2025 when Jake Retzlaff transferred to Tulane. Instead, BYU brought in Bachmeier and named him the starter as a true freshman.

In the end, Bachmeier at BYU and Hejny in Fort Collins was probably the best outcome for both sides. Hejny is a great athlete and he can sling it - Colorado State got a great quarterback. The BYU staff knows first hand how good he is, as it was less than two years ago when they wanted him at BYU. At the time, we called Hejny "the perfect kind of quarterback to bring in as a transfer." Now, BYU will try to stop Hejny as he leads the Colorado State offense.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on X and Facebook for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google