New BYU Linebacker Cade Uluave is One of the Fastest Players on the Team

On Thursday, BYU wrapped up 2026 Spring Camp with a practice in the indoor practice facility. The end of spring practices marked the end of Kelly Poppinga's first camp as BYU's new defensive coordinator.

Kelly Poppinga's first defense will feature mostly returning players. In fact, BYU ranks 6th nationally in returning production on the defensive side. Still, a few newcomers will make an immediate impact, headlined by Cal tranfser linebacker Cade Uluave. Uluave was an All-ACC selection at linebacker in 2025.

At the end of Spring Camp, Poppinga was asked if anything has surprised him about Uluave. Poppinga was surprised by Uluave's speed.

"I was surprised at how fast he is," Poppinga said. "He's maybe the second fastest guy on our team right now. And we've got some fast guys, really fast guys. I think there's 7 or 8 guys on our team that are 10.6 (100 meter) guys."

During practice, BYU tracks how fast players run during practice. According to Poppinga, Uluave was clocked at 22 miles per hour.

"When you put football pads on all these guys and you get them on the football field, we've clocked Cade in practice at 22 miles an hour. Which is as fast as most of our corners. So I would say I watched this film and I thought he was fast and he looked really fast, but he's faster and more explosive than I thought he was. And so when that guy pulls the trigger in the run game and he comes downhill, I mean it's as quick and as fast as I've seen. And so just really excited to see what he's going to do in games in the Big 12."

Uluave came to BYU as a proven commodity. Uluave started 26 games for Cal over the past three years and he was an All-ACC selection in 2025. Uluave finished his true junior campaign with 100 total tackles including 12 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. He also had 6 PBUs.

He was also very effective as a pass rusher, a skillset that BYU will try to use more frequently than his time at Cal. Uluave had 20 quarterback pressures despite rushing the quarterback only 44 times. That 45% pressure rate would have ranked first on BYU's defense in 2025. For Context, Jack Kelly had the best pressure rate among BYU defenders with 29.3%.

Uluave will slide into the BYU starting lineup right away. He will start at linebacker alongside returning starters Isaiah Glasker and Siale Esera. The linebacker unit is poised to be one of the best, if not the very best, position group on BYU's roster.