Starting as a True Freshman Runs in the Bachmeier Family

In just eight days, Bear Bachmeier will make history for the BYU football program. Bachmeier will be the first true freshman to start a season opener at quarterback. He will also be the first true freshman quarterback to start at BYU since Zach Wilson in 2018.

Bear Bachmeier's situation is especially unique because he spent part of Spring camp at Stanford. Bachmeier was competing to be the starter at Stanford before he opted to enter the transfer portal. Now, he will have a chance to play against his former team in week two when Stanford comes to Provo. Despite competing against two quarterbacks with more college football experience and more knowledge of the BYU playbook, Bachmeier came in and won the job.

On paper, Bear Bachmeier is about as unique as it gets. He is listed at 6'2 and 220 pounds. He's an athletic quarterback that can also throw with tremendous accuracy. He's smart and can digest a playbook quickly. In high school, he accounted for 6.6 touchdowns per interception thrown. For context, former BYU star Zach Wilson had a total TD/Int ratio of 4.0 in high school. After all, there's a reason why so many programs offered Bachmeier a scholarship.

2025 QB Bear Bachmeier is visiting BYU. He held offers from Georgia, Oregon, Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, and Miami among others.

Bachmeier is a dual-threat QB that can do this ⬇️
pic.twitter.com/5HcJ6Xzvyj
— Casey Lundquist (@casey_lundquist) May 2, 2025

Bachmeier wears the distinctive jersey number 47 and he shares a name with a fierce predator. His brother, a wide receiver for BYU who will be one of his primary targets, is named Tiger. According to BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, Tiger also speaks Chinese and knows how to fly an airplane. The Bachmeier family is as unique as it gets. The cherry on top may be the nickname of the youngest Bachmeier brother: Cougar.

And something that seems to run in the Bachmeier family? Earning as a starting spot as a true freshman.

Bear's older brother Hank Bachmeier won the starting quarterback job at Boise State in 2019 as a true freshman. He led the Broncos to a 36-31 win over Florida State in his first college start. Hank threw for 407 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception in that game.

Tiger led the Pac-12 in receiving yards as a true freshman at Stanford. Tiger earned a starting job by midseason that year and never looked back. Tiger would go on to graduate from Stanford in computer science in just 2.5 years. The Bachmeiers are smart and they know how to digest college football playbooks quickly.

Bear has all the physical tools to be a fantastic college quarterback. However, BYU is in a unique situation: BYU has a roster ready to win now. Traditionally, a roster that is ready to win now doesn't turn to a true freshman quarterback. True freshmen come with growing pains that win-now teams don't want to endure.

So why is BYU turning to Bear Bachmeier? BYU head coach Kalani Sitake explained that they are turning to Bear because of his unique attributes and readiness to play at the college level.

"I don't know how many of them have had Bear Bachmeier," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said when asked about how rare it is to start a true freshman. "We saw something in him way back when he was in high school and we're excited to have him here and excited to have him part of our team."

Sitake continued, saying, "I think [Bear] is a special player. I think he's I think he's very intelligent. His football IQ, he's got a great football IQ, but I think also the competition in the room got the most out of him...we feel really good about it."

Bear will be asked to grow up quickly at BYU. He will have a talented supporting cast around him, a good defense to keep opposing teams out of the end zone, and a soft schedule to find some confidence before conference play.

If there is anyone that can defy the odds and lead the Cougars to where they hope to go, it might just be Bear Bachmeier.

The Bachmeier era at BYU begins in just over a week.

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