Updated Transfer Portal Needs for the BYU Football Program

Casey Lundquist | May 2, 2025

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and defensive coordinator Jay Hill / BYU Photo

The BYU football program has slowly been adding transfers to the 2025 roster. On Friday, the Cougars announced the signings of defensive tackle Justin Kirkland, wide receiver Reggie Frischknecht, and tight end Keayen Nead.

Those three signings filled a few critical roster needs. In our last list of transfer needs, for example, we identified all three of those positions as positions of need.

There are only a few roster spots remaining, but BYU could still stand to gain by adding a few more transfers. Today, we're going over our updated list of BYU transfer portal needs.

1. Cornerback

At the top of that list is the cornerback room. BYU heavily pursued Utah transfer Cam Calhoun before he committed to Alabama. The Cougars are young and inexperienced in that room and would benefit from another veteran in that room.

Before Spring camp, Jay Hill said he wanted to give the young cornerbacks in the room an opportunity to win prove they can win the job. The talent is there, but the lack of experience is a concern.

2. Quarterback

At quarterback, BYU has only three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. If the right opportunity is available, BYU has proven that they will take it. Last year, Aaron Roderick said BYU wasn't going to take a quarterback in the Spring window. Then McCae Hillstead entered the portal and BYU changed their plans and added him. BYU reached out to TCU transfer quarterback Hauss Hejny when he entered the portal, so history suggests BYU will go after the right quarterback if they become available.

During the Spring transfer window, a few quarterbacks with BYU connections became available. Former BYU priority target Maealiuaki Smith entered the transfer portal out of Oklahoma State. Then, Stanford quarterabck Bear Bachmeier entered the transfer portal. Bachmeier was a four-star recruit in the 2025 class and he was recruited by BYU in high school.

Update: BYU is hosting Bear Bachmeier on campus for an official visit.

Adding another quarterback could put BYU in a good position from a depth perspective in 2025, and it could also setup the future of the BYU quarterback room in 2026 and beyond.

3. Wide Receiver

BYU already added Reggie Frischnknecht, so from a numbers perspective, BYU could go into the season with the room they have. However, the Cougars lost four scholarship wide receivers from the 2024 roster: Kody Epps, Darius Lassiter, Keelan Marion, and Koa Eldredge. The Cougars have only added two scholarship wide receivers to backfill those players.

Remember, during the December transfer window, Darius Lassiter was planning on returning to BYU for one more season. Then, the blanket waiver granted to former JUCO players did not apply to Lassiter's situation. Now that BYU will have neither Lassiter nor Marion on the roster, they have a spot to bring in more than one transfer wide receiver.

BYU could still benefit from adding another wide receiver. The Cougars have offered Jackson State transfer Isaiah Spencer and Stanford transfer Tiger Bachmeier has a connection to the program through his younger brother, the aforementioned Bear Bachmeier.

Update: BYU is hosting Tiger Bachmeier on campus for an official visit.

4. Offensive Line

BYU is a little thin at offensive tackle. If the right player is available, BYU would benefit from another body at the offensive tackle spot.