What to Expect from Kelly Poppinga’s Defensive Scheme at BYU

Nov 23, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Brigham Young Cougars special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Last week, BYU promoted Kelly Poppinga to defensive coordinator. Poppinga spent the last three years leaning Jay Hill's scheme. However, the majority of Poppinga's coaching experience has came under former BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

Given Poppinga's experience in two different schemes, there were some questions about whether Poppinga would stick to the scheme that Jay Hill established or go back to his roots in Bronco Mendenhall's defense. Poppinga clarified his plan for the BYU defense in an interview with BYU Sports Nation.

Poppinga plans to maintain the system that Hill established at BYU, although he will add a few twists as well.

"So I just feel like there's been a lot of people put in my path along the way that really prepared me for this moment," Poppinga said. "The defense will be, I think, maybe a little taste of Bronco in there, a little taste of what we've done last year. I mean, just, I've just learned so much, but the base of the defense will be what it's been, and I'd be an idiot to change much of what we're doing. But there'll be a little thing here and there, but I'm just excited and honored for just the opportunity and grateful."

Poppinga says he will continue to learn the complexities of Jay Hill's scheme from Kalani Sitake and Gary Andersen. Jay Hill's defense was rooted in the defense that Sitake, Andersen, and Hill learned at the University of Utah.

"I learned a lot of stuff from Jay as far as just playing man free and cover free stuff that they've done forever, you know, the Utah Kyle Whittingham tree that I've learned a ton from...I'm just excited to move forward with Kalani and helping me learn more and more about this defense, and I feel like I'm very well prepared, but I'm sure there's some nuances in there and little tidbits that he's going to give me along the way that I'm excited to learn from."

According to Poppinga, Kalani has been reminding recruits that Kalani learned the same defense that Hill installed at BYU. "Kalani keeps bringing this up to everybody as we're out on the recruiting trail over these last couple of days is Coach Hill learned this defense...and that guy's in our room right now, Gary Anderson, right? So Gary Anderson learned it obviously from Kyle Whittingham, but everybody has a little bit of a twist on it, and right, they're gonna have their own identity on it. So, you know, Gary's excited to see what my identity and twist is gonna be on this deal."

The first order of business for Poppinga has been adding impact transfers from the transfer portal. Poppinga landed his first major commitment as BYU's defensive coordinator on Monday when four-star linebacker Cade Uluave signed with the Cougars.