PROVO, Utah – The BYU football team held its second spring practice on Tuesday in the Indoor Practice Facility.
The Cougars are scheduled to hold two more closed practice sessions Thursday and Friday, their first in pads, before resuming spring football next week.
BYU's 2019 schedule begins on August 29 in LaVell Edwards Stadium against Utah. The home schedule also includes USC, Washington, Boise State, Liberty and Idaho State.
The following quotes are from Tuesday's post-practice media availability.
Head Coach Kalani Sitake
On Spring ball beginning
It’s fun. I was really pleased with the guys and really happy with the offense. There weren’t a lot of administrative penalties, so false starts and all that stuff we weren’t worried about. We’re also starting to see some leadership step up, and it’s nice to have the system set in place already. I’m really happy with the way they guys are working.
On whether or not the team is further ahead this Spring
Yeah we definitely are. We’re getting a lot of guys reps, and we’re trying to clean some things up. We have some guys that are injured and it’s actually nice because they can be coaches and learn the game that way. They’re really helping out these guys. I think having the (injured) guys sit out for spring has been really nice with them being on the field and helping to teach. The first two practices were a huge example of that.
On keeping most of the coaching staff together this season
It’s good; I’ve been really happy with the way [Ilaisa] Tuiaki is running the defense and the way Grimes is running the offense. That’s been really nice, and having Coach Mateos here has been nice because he has the connection with [Jeff] Grimes. So we’re moving on, and I’ve been really happy with how everything is going now. However, we haven’t played a game yet so we’ll see. We’ll get the pads on next and it should be fun.
Running backs coach AJ Steward
On the characterization of the running back group
We’re young an hungry right now. Those are two words that I think can describe our group the most. The guys are young and hungry, they come to work every day wanting more, so I can appreciate that as a coach. I don’t have to coach effort and I don’t have to coach finish, so it’s been a good first two days. The guys are really playing hard and playing to the whistle and that’s really all I can ask for.
On having Lopini Katoa out there
It’s great, even though he’s a young player from a classification standpoint, he’s very seasoned in the amount of reps he’s taken. It’s good to have him, it’s kind of that veteran presence in our room and somebody I can rely on as an extension of me here at practice and in the meeting room.
On how healthy Katoa is
We wouldn’t have him out here if he wasn’t ready to go, so he’s full go, he’s out here with no excuses, he’s out here with the same expectations as every other guy in our room.
On who stood out of the younger guys
Really they all have. Pretty much with the reps how equally they've been and everybody’s done some good things and everybody made a couple of mistakes, but that’s spring ball. We’ve had two practices, guys are doing things that they’ve never done before, so honestly it’s too early to say who’s standing out right now, but I think for the most part, we’ve got a bunch of guys that are willing to work and they’re going to make it hard on each other because they’re all putting in work and they’re all pushing each other daily.
Running back Lopini Katoa
On Spring ball so far
It’s been great. It’s a lot of fun. Just helmets right now so there’s less hitting. So far so good though. We look good as an offense.
On outstanding running backs so far
We’ve got Kavika Fonua back; It’s been a year since he’s played, so it’s nice to see him moving around. He’s looking good, he’s fast. Tyler Allgeier is another person who took a lot of reps. He got a few reps in games so he knows his stuff pretty well. Morgan Pyper is somebody who hasn’t really been seen before, but he’s somebody who’s really exposed and really good. We have a bunch of guys learning their stuff. Most of it is just getting the plays down for them to play natural and free.
On his preparation in the offseason
The main thing was getting my knee healthy. I missed the last couple of games last season, so that was my main focus to be able to play in spring ball. Other than that, I’ve been focusing on getting my speed up and being able to put on a little more weight to take a few more hits.