On both sides of the ball, the Cougars have bolstered their line depth moving forward.
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With the commitment of Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year Jax Tanner from Meridian, the Cougars added another layer of highly-rated offensive line talent for the future.
The son of former BYU linebacker Mike Tanner, Jax received offers from most of the major names in college football, including nearby Oregon. Couple this with last year’s addition of Andrew Gentry from Michigan and previously committed Oregon flip Alai Kalaniuvalu as well as the addition of four-star Bott Mulitalo, both in the class of 2026, and there’s a major trend going on with offensive line play.
On the defensive side, Kalani Sitake made huge gains this past winter with the addition of giant inside tackles Justin Kirkland from Oklahoma State and Utah transfer Keanu Tanuvasa. Both are more than 300-pound block eaters who demand attention from opposing offensive coordinators.
In Year 1 in the Big 12, BYU got pushed around. In Year 2 the Cougars found a way to push back and led the league in defense with 11 wins. In Year 3 Sitake and his staff will be far more prepared to compete in the trenches, the backbone of success at any level of the game.
Question of the Week
BYU’s recruiting class of 2026, combined with other acquisitions, appears to be a home run for offensive line coach TJ Woods. Project your opinion of the future for the Cougars at this position.
Jay Drew: In his first season in Provo, BYU offensive line coach TJ Woods was an instant success, and validated head coach Kalani Sitake’s decision to dismiss veteran OL coach Darrell Funk and bring in a fresh set of eyeballs. Kudos to Woods for taking a fairly average group and making it better than it was the year before. Caleb Etienne, Brayden Keim and Connor Pay all improved immensely before moving on.
Frankly, I am still not sold on the 2025 unit that Woods and Sitake will roll out Aug. 30 against Portland State. They’ve got some good offensive linemen, but not many great ones. Weylin Lapuaho, Bruce Mitchell, Austin Leausa, Isaiah Jatta and Sonny Makasini are back and will be joined by two transfers — Kyle Sfarcioc and Andrew Gentry.
Obviously, Gentry comes from Michigan and was a four-star recruit before picking the Wolverines, so he’s got the goods, and the size. Word is he is also an outstanding leader.
Media members didn’t get to see much of them in spring camp, so I really am not sure if they will gel into a solid unit, or not. Certainly, the talent is there.
As for the future, Woods’ early returns as a recruiter are positive. He’s got a couple of four-star recruits coming in next year in Bott Mulitalo and Jax Tanner. A good sportswriter friend in Idaho told me Tanner is worthy of all the hype and a game-changer. We will see.
Dick Harmon: I remember talking to Coach Woods before the 2024 season in the indoor practice facility and asked him what his plans were for tackle Caleb Etienne, who’d struggled mightily the previous season. He detailed how important confidence building was and that was his first priority — to increase his successes daily. In 2024, Etienne turned out to be a big part of the 11-2 season and was extremely productive. I was impressed.
Since being here, Woods has significantly improved recruiting O-line talent. He welcomed freshmen Ethan Thomason from Fort Collins, Colorado, after his mission and began working on him this past January. He has Joe Brown, a former Virginia commit when Bronco Mendenhall was there. He has Ikinasio Tupou and Andrew Williams, both freshmen. In 2025 he recruited Austin Pay, flipped Stanford commit Siosiua Veta and four-star Oregon commit Alai Kalaniuvalu, a huge get.
Now for the class of 2026 he’s hit home run after home run, taking four-star Bott Mulitalo away from Oregon and a dozen other P4 programs. Mulitalo and Kalaniuvalu are the future super stars in the bull pen for Woods.
He just got Jax Tanner, Idaho’s Gatorade Player of the Year, whom Oregon wanted. In fact, Tanner had 19 P4 offers, including BYU, Utah, Tennessee, Oregon, Michigan, Auburn, Boston College, Cal, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Vanderbilt, USC, Stanford, Purdue, Penn State, North Carolina and Nebraska.
Mulitalo had 13 offers, including ASU, Arizona, Auburn, Iowa State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and USC.
Tight end Brock Harris, who would have talked to Coach Woods, had a whopping 32 P4 offers. So, in a nutshell, Woods may be assembling the best BYU offensive lines since the Roger French days in the 1980s and ’90s. I think this year’s O-line will be bigger and deeper than a year ago and likely just as effective.
Cougar tales
This week BYU got commitments from Idaho offensive lineman Jax Tanner and Olympus High linebacker Adam Bywater, brother of former Cougar captain Ben Bywater. The recent commitments elevated BYU atop the Big 12 recruit rankings for 2026.
QB Jake Retzlaff made his withdrawal from BYU official this past week, read this story from Brandon Judd for the details. Here is a rundown of how that impacts Aaron Roderick’s QB room.
BYU Senior Associate Athletic Director Liz Darger was appointed to chair the Women’s Division I NCAA Championship Committee.
From the archives
From the X-verse
Love having @jswaggdaddy back home!!
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) July 14, 2025
GO COUGS 🤙 pic.twitter.com/b4jurUoEHU
No other conference is touching Big 12 QB play right now. 🏈
— 365 Sports (@365sportsYT) July 14, 2025
Talent. Depth. Star Power. #Big12#CFB#QB1pic.twitter.com/uh9KbEtNFy
Extra points
- BYU better with QB competition? (Deseret News)
- Sitake high on DT Justin Kirkland (KSLsports)
- Coug receivers ready to help QBs (Daily Herald)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
Did you not hear the commish’s opening statement? BYU was the only school to get two, repeat two, national championships last year. And, they are getting a top recruit to basically guarantee that will happen again next year. The titles will keep coming. I’m glad you’ll follow every step of the way so you won’t miss it. — RR
“Santiago and coaches are finding that many recruits are attracted to the school’s honor code, as are their parents.”
This is an advantage that will not fade away. It is about moral compasses. The QB and pass risk advantage faded fast. Good QBs are a dime a dozen now. Look at all the good ones.
But this is different and so refreshing.
I kind of chuckle when I read comments in certain articles. What does moral action have to do with sports, this is football not Sunday School. Strangely that observation misses completely the real sports value in building men and women with strength and honor.
Thanks for this great grand article.
— MarkMAN
Up next
- Aug. 2 | 7 p.m. | women’s soccer | Blue/White game
- Aug. 6 | 8 p.m. | women’s soccer | Southern Utah
- Aug. 9 | 7 p.m. | women’s soccer | Utah Tech
- Aug. 14 | 7 p.m | women’s soccer | Minnesota
- Aug. 18 | 7 p.m. | women’s soccer | Cal Poly
Category: General Sports
