‘We gotta perform in the games’: BYU coaches mostly reserving their praise in preseason camp

A year ago, as BYU welcomed more than 60 newcomers to its Big 12-bound football team, several longtime assistant coaches proclaimed that it was one of the deepest and most talented collection of players in recent memory.

Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was perhaps the most effusive in his praise, saying the offense he oversees had upgraded in every position with the exception of quarterback , where Kedon Slovis was replacing one of the better QBs in the past decade at the school, Jaren Hall.

But a face-plant in the opener against Sam Houston, similar duds on offense in several Big 12 games, and a 5-7 overall record has a way of changing attitudes, approaches and perspectives.

Early in preseason training camp this year, coaches have been decidedly more reserved in their praise, particularly Roderick, who met with reporters after Friday’s third practice, and the first one in shoulder pads.

“I think it is a good group,” Roderick said, when asked specifically about the receivers. “I think we have a good group of offensive players. We have depth at every position. But it is time for us to go do it in a game. And that’s pretty much what you are going to hear from me all camp — is we gotta perform in the games. I believe that we will. I believe in those guys, yes, absolutely.”

Defensive coordinator Jay Hill also met with reporters for the first time in camp on Friday, and was a bit more liberal with his praise — saying coaches “hit a home run” with the freshmen recruits they’ve brought in to play defense — but also stressed that this group hasn’t done anything yet.

More of Hill’s thoughts on the defense’s goals for camp will come from the Deseret News later in camp.

As for Roderick, whose offense with new faces up and down the line underperformed last season, he’s taking a measured approach, while noting that the adversity the unit faced last season has had a silver lining.

“It is humbling to not play in a bowl game. It is humbling to spend the whole offseason having people think you are not very good,” he said. “And I think it has brought our team close together, and I think we have a lot of players … who are good players that went through some learning, took their lumps last year. And now I believe that those guys are going to show up and play well for us.”

Offensive linemen Caleb Etienne and Weylin Lapuaho and receivers Keelan Marion and Darius Lassiter are among the 2023 newcomers who figure to have significant roles this year. Roderick said Etienne, in particular, has made huge strides in the offseason and is “a talented guy who didn’t know what he was doing last year … and maybe lost his confidence when things didn’t go well early in the season. This year he knows what he is doing.”

Regarding the offensive line, which shouldered a lot of the blame for last year’s struggles, which starting center Connor Pay has freely acknowledged, Roderick said there have been signs of improvement under new OL coach TJ Woods.

“Now we got to go prove it in a game,” Roderick said. “I see improvement happening in practice and I will just leave it at that until we show it in a real game.”

Here’s more from Roderick’s chat with media members Friday:

On how he’s feeling about the offense through three practices:

“It is only three days, so there is not a lot to go on. But I like this team, so I think we have good players on offense. We have a lot of guys who know what they are doing now, where a year ago we had a lot of good players out here who didn’t know what they were doing and it took awhile for execution to come together.

“It took way too long. This year the execution through three days is a lot better than it was last year.”

On how the install is coming along for the offense:

“We put in a lot of stuff in three days and today there were some mistakes with some of the younger guys and some of the guys who we have moved around. But that’s OK. We are going to get it all in this year.

“We are going to get it all in early, and then rep it over and over again for the rest of the camp.”

On if Jake Retzlaff or Gerry Bohanon has taken the lead in the starting quarterback battle:

“It is too soon for me to comment on that. I just don’t think there is a large enough body of work for me to comment yet. I think everything I said in the spring still holds true, and then we are going to — it will be exactly 50-50 reps with the ones indefinitely right now, until somebody emerges.”

On if there’s any urgency to name a starting quarterback:

“I am not in a hurry at all. I feel really comfortable that (both could play). I mean, there is a really good chance that we are going to need both those guys at some point this year, anyway. I am not in a rush. My experience with these things in the past is usually it is not my decision. At some point in camp it becomes apparent to the whole team.

“That’s what happened when Zach (Wilson) was our starter. When it was Jaren’s time, everybody knew Jaren (Hall) earned it in practice. Everybody knew that Zach earned it in practice.

“Everybody knew that Kedon (Slovis) earned it last year. So I think there will be a time when it is obvious to everyone that someone has earned it.”