PROVO — The biggest news of BYU Media Day was mentioned pretty quickly by offensive line coach Mike Empey during the annual State of the Program that kicks off the day-long session of interviews, stories and anecdotes for players and coaches.

And it can be summed up in three words: Koroma is back.

Starting center Tejan Koroma has returned to the BYU football team after missing all of spring practices with a variety of issues.

"I’m just excited to have a player with experience come back right now, after how lean we were going through spring ball,” said Empey, who worked out with just eight linemen during parts of spring practice. “There are places where talent can have an impact on your position and your team.

“I would think that having our center come back helps us quite a bit, and it has quite the impact. For me, I’m just excited to have a great player back who has game experience. We need to get to know each other, he has to learn the offense, but I expect really good things and I’m excited that I’m getting back a player with that kind of experience.”

All the while, Koroma stayed close to the program, pledging his desire to come back on social media and working out with former BYU linebacker Jordan Pendleton at a facility in Lehi.

“It’s great; we’re pumped to have Tejan back,” quarterback Tanner Mangum said. “He makes us a lot better. He’s a really good competitor and brings a lot of toughness to the line. We’re excited to have him back.

“We know that we’re going to need him and all of us this season to be successful. It takes a whole team, and we’re really excited to have him back. He’s good protection, and it makes me happy to have him back.”

Mangum said there was never much doubt whether Koroma would return to the program; it was only a matter of when.

“A lot of it was just giving it some time, and we all felt pretty confident it was going to work out,” Mangum said. “It was out of our control, in a way, but we reached out to him and made sure he knew we loved him and wanted him back. Coaches worked with him, and now he’s excited to be back. He wants to be here. He is a BYU guy, just like all of us, which means a lot.”

Parker Dawe saw the majority of the snaps at center during spring camp, and Empey said he’ll open fall at the same position. But Koroma brings former freshman All-American experience to a position that needs it at BYU in the middle of the offensive line.

“I think it was good to be able to get other guys reps and opportunities to play,” Mangum said. “It’s going to help us by giving Parker a lot of time, and other guys as well. There’s always a silver lining in everything. It was tough to have Tejan gone during the spring, but it was good to see other guys get better.

“It helped our team and our offense get better. You just have to adjust with not having everyone there, but we did a good job of that and took advantage of what the situation gave us.”

WEEKS OUT

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake confirmed that tight end Josh Weeks is no longer with the football program.

“He’s no longer on the team,” Sitake said.

Weeks was making the transition to wide receiver in the spring when he was cited with a stalking injunction, and was released on bail.

The former wideout was immediately suspended from the team, and is no longer enrolled in school, according to one source. When asked if there was a chance of him rejoining the squad, Sitake shook his head and curtly stated no.

BYU also lost former starting tight end Bryan Sampson, whose torn labrum will likely end his career, tight ends coach Steve Clark said.

Tanner Balderee is the presumptive starter at tight end going into fall camp, followed by Nate Sampson, former Georgia Tech receiver Hunter Marshall, recently converted linebacker Troy Hines and former BYU-Hawaii basketball player Solomone Wolfgram.

KICKOFF TIMES

No additional games were added to any future schedule for BYU, which will enter its fifth season of football independence this fall (though Sitake mentioned athletic director Tom Holmoe is working on a contract with an undisclosed Atlantic Coast Conference team).

Even so, the Cougars announced kickoff times for several games this fall, specifically its home games with broadcast rights owned by ESPN.

BYU’s home opener Sept. 17 against UCLA will kick off at 8:15 p.m. MDT on ESPN or ESPN2, and its next home game Sept. 30 against Toledo will kick at the same time on ESPN2. Mississippi State’s visit to Provo will also kick off at 8:15 p.m. MDT on Oct. 14, and the first football matchup with instate FCS foe Southern Utah is scheduled for Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. on BYUtv.

“We’re excited about the schedule,” Sitake said. “This is a Power-5 schedule. In fact, it is harder than a lot of schedules I’ve been involved in.”

BIG 12 TALK

Conference expansion has been another hot topic of conversation for the Cougars, especially as the Big 12 has met to decide on the future of its 10-team league over the summer.

Holmoe won’t address talks or reports specifically, but he acknowledged how important the issue of Power-5 play is for BYU fans. And he’s determined to get it right — but that involves winning.

“I would really love to see our football team play at that level of a P5 conference,” Holmoe said. “The schedule we have set for this team is a great schedule, but that’s the way the P5s play every year.

“I want our players in all of our sports to be able to play at the highest level. We’re imitating a P5 schedule right now, but it would be a good thing for BYU football to get there.”

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