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PROVO — Micah Simon knows there wasn’t a lot of good that came out of BYU’s receiving corps during last season’s dismal 4-9 performance.
The former Texas high school quarterback wants to change that—even if he has to do it single-handedly.
“As an offense, we know we can be better and we’ve been focusing on that,” said Simon, who had 386 receiving yards and a team-high three touchdowns as a redshirt sophomore in 2017. “We’re changing the mindset of the offense and the entire team. We’re ready to move forward.”
Lucky for Simon, he doesn’t have to be alone in changing the Cougars’ receiving talent. Former BYU receiver Dylan Collie, the younger brother of former BYU great Austin, is en route to Provo as a graduate transfer from Hawaii, and the Cougars should get plenty of help from incoming four-star freshman Gunner Romney.
But make no mistake, Simon is the leader of the wide receiver room, new coach Fesi Sitake said.
“He’s the alpha, and he gets all the receivers together to do extra work in the meeting room and on the field,” Sitake said. “I’m very pleased with what he’s brought.”
That doesn’t mean Simon is the only receiver who has impressed in fall camp, or that the Cougars are merely killing time until Collie and Romney arrive in Utah.
The younger brother of current BYU walk-on quarterback Gunner Romney was in Provo during his school’s spring break, but he won’t enroll until fall camp. So between now and then, Tariq Buchanan is making the most of his reps.
Buchanan ended one practice session with a long 45-yard TD blitz from Beau Hoge, and the former Elgin (Texas) High standout has been a highlight during each of the Cougars’ first seven spring practices after redshirting the 2017 season.
“When I knew he was going to redshirt, I just told him to take advantage of that time,” Simon said of Buchanan. “I was in the same position, and I think he did a great job getting bigger, stronger and focusing on his technique.”
The Cougar wideouts aren’t just adjusting to a lack of a fully healthy quarterback in Tanner Mangum or the competition involving backups Beau Hoge, Joe Critchlow, freshman Zach Wilson and others; they are also still learning the new offense brought in by first-time coordinator Jeff Grimes.
Speed and motion have been on display at BYU’s indoor practice facility in March, but Simon also stresses control and making plays that fit each individual wideout.
“There are a lot of different shifts and motions. But I think it fits everybody’s skillset,” Simon said of the offense. “Even when we shift a lot, we still just line up and go play.”
The new system draws plenty on the experience Sitake had as an offensive coordinator at Weber State, new quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick had at Utah and what tight ends coach Steve Clark brings from multiple stops, primarily in the Football Championship Subdivision.
And while the players in Provo have learned “about 60 percent” of the new offense, according to Grimes, they’ve done enough to make Sitake feel comfortable with the receivers as they reach the midway point of spring.
“You can always have more, but I think we have enough to win some games right now,” Sitake said. “We definitely have a handful of guys who I think are great players and will be great for us.”
