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PROVO — When BYU football broke the huddle on its final practice of spring football, linebacker Ben Bywater couldn't wait to get to work on a personal project.
In lieu of a spring game, the Cougars invited back around 40 former players for an alumni 7-on-7 touch football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and many of them mingled around the practice field for several moments to get a look at next year's team.
One particular former player stood out to Bywater, the Cougars' 6-foot-3, 260-pound linebacker who played multiple roles for the injury-hit team of last year. But he also wanted to get over to see him — along with several other one-time players to which he looked up when he was a tyke.
"I didn't know Alani Fua was so big; that dude is monstrous," Bywater said. "I'm sizing myself up next to him, trying to see him — and he towers over me.
"I'm buddies with Mitch Mathews, too. Max Hall, Uani' 'Unga, I watched all of those guys as a kid."
BYU put the finishing touches on spring camp before mixing and mingling with fans over Thursday night's touch football game, content with the NCAA-limited 15 practices spread out over 15 weeks that were allowed in the spring semester.
Through the past month, the offense and defense have ebbed and flowed, depending on the day. But by the end of it, even head coach Kalani Sitake — a former BYU fullback who made his name in coaching as a defensive coordinator, primarily at Utah and Oregon State — was willing to admit that the offense ended the spring ahead of the defense.
That's to be expected, of course; the Cougars returned roughly 88% of production from last year, meaning they were able to jump into spring practices and even do some early prep work for the season opener Sept. 3 at South Florida.
The bulk of that production is on offense, including returning starting quarterback Jaren Hall and nearly the entire offensive line, outside of departing center James Empey.
Perhaps the bigger surprise, from the outside at least, is that the defense started to catch up.
"The more we allow guys like Tyler Batty, Keenan Pili, and those guys to make plays, they'll be fine," Sitake said. "By the time we get to fall camp, I think we'll see them make more plays."
"The offense is a little bit ahead, but you could've predicted that before the spring. It's good to have so much depth at O-line."
The offense? Yeah, it's ahead — ready to push forward from last year, despite the departure of all-time running back Tyler Allgeier and senior receiver Samson Nacua. But they aren't satisfied, either.
Jaren Hall is set as the starting quarterback, and Jacob Conover has started to separate himself as the primary backup. But just about every other position on the two-deep roster is up for grabs as BYU transitions into spring weight lifting, summer workouts, and player-run practices through August 1, Sitake said.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," said Hall, who threw for 2,583 yards and 20 touchdowns in leading BYU to a 10-3 record. "We're never satisfied; no one is where we're at going into the summer. We did a lot of great things in spring, got a lot better in a lot of areas.
"But we've still got a lot of things we've got to do and a lot of ways we can get better."
The Cougars won 10 games for the second-straight year approaching their final season as an FBS independent before joining the Big 12 Conference in 2023. Is that the new standard by which BYU players hold themselves?
Not necessarily.
"We don't really talk (about) expectations," Hall said. "We have goals for our seasons, but expectation-wise we try to just go play and play loose. No expectations, other than to play our best and to execute the way we know how to."
As for that defense, going up against an offensive line anchored by center Connor Pay, Kingsley Suamataia, Blake Freeland and others every day has paid dividends, too.
"Our O-line is tough, and as a defensive unit, going at it every day, I love seeing the guys be competitive," Bywater said. "It was fun to go at it every day, and I'm excited for this fall."
Sitake said players will have most of April off to rehab and recover from a handful of injuries — BYU also has spring break starting the second week in April to bridge the winter semester and spring term.
Starting May 1, the coaching staff will dive into spring recruiting, peer into the transfer portal, and players will report to player-run practices with the same intensity of the spring practices.
Well, maybe not quite the same intensity.
"It's a free space when the coaches aren't there; when the cat's away, the mice play," Hall said with a laugh. "We have a good time, but we stay focused. We get after each other pretty good. It's a good time."
"Those player-run practices are less intense, but it's competitive," Bywater added. "Guys are helping each other learn, and there are always new guys pulling up. We're getting our feet under us, helping that muscle memory.
"It's not always as intense, but they're super beneficial."
