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PROVO — While all eyes during BYU's spring football practices have been on the quarterback relay led by former Pitt and USC quarterback Kedon Slovis, Jay Hill's gaze moves from spot to spot across the defensive side of the ball.
It could be Tyler Batty rushing the passer, Maika Kaufusi jumping from spot to spot in the linebacker corps, or Eddie Heckard flying sideline to sideline in the secondary. Either way, the first-year BYU defensive coordinator and associate head coach usually has the same reaction.
Hill will run up to each of his guys after a big play, swat at them, and leave with a chest bump, a high five or a scream.
Energy, thy match has been met.
"He is all over the place, even in the weight room," BYU defensive tackle Caden Haws said of Hill. "He comes in and works out with us. You can call him an Energizer Bunny. He really is encouraging everyone, coaching other guys, even the offense. ... I think adding that personality to our staff is huge."
Hill describes his coaching style as "passionate," and his fellow coaches and players agree, but he also uses words like "disciplined" and "detailed" to describe a defense that he isn't afraid to build up — or tear down.
"I'm also not scared to get excited and geeked up, or chest bump a player," he said. "But I'll also be the first one to get in their butt a bit and rip them, if I need to. And I think they know that."
Hill is an energy guy, as his former players at Utah or in nine seasons as head coach at Weber State will tell you. And in his first few months back in Utah County, the Lehi native's energy has been infectious.
He'll celebrate when the defense makes a big play, and he celebrated a lot coaching a defense that ranked in the top-30 in the Football Championship Subdivision in scoring defense and total defense for five straight years. A lot of those celebrations are aimed at pass rushers.
Another word that players like to use to describe Hill's defense is "aggressive."
"I'm just excited for the opportunities that it's going to bring on the edge," said Batty, who had two sacks in 12 games in 2022. "It's a little different philosophy; we're going to get after it. I like to play aggressive, and the coaches like to call aggressively. I'm really excited for that aspect."
The interior linemen agreed.
"It's way more aggressive," said Haws, who started all 13 games last year and had one sack. "We're not two-gapping anymore — way more gap-sound. We're firing off the ball. ... It's way different. I think it's the way that everybody would rather be playing. We love it."
That's good for more than just the front seven, too. More pressure benefits the secondary as well as the defense tries to play "complementary football" with offense and special teams.
"We want to help the offense, same with the special teams. And it's kind of the same with us and the back end," Haws said. "The more pressure we get, the less time they have to cover. If they know that they only have to cover for a few seconds, then they can battle and play more light's out. ... Eventually we'll get a pick or a sack, but it really is complementary."
In that regard, Hill is aligned with head coach Kalani Sitake, as well as his assistants like linebackers coach Justin Ena, defensive ends coach Kelly Poppinga, defensive tackles specialist Sione Pouha and cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford.
They're equally as high-energy as Hill, too.
"Coach Ena is intense," BYU linebacker Ben Bywater said. "I'm excited, because he'll get the most out of you. That's what we need at backer; somebody who can spark you and get it going."
Of course, it's not all puppy dogs and rainbows, particularly with Hill and Ena. His new coach hasn't been afraid to get after him, Bywater adds of Ena.
"We need that," the Olympus High grad said. "That's how coaching is; you want tough love, and guys who will hold you accountable if you aren't doing the right thing … It's tough, for sure. But you've got to perform, and if you perform, they'll be off your head."
Tasked with rebuilding a defense that had fallen well into the bottom-third in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Hill's rebuild is already well underway. The 48-year-old coach who still commutes from Ogden every day — he and his wife Sara hope to find a home in Utah County "soon," when his two youngest children finish school — said more than half of the defensive installation had already been complete before the finish of the second week of spring camp.
That doesn't mean the objectives are complete, of course. There's still a depth chart to solidify, Hill says, and a "mastery" of the scheme to unfold.
That scheme will look significantly different from previous years. Gone are the days of drop-eight defense, at least in most scenarios. Hill's preferred base defense is a 4-3 alignment, though he isn't afraid to bring a fifth defensive back off the bench if the offenses substitute more wide receivers.
"If they play with two tight ends or a fullback, then we'll almost always see three linebackers," he adds.
The Cougars have plenty of newcomers — as many as 37 new players reported to the first day of spring practices, and changes still dot the roster midway through the camp. But the new players and returning veterans alike have one thing in common, especially on the defensive side where only Gilford returned from last season.
"I like the buy-in right now," Hill said. "I think they bought in to us as a new staff, and the new changes we've done in the weight room. The cream will rise to the crop as we continue to go through spring."
