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PROVO — Aaron Roderick had a problem as BYU football wrapped up its first week of fall training camp ahead of the 2023 season.
The veteran offensive coordinator in his third season as the Cougars' primary play caller has to replace two-year starting quarterback Jaren Hall, but that isn't so much of a problem with fifth-year senior Kedon Slovis, top junior college signal caller Jake Retzlaff and program veteran Cade Fennegan in tow.
No, Roderick's problem is one shared by offensive line coach Darrell Funk: How does BYU find its optimal starting five in the trenches from a mix of veteran players, both at BYU and elsewhere?
Roderick said the Cougars have as many as eight players with Power Five or P5-like starting experience on the offensive line, including former five-star prospect and preseason All-American left tackle Kingsley Suamataia and Oklahoma State transfer Caleb Etienne; Utah transfer Simi Moala; and returning players like last year's starting center Connor Pay and veteran Brayden Keim.
Then there's additional talent like Weylin Lapuaho, who started all 13 games at Utah State as a freshman before transferring to Provo, as well as FCS standouts Jake Eichorn (Weber State) and Ian Fitzgerald (Ian Fitzgerald).
That's all in addition to former junior college standout Joseph Paulo and talented Utah-bred freshmen like Sonny Makasini, Trevin Ostler and Peter Falaniko.
"That is probably the biggest question of this camp: Who are those five, six, seven guys going to be? I don't know," Roderick said. "I think we have eight guys who have started Power Five-level games, and then we have Weylin who started every game last year at Utah State.
"We've got a good group. It's a challenge, and we're working through that," he added. "But it's also a long season, and so there's probably zero chance that you have all five guys who play the whole season on the starting offensive line."
Funk said no player has been promised a starting spot on the offensive line, and multiple players can play multiple positions.
That includes center, where both Pay and Utah transfer Paul Maile have taken reps. Asked if he knows "what position" he'll play this fall, Pay was quick and glib, saying simply, "nope" after taking snaps at both guard and center.
"That's where I spent the first half of my redshirt freshman year," the returning center said of playing guard. "I've done it before. It was kind of fun to go back to guard. It's a little less to think about than center; you can kind of just run and play."
"Whatever the coaches want me to do, I'll do."
Pay agrees that the starting five Week 1 against Sam Houston State will unlikely be the starting five in the trenches for the Cougars' entire 12-game season.
"Regardless of where I'm asked to play, it's pretty rare for five guys starting on an O-line to spend an entire season together," he said. "Someone gets banged up at some point, even if it's just one game. Having 7-8 guys who are starting caliber players is huge. That's what we've had my whole career."
BYU had multiple combinations of starting linemen a year ago, with mixed results. The Cougars won four of their first five games, then lost four in a row, before on a four-game win streak.
The only every-game starters were Blake Freeland, who was drafted in the fourth round by the Indianapolis Colts and Clark Barrington, who transferred with brother Campbell to Baylor. Harris LaChance, who started every game but alternated between right guard and right tackle is also gone after signing a free-agent contract with the Colts.
The hope, of course, is the returning players have learned from last year's adversity.
"Sometimes you don't learn how to handle something unless you go through it," Pay said. "I think we learned a lot from the experiences we had last year, especially on the leadership front as players. I think we know a lot of the red flags to help us avoid a lull like that again.
"I think we're definitely better equipped to handle it."
The Cougars also leaned more into their identity under Roderick — a power-run game with a West Coast offense unafraid to air it out after softening up the defense.
That identity hasn't changed.
"You have to have an identity. I think it's important for the players in the program to know what to expect every day," Roderick said. "I try to be the same person every day, and I want my offense to be the same way."
That consistency — and a new attitude — should help an offensive line rebuilding around its pillars despite losing three of its top starters a year ago.
"I think we want to be great; that's the first thing," Pay said. "It starts in practice. You can't just be great on Saturdays. You have to practice great if you want to be great. Everyone is playing hard."
