Can Bear Bachmeier take next step, lead BYU football to next level as sophomore?

PROVO — A year ago at this time, Bear Bachmeier was a recently (early) graduate of Murrieta Valley High in California and was diving into the playbook and routines at Stanford.

The rising sophomore quarterback is in a completely different place as the calendar turns toward 2026.

Entrenched as a starter after completing 64.9% of his passes for 3,033 yards and 15 touchdowns and running for 527 yards and 11 scores, Bachmeier was the unquestioned starter as BYU opened the first week of spring practices in Provo.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound signal caller is still the guitar-strumming Californian who still wears the iconic (for a lot of reasons) No. 47 jersey as a nod to his running back/middle linebacker roots. But after leading the Cougars to a 12-2 record and a spot in the Big 12 football championship game in his first full season as a starter, he's hopeful to take the next step.

And he's getting a head start in March.

"It's definitely beneficial," Bachmeier said after the second day of practice under rainy skies (and an indoor practice facility) in Provo. "I'm just knocking off the rust, but also building chemistry with the new guys. It's good."

BYU has set up the program with every reason to succeed in Bachmeier's sophomore season, replacing a previously scheduled nonconference game with Cal with an Oct. 17 home tilt against Notre Dame.

The Cougars also won't play emerging power Texas Tech in Big 12 play, setting up a potential title game rematch at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — if they can navigate a path that includes away games at TCU, Utah and Kansas and home games against Arizona, Arizona State and Baylor, among others.

The biggest question then, at least on offense, seems to be who will be catching passes from the sophomore gunslinger.

Top receiver Chase Roberts and tight end Carsen Ryan have job interviews with the NFL after exhausting their eligibility, and fellow lead returner Parker Kingston is no longer on the roster after a felony rape charge stemming from an alleged incident last February in Washington County.

The Cougars' top returning pass catcher from a year ago is running back LJ Martin, the Big 12 offensive player of the year who caught 36 passes for 255 yards. Jojo Phillips added 14 catches for 161 yards in eight games, and Cody Hagen and Tiger Bachmeier played in all 13 games for BYU.

Phillips is largely expected to take a significant step forward, and BYU brought in former four-star tight ends Walker Lyons from USC and Roger Saleapaga from Oregon.

"The team's fine," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "The guys are great. We have a strong culture on the team."

Oregon transfer receiver Kyler Kasper is another new face, a redshirt junior who the Cougars recruited in high school before the former four-star prospect out of Chandler, Arizona ultimately selected the Ducks.

But mostly, and without a secondary transfer portal window in the spring this year, BYU will lean on the development of its youth.

"We've only practiced twice. But there are a lot of good players in that room," offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said. "Those guys will step up; I'm very confident about that.

"We've got some young players doing some good things," he added, before commenting more cheekily: "I'm a little bit reluctant to comment about young guys, though, because people will start tampering with them before the next portal window. So I guess I'm not going to say nice things about the young guys anymore."

And even though he isn't require to learn a new playbook, the work has already begun for Bachmeier and his teammates in the weight room and winter workouts at elevation.

It'll continue through 15 practices, and then into summer conditioning before fall camp opens in August.

"They try and kick your butts in the offseason," he said. "Winter's rough. And summer will be rough as well."

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