Utah linebacker Sione Fotu will be taking on an increased role this fall.
Pegged as LB4 heading into spring camp, a long-term injury to linebacker Levani Damuni means that Fotu will likely be elevated to LB3 to start the season.
“Sione Fotu is beyond ready, the type of kid he is. I don’t know if you remember back in 2020 when he came in the COVID year, but he started as a true freshman. He was right there in our four-three package with Devin Lloyd and Nephi Sewell, and then the third backer was Sione Fotu. So he’s more than ready.”
— Utah linebacker coach Colton Swan
While the loss of Damuni will be felt, Utah’s coaches feel that Fotu is ready to step up and play at a high level when the Utes have three linebackers on the field.
“Sione Fotu is beyond ready, the type of kid he is,” linebacker coach Colton Swan said. “I don’t know if you remember back in 2020 when he came in the COVID year, but he started as a true freshman. He was right there in our four-three package with Devin Lloyd and Nephi Sewell, and then the third backer was Sione Fotu. So he’s more than ready.”
The 2020 experience for Fotu, before he left on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was invaluable. He played in all five of Utah’s games that season, starting three, and totaled 13 tackles and a pass breakup.
“I feel like that was everything when I came back, especially last year,” Fotu said of his 2020 season. “It wasn’t as rough as it would’ve been if I just went (on the mission) straight out of high school. That year taught me a lot. The guys on that team were the exact same as the guys on this team. Took me in a lot and helped me mature in ways that I couldn’t have without them.”
Fotu returned from serving his mission in Portland — which he called a “life-changing” experience — prior to the 2023 season, and immediately started knocking the “mission rust” off and getting back into the swing of things.
“It was pretty quick, to be honest, just because of what this place demands from a linebacker especially. It was easy to knock it off, but it was hard. It was really tough, but they got me right before the season and I felt like I gave everything that I could last season,” Fotu said.
The 6-foot, 226-pound linebacker was needed right away in the season-opening win over Florida after Karene Reid left the game with an injury. Fotu finished the game and had a career-high seven tackles.
“He went in the Florida game and he made some really good plays and right when he was making those plays, I was thinking to myself, ‘This kid’s back, he’s in good condition. He’s in good form.’ And so he provided the depth all throughout the whole year last year,” Swan said.
Fotu played the most of any linebacker not named Reid, Damuni or Lander Barton last season, playing nearly 100 snaps at the position while totaling 18 tackles and a pass breakup in 2023.
“It was really educational, I would say, just watching the guys in front of me and then being able to go out there and get my feet wet in a sense, to understand what I need to do to be in that moment and make the plays that the team needs to make me to play or make or for me to make,” Fotu said of his 2023 season.
What does Fotu bring as a linebacker? Swan highlighted his high football IQ, knowledge of the game and ability to process information, and says that he has improved his speed and change of direction.
“He’s a very methodical type of linebacker. He can think things through. He sees it really well. He’s done a great job from a physical skill set, is what he’s done coming back off his mission,” Swan said.
Fotu will be asked to step up his role this season, and he is ready for it, armed with two full years of experience and another spring camp under his belt.
“I feel like one thing that Utah always breeds is next man mentality, and I feel like I’ve been preparing for years now for an opportunity to showcase my talents,” Fotu said. “I was able to do it a little bit last year, but especially with a veteran linebacker group like we have now, I just lean on them where I feel like I have shortcomings.”
