New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day weren’t filled with celebration and football-watching for new BYU defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga, who was still the school’s special teams coordinator and edge rushers coach when the calendar flipped from 2025 to 2026.
Poppinga, along with several other BYU defensive coaches who were staying put in the wake of the losses of DC Jay Hill and defensive passing game coordinator Jernaro Gilford to Michigan, immediately got on their cellphones and contacted every defensive player on the two-deep chart, persuading them to stay out of the transfer portal and connected to head coach Kalani Sitake’s program in Provo.
“There were, like, three days of phone calls,” Poppinga said on the “BYU Sports Nation” television show about a week later. “I was on the phone basically Thursday, Friday, Saturday for 12 hours each of those days, between talking to players and talking to the coaches.”
With the help of the other coaches and Sitake himself, the Cougars were mostly successful in their retainment efforts, as top defensive players such as safety Faletau Satuala, linebacker Isaiah Glasker, cornerbacks Evan Johnson and Tre Alexander, defensive ends Nusi Taumoepeau, Bodie Schoonover and Hunter Clegg and safeties Raider Damuni and Tommy Prassas chose to stay.
“Ultimately, I just think the players love Kalani,” Poppinga said. “He was the mainstay, right? They knew that Kalani was going to be here. And a lot of those guys — you could say all of them — came to play for Kalani.”
Hill did get backup linebacker Max Alford — whose uncle is Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford — to Ann Arbor, but for the most part, the Cougars’ defense went unscathed.
Most of the defense’s key losses were expected, as cornerback Mory Bamba, linebacker Jack Kelly, defensive end Logan Lutui, defensive tackle John Taumoepeau and safety Tanner Wall expired their eligibility. On Tuesday, Wall was named to the Academic All-America First Team for the second consecutive season. His leadership and playmaking ability will be missed.
Sure, the Cougars will also miss Hill and Gilford — those two men helped BYU’s defense make huge strides the past three seasons — but retaining almost all of the other defensive coaches was huge for Sitake. Gilford has been replaced by former Southern Utah coach Demario Warren, who was Boise State’s cornerbacks coach from 2022-25 and special teams coordinator in 2023.
As of Wednesday, Sitake had not named a new special teams coordinator.
Having retained the bulk of their roster, BYU coaches have been out recruiting most of the last half of January, preparing for Signing Day next week and also securing commitments from the class of 2027 — this year’s rising high school seniors.
Poppinga has said he won’t change a lot. After all, Hill’s defense ranked No. 19 in scoring defense last season (19.1 points allowed per game), and No. 35 in total defense (332.4 yards per game).
“The defense will be, I think, maybe a little taste of Bronco (Mendenhall) in there, and a little taste of what we’ve done last year,” Poppinga said. “I mean, I have just learned so much, but the base of the defense will be what it’s been.
I would be an idiot to change much of what we’re doing, but there will be a little thing here and there,” he continued. “But I am just excited and honored for the opportunity, and grateful.”
Here’s where BYU’s defense in 2025 finished in some other key statistical categories:
- No. 25 in team passing efficiency defense (116.97 passer rating for opponents)
- No. 62 in team sacks (2.14 sacks per game)
- No. T9 in interceptions (17 picks)
- No. 19 in third-down conversion percentage defense (33.3%)
- No. 30 in rushing defense (122.7 yards per game)
- No. 20 in turnover margin (+8)
- No. 24 in kickoff returns (23.25 yards per return)
- No. 27 in punt returns (11.65 yards per return)
Last week, we published an in-depth look at the offense. Here’s a position-by-position glance at what BYU’s defense and special teams will look like in 2026, and in which areas the Cougars need to improve:
Rebuilt defensive line delivered in 2025
The Cougars lost Tyler Batty, John Nelson, Blake Mangelson and Isaiah Bagnah to graduation after the 2024 season, so that was clearly an area of need in 2025. Credit coaches for landing Utah’s Keanu Tanuvasa and Hunter Clegg, Texas’ Tausili Akana and Southern Utah’s Anisi Purcell to give that group a big boost.
They combined with returners John Taumoepeau, Logan Lutui, Viliami Po’uha, Bodie Schoonover and newcomer Justin Kirkland, among others, to make defensive line a strength of the team in 2025.
Lutui and Taumoepeau are moving on, having graduated, but most of the other strong defensive linemen return, so the Cougars should be OK there in 2026. It is a group that increased its sack totals dramatically — getting 2.14 per game — and put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks than in 2024.
Defensive tackles coach Sione Po’uha was not only retained, but elevated to associate head coach. Po’uha said Tanuvasa will continue to lead the unit in 2026.
“You look at the overall effect he’s had on our defensive tackle room has been, his influence in the locker room, even his influence on the offensive linemen. It’s impressive,” Po’uha said. “He elevated everything. His ability to uplift and help others are things that you don’t record. He’s played a great role at BYU.”
BYU finds adequate replacement for Jack Kelly at LB
To date, BYU’s biggest acquisition out of the transfer portal has been Cal linebacker Cade Uluave, widely regarded as the top linebacker available in this cycle. The former Mountain Ridge standout, an all-ACC pick in 2025, should fill in nicely for Jack Kelly, who completed a phenomenal two-year career at BYU and is headed to the NFL after appearing in Saturday’s Senior Bowl.
Coupled with the returns of Isaiah Glasker, Siale Esera and Nusi Taumoepeau, linebacker should again be the strength of the BYU defense. Guys such as Ace Kaufusi, Miles Hall, Pierson Watson and Maika Kaufusi will add depth.
The Cougars might also rely on Kansas State transfer Jake Clifton, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior from Oklahoma who played in 19 games over the course of two seasons for the Wildcats before serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nicaragua. Another new face to keep an eye on might be incoming freshman Braxton Lindsey, a 6-3, 230-pound linebacker/defensive end from Rogers, Arkansas. Lindsey also played tight end in high school and caught 62 passes for 1,139 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Secondary has some big shoes to fill
A year ago, there were fears that BYU would struggle to replace cornerbacks Jakob Robinson and Marque Collins, but returning corners such as Mory Bamba, Tre Alexander and Evan Johnson stepped up and made the transition rather seamless. Of course, they were under the tutelage of Gilford, a recruiting and development ace who went with Hill to Michigan.
New cornerbacks coach Demario Warren will get Alexander and Johnson back, along with nickels Jonathan Kabeya and Tommy Prassas, who can also play safety. Mississippi State transfer Jayven Williams, who spent three years at Kennesaw State before making 18 tackles and an interception last year for the Bulldogs, comes to Provo ready to contribute immediately, but BYU could probably use one more experienced corner out of the portal.
At safety, BYU will have to replace one of the most inspirational and determined safeties in school history, the aforementioned Wall. Another safety who is moving on, Talan Alfrey, became a great special teams player and will also be missed.
The good news is that the Cougars kept rising star Satuala in the fold, and the Bountiful High product should join Raider Damuni in giving BYU a solid one-two combination at the back end of the secondary.
Will Ferrin will be missed on BYU’s special teams
Will Ferrin made 23 field goals in 2025, after putting himself in BYU lore with his 44-yard field goal that beat Utah in 2024, and leaves Provo as one of the top kickers in school history. His replacement is expected to be Matthias Dunn, a junior from Wasatch High. Long snapper Garrison Grimes will also have to be replaced.
At punter, Australian Sam Vander Haar has been a mainstay the past two seasons, but whether or not he will be eligible to return in 2026 is still up in the air. Vander Haar is pursuing two different avenues to be eligible to play, but as of Wednesday had not heard back from the NCAA regarding either of them.
The backup punter in 2025 was Fuller Shurtz, a freshman from Katy, Texas.
Parker Kingston returns as one of the best punt returners in the nation, while Cody Hagen was having a solid year as BYU’s primary kick returner until muffing a kickoff in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
BYU’s expected comings and goings in 2026 on defense, special teams
Key losses: S Talan Alfrey, CB Mory Bamba, CB Jayden Dunlap, K Will Ferrin, LS Garrison Grimes, LB Jack Kelly, DE Logan Lutui, DT Kaufusi Pafoke, DT John Taumoepeau, S Tanner Wall, CB Tayvion Beasley (transfer), LB Choe Bryant-Strother (transfer), LB Max Alford (transfer), DB Marcus McKenzie (transfer)
Key returners: S Faletau Satuala, S Tommy Prassas, DE/LB Nusi Taumoepeau, CB Evan Johnson, CB Tre Alexander, S Raider Damuni, DL Anisi Purcell, LB Siale Esera, DL Keanu Tanuvasa, DT Justin Kirkland, LB Isaiah Glasker, LB Ace Kaufusi, DE Kini Fonohema, DE Bodie Schoonover, DE Tausili Akana, DE Hunter Clegg, DE Viliami Po’uha
Key incoming transfers: LB Cade Uluave, LB Jake Clifton, CB Jayven Williams
Key incoming freshmen: LB Braxton Lindsey, S/A Kennan Pula, S/A Jaren Pula, CB Justice Brathwaite
